Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.237 January 29, 1996 1) Badkhn und marshelik (Bernard Katz) 2) Bokser (Hershl Hartman) 3) Sholem Aleichem's rage (Louis Fridhandler) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 03:00:36 -0500 (EST) From: bkatz@uoguelph.ca Subject: Badkhn und marshelik I offer another small piece of information on these two words. Gleaning Stutchkoff's wonderful Oitzer fun der Yiddisher Shprakh, I found badkhn indexed in two places: under poezieh (382) in the group starting with the word poet, sub-group starting with raymer; and under zivg (563), group makhutonimshaft, sub-group badkhn. Marshelik is found in 563 in the very same sub-group right after badkhn, and also under vitz-shpot (518), group komedyant, sub-group badkhn! In other words, this is another occurance of badkhn not found in the index. Other words in the sub-group under 382 are gramen-zoger and gramen-flekhter; the next sub-group begins with improvizator, but marshelik is not to be found here. Under 518, badkhn and marshelik are the only two in the sub-group; the next sub-group starts with komiker. Under 563, badkn and marshelik are followed in the same sub-group by svidalnik and serdalnik. My own "reading" of how these two words are placed by Stutchkoff leads me to conclude that they were used vitually interchangeably. As for Feffer's usage, I am impressed by David Goldman's analysis and explanation. Bernard Katz Guelph, Ontario 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 13:16:00 -0500 From: hershl@aol.com Subject: Bokser Since khamishe oser (tu) b'shvat is almost upon us and since carob trees literally line some streets in the San Fernando Valley, teachers at the secular Sholem Sunday School had no difficulty in gathering pods to bring to class today (Sunday). "Bokser," I said. "No, kharuv," said a parent who grew up in Israel. Harkavy's yidish-english-hebreyisher verterbukh confirmed the vast disparity in terms. My query: fun vanen nemt zikh dos vort bokser? What is the origin of the Yiddish word, "bokser" and why, if known, would a fruit from erets yisroyl not bear its original Hebrew name? (Corollary query: would our California Senator's family name come from the same source?) Hershl Hartman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 29 Jan 1996 14:13:02 -0500 From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Sholem Aleichem's rage Yiddish authors in Russia were able to create timeless gems despite dire times. Let's think about 1911 Russia, half way between the abortive Russian revolution of 1905 and the complete upheaval of 1917. For the rampant deterioration in conditions for ordinary Russian people, the shaky tsarist regime strove to pin blame on scapegoats. They chose their favorites, the Jews. Coincidentally, 1911 was also half way between the first volume of Sholem Aleichem's Motl Peysi dem Khazns (1907) and the second volume (1916). In 1911 he wrote (among other gems) Gitl Purishkevitsh,' a funny story of a Jewish woman who dared to confront the anti-Semitism of Purishkevitsh right in the Russian duma. The smooth flow of Sholem Aleichem's writing, the lightness of touch, his delight in the sounds and rhythms of the Yiddish language occupy the foreground. In our time that foreground may hide the treacherous background: the vicious regime of Tsar Nikolai the second. A look behind the foreground may magnify our admiration for the achievements of Yiddish literature of that time. A glimpse of that background is afforded by a letter of Sholem Aleichem to a Russian gentile writer and critic, Amfiteatrov. Mendel Beilis, a Jew of Kiev, had been arrested and accused of ritual murder; that is, murdering a boy to obtain Christian blood for matzohs. Russian authorities and the world knew Beilis was innocent. Still, the scapegoat-hunters persisted in framing Beilis. Right wing propagandists proclaimed that _all_ Jews stood accused of ritual murder. Sholem Aleichem hoped to prompt Alexander Amfiteatrov to join others (e.g. Maxim Gorki) in collective protest against the vicious anti-Jewish slander spread by the Union of Russian People and their bands of ruffians, The Black Hundreds. The latter were right wing goon squads generously financed by Tsar Nicholas II through his membership in the Union of Russian People. They had free rein to incite hatred of Jews through pamphlets, posters, and newspapers. Russian liberals denounced these attacks. The tsarist propagandists distorted the words of the liberals, and right wingers used the word, "liberal," as an insult. Amfiteatrov had expressed enthusiastic admiration for Sholem Aleichem's work in Russian translation. They corresponded and met together. Here is a translation from Sholem Aleichem's own Yiddish version of his Russian letter to Amfiteatrov: An unfamiliar Sholem Aleichem voice appears: a stern, rageful, impassioned voice aiming to whip up protest against injustice. [Dos Sholem-Aleykhem Bukh, p. 237.] To my dear colleague Alexander Amfiteatrov. I'm glad to note that I was right about you. As the true Christians you are, you and your good friend Maxim Gorki are most deeply distressed by the recklessly deceitful distortions about Jews advanced by factions who are connected to you by close bonds of brotherhood. But God forbid that I claim that all Christians are bloodthirsty. That would not be fitting for me as a Jew. If the situation were reversed, that is, if Jews accused Christians of ritual murder, I would be utterly ashamed, even if those Jews were more evil than Purishkevitch and Markov (notorious anti-Jewish agitators) combined. It doesn't follow, however, that you must be ashamed. I would not demand that of friends. Your collective protest should be very worthwhile coming, as it does, from the best Russians in this Fatherland which rules over us all, but does not deal with us equally. Most assuredly, this protest of yours is not needed to refute the blood accusation. This libel has already been discredited a hundred times. If ritual murders occur, it is not by the victims of pogroms, but by those who perpetrate them. By what name other than "ritual murder" can we call the "noble" deeds of those who attacked Jews in pogroms at Kishinev and elsewhere? They threw children from a high building as though it were a holy celebration. They shouted "Hurrah!" as they sliced open the bellies of pregnant women. Is this not a ritual? And what about the "magnificent" speeches by Markov and his gang in the Duma, that "we won't tear open [the envelopes of] your Jewish excuses, but the bellies of your women." Is this not a ritual? But then, this need not be the main point of your protest. In my opinion, your protest should expose the underlying aim of those who raise the blood libel: in plain words, an all-Russian pogrom against the Jews, a repetition of the unforgettable year of 1905. If your declaration were to be heard by your colleagues in other lands, how good that would be. A global outcry might emerge. Since all this is only my personal opinion , it may be superfluous, but I know that you and your friend, Maxim Gorki, will give this the careful consideration it merits. I extend my hand to you both in a spirit of brotherhood. Sholem Aleichem. Badenweiler, May 23, 1911. [Amfiteatrov was the only one to publish his denunciation of the violence. Badenweiler was a spa in Germany where Sholem Aleichem spent some summers to continue recovery from tuberculosis. In 1911, he also wrote a letter expressing admiration of Tolstoi, but disappointment in Tolstoi's passive silence in the face of injustice. Next post.] Louis Fridhandler ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.237