Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.265 March 5, 1996 1) Nit Gadayget (Itsik Goldenberg) 2) Articles in the dative case (Binyomin Weiner) 3) New book re Yiddish publisher (Bernard Katz) 4) YiddishNet (Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky) 5) The Montreal Yiddish Theater (Warren Alexandre) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 23 Feb 1996 15:38:08 -0500 From: goldenbe@cataract.nfss.edu.on.ca Subject: Nit Gedayget While examining the very first issue (in 1938) of the YKUF periodical Yiddishe Kultur, I came across an advertisement for a summer camp called "Kemp Nitgedayget." I momentarily forgot the exact meaning of this expression, so commonly heard amongst native Yiddish speakers. I tried to look it up, without success, in Weinreich, Harkavy, Stutchkov and other sources. What threw me was that it was spelled in Yiddish exactly as it sounds, so that is how I tried to look it up. Eventually I realized that the root is Hebrew, and spelled daled, alef, gimel, hey, whereas I was looking for daled, tsvey yudn, etc. I thought that it was only in the Soviet Union that Hebrew words were spelled phonetically in Yiddish. How common was this practice in the U.S? I would guess that the onset of YIVO standardization did away with this. It seems like a twist on Yinglish! Incidentally, did any Mendelyaners attend this camp? It might be interesting to hear something about it from an ex-camper. How did it compare with camps Boyberik and Hemshekh? (Love those names!) Ikh hob gehert vegn di letste tsvey, ober nisht fun Nitgedayget. Itsik Goldenberg Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Feb 96 12:38:24 EST From: bweiner@sorosny.org Subject: Articles in the dative case I'm a little embarassed to be posing such basic questions to this assemblage of scholars, but I have been unable to resolve these ters on my own: 1) Is the neuter artice "dos" inflected in the dative case, as "der" is to "dem," and "di" to "der"? If so, what is the dative form? 2) Does the plural article "di" inflect to "der" in the dative case, following the example of the feminine "di"? Or does it remain the same? Binyomin Weiner 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 27 Feb 1996 22:46:02 -0500 (EST) From: bkatz@uoguelph.ca Subject: New book re Yiddish publisher The following item will likely be of interest some list members. New Title from "Laurentius - Von Menschen, Buechern und Bibliotheken" "Den Buchmarkt um die besten Werke bereichern". Auf den Spuren des jiddischen TOMOR-Verlags, Wilna 1927-1939 By Maria Kuehn-Ludewig Laurentius. 1996. 78 pages. 3-931614-07-7. DM 18,- (Kleine historische Reihe. Vol. 7) The author presents a discovered brochure of the Yiddish publisher TOMOR from 1931, gives an exhibition of the activities, the authors, translaters and literary critics, who worked for the publisher. An extensive chapter is devoted to Leyb Shur, who was responsible for TOMOR for a long time ("... a bookworm"). Place your order to Laurentius - Vertrieb - Bonhoefferstr. 19, D-30926 Seelze or send a e-mail to dehmlow@bib.mh.hannover.de Bernard Katz Guelph, Ontario 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 29 Feb 1996 07:15:25 -0500 From: reyzl@aol.com Subject: YiddishNet Noyekh reminded me at least two months ago that it's already time to post another YiddishNet announcement on Mendele. I am finally getting around to it. Here is an info file on YiddishNet along with instructions of how to subscribe to YiddishNet. ________________________________________ Welcome to Yiddishnet, a moderated news and announcement list dedicated to the field of Yiddish language and culture. What is Yiddishnet? YiddishNet is a non-discussion mailing list dedicated to Yiddish language and culture. The purpose of the list is to gather and disseminate news and information about Yiddish language and culture in America and internationally to both speakers and non-speakers of Yiddish. It covers Yiddish literature, media, computers, language instruction material and programs, e-mail, services, conferences, news as well as performances, meetings, events, and activities sponsored by various groups and organizations around the world. We hope that the list will serve as an informational clearinghouse in a manner and breadth not available in any other single publication or forum. The list should be useful to all lovers of Yiddish, whether the interest be of an ideological, popular or academic nature. The sponsor of YiddishNet is The Workmen's Circle. There is no schedule for posting, but roughly between 65,000 and 100,000 k is posted each month. One of the benefits of the list will be to increase awareness of how much takes place in Yiddish across generations and religious affiliation all around the world. This community of interest is geographically diffuse and we believe that this kind of network will not only help connect Yiddish-lovers all over the world but also aid in the further growth and development of Yiddish cultural activities. The Workmen's Circle also publishes a quarterly bulletin "Global Yiddish" in print in a complete bilingual edition in an 11"X14" 12-page two-color format. "Global Yiddish" is dedicated to the same aims as YiddishNet, but space and time requirements limit the amount of material that can be published. The Yiddish version of the bulletin (6 pages), called "Alveltlekh Yiddish", is published together with the English (6 pages). YiddishNet will publish the English version of the bulletin ("Global Yiddish") minus the photos, graphics, and color. Publishing the Yiddish version ("Alveltlekh Yiddish") will be possible in the next few months as well. Once the technical aspects of this are mastered, the software necessary to receive and send Yiddish e-mail will also be available on YiddishNet for simple downloading (for IBM's and MAC's.) YiddishNet will also publish the English parts of newsletter of other Yiddish-oriented clubs and organizationse, i.e., YIVO Institute of Jewish Research and Yiddish of Greater Washington. In fact, all Yiddish clubs, choruses, theaters, klezmer bands, and organizations are invited to to publish its events, notices or even entire newsletters on YiddishNet. Just send an ascii text or even an html file and it will be posted or placed on our upcoming website. YiddishNet welcomes all informative postings about present and future programs, performances, meetings, events, activities, publishing, and products. Please let us hear of your latest news or interesting finding from anywhere in the world which you feel may be interesting to others with an interest in the field of Yiddish. Please e-mail your posting, comments, or questions to Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky, the YiddishNet moderator/owner. To subscribe to YiddishNet, send a one-line message: subscribe YiddishNet your-first-name your-last-name to: listproc@shamash.nysernet.org Write to me, if you are having any problems subscribing and I will help. Note: YiddishNet was formerly called Yiddish1. "Yiddish1" has been eliminated. Reyzl Kalifowicz-Waletzky 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 03 Mar 1996 17:51:03 -0500 From: winkelman@medcor.mcgill.ca Subject: The Montreal Yiddish Theater Dear Friends, I am writing to inform you of the Montreal Yiddish Theater. We are one of the largest and most productive Yiddish language theaters in North America; we are a volunteer organization. I am a new member. My name is Warren Alexandre, and I will be appearing as the lead character in our new musical production of Sholom Aleichem's "Shver tzu zayn a Yid". Our theater is currently undergoing a time of flux; the spiritual and artistic director of our troupe, the inimitable Dora Wasserman, has recently taken quite ill. I have only known this woman for a short while, and she has left an indelible impression on me. She came to see me at a show I was performing in town last June, and I was caught up in the infectiousness of her enthusiasm. Through my brief experience with her and the theater, I have started to rediscover Yiddish, the language of my very early childhood. I have also begun a personal quest to learn about my roots; to even face the Holocaust, which I have found so difficult to learn about. I have discovered that Yiddish holds the answer to so many questions I have asked about myself, and the empowerment attained for me by being part of the continuation and forward advancement of our Mame Loshn is overwhelming. Our troupe is a theater of passion, and of joy. Our past productions have been critically acclaimed. As a professional actor myself, to be working among such dedicated, talented amateurs is humbling. I look forward in hearing from any of my fellow "mendele" subscribers, and I offer you a personal invitation to attend the show at the Saidye Bronfman Theater, late May and June 1996. If you would like to correspond to me personally, I may be emailed at "Winkelman@medcor.mcgill.ca". Sholom Aleichem Warren Alexandre ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.265