Mendele: Yiddish literature and language
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Contents of Vol. 6.023
June 28, 1996

1) First Yiddish primer on the Web (Iosif Vaisman)
2) Books by Chackelis Lemchenas (Zachary Baker)
3) Avraham Burg (David Herskovic)
4) Yiddish humorists (Michael Steinlauf)
5) Yiddish humorists (Tsuguya Sasaki)
6) Yiddish humorists (Daniel Soyer)

1)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 20:50:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: iiv@mmlds1.pha.unc.edu
Subject: First Yiddish primer on the Web

Shtetl (http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/shtetl.html) presents famed
Eliezer Steinbarg's "Alef Beys" (Czernowitz, 1921) in GIF format.
Currently only first 29 pages are available, the rest of the book will
be added later. Read, teach your children, enjoy!

Iosif Vaisman

2)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 09:54:50 -0500 (EST)
From: yivo1@metgate.metro.org
Subject: Books by Chackelis Lemchenas

Although Gintautas Kaminskas' query regarding books on Yiddish by the
Lithuanian linguist Chackelis Lemchenas (Khatskl Lemkhen) was posted to
Mendele: Personal notices and announcements, I believe that the subject
might be of more than merely "personal" interest.  At any rate, the YIVO
Library's catalogue lists the following titles by Lemchenas:

(1) Lietuviu kalbos itaka lietuvos zydu tarmei lietuviskieji skoliniai.
Vilnius:  Mintis, 1970.  137 p.  (About the influence of the Lithuanian
language on Lithuanian Yiddish.)

(2) Trumpas Rusu-Lietuviu kalbu zodynas, apie 23,000 zodziu.  Vilnius:
Valstybine Politines ir Mokslines Literaturos Leidykla, 1957.  440 p.
(Russian-Lithuanian dictionary.)

In addition, YIVO has an anthology of Yiddish fiction translated into
Lithuanian, co-edited by O. Finkelsteinas, Ch. Lemchenas, and G.
Zimanas:  Rinktines zydu apysakos (Kaunas:  Spaudos Fondo Leidinys,
1931).  232 p.

Finally, there is the Lemchenas festschrift:

Darbai ir polekai:  kalbininko Chackelio Lemcheno 90-osioms gimimo
metinems - Thoughts and aspirations marking the 90th birthday of
linguist Chatzkelis Lemchenas, compiled by Polina Pailis and Judith
Rozina (Vilnius:  Jewish State Museum of Lithuania, 1994).  202 p.

The festschrift includes a bibliography (pp. 153-169) of books and
articles by Lemchenas, works translated by him, books co-edited by him,
and citations and reviews of his works.  The earliest of his monographs
that is cited in the bibliography dates from 1949 (the first edition of
his Russian-Lithuanian dictionary).  His first journal article was
published in 1924.

Zachary Baker

3)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 28 Jun 96 09:59:43 EDT
From: 100114.750@compuserve.com
Subject: Avraham Burg

I share many of Laybl Botvinik's feelings towards the enemies of Yiddish,
who, perversly, are concentrated in the Yidishe Land and are usually
(always?) descendant of Yiddish rather than Ladino speakers.

However, with all due respect, to accuse Mr Burg of anti semitism of all
things does absoloutely nothing for Yiddish and merely cheapens the much
abused term. The reasoning behind the actions of Mr Burg and his ilk is,
as we all know, political and to do with the History of the State and
the image it would like to present rather than with a hatred of Jews.
After all it was not Mr Burg who made people change their surnames or
their yidish first names.

By all means call him a charlatan, a paskotenyak, a soyne tsiyen or one
of many other colourful epithets that Yiddish can bring forth, but an
anti-semite? We are gebentched with enough true enemies without creating
new ones.

Whilst on the subject, when looking up phone numbers in Israel I have
always wondered if it is possible to enter one's name in the Israeli
phone directory with the Yiddish spelling or do they automatically remove
the ayins and double yids etc. that they consider to be redundant?

David Herskovic

4)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 10:48:27 -0500 (EST)
From: m_steinlauf@acad.fandm.edu
Subject: Yiddish humorists

In response to Goldie Morgentaler's query about Yiddish humorists
besides Sholem Aleichem and Moyshe Nadir, there's Der Tunkeler [Yosef
Tunkel, 1881-1949] who published extensively in the Warsaw press between
the wars. There's an excellent anthology of his work, extensively
annotated and with an introduction (his writings are in the Yiddish
original, the apparatus is in Hebrew) recently published by Magnes
Press.

Michael Steinlauf

5)----------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 28 Jun 1996 16:04:58 +0900
From: tsuguya@gol.com
Subject: Yiddish humorists

Me tor nit fargesn dem nomen fun Yoysef Tunkel, vos hot geshribn an
erekh 30 humoristishe bikher tsvishn beyde velt-milkhmes in poyln untern
psevdonim "Der Tunkeler".

An opklayb fun zayne humoristishe verk ken men leyenen in a nayer
zamlung redagirt fun Prof. Yekhiel Sheyntukh fun hebreishn universitet:
Der Tunkel (Yoysef Tunkel): Der seyfer fun humoreskes un literarishe
parodyes. Yerusholaim: Pirsumey har hatsofim, 1990.

Ikh gedenk, az ven dos dozike bukh iz aroysgegangen, hot der redaktor,
Prof. Sheyntukh, banitst es in zayn klas fun yidish in hebreishn
univeristet, un mir ale hobn mamesh hanoe gehat.

Tsuguya Sasaki

6)----------------------------------------------------
Date: 27 Jun 96 22:27:34 EDT
From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com
Subject: Yiddish humorists

Khune Gottesfeld was a humorist. He could be very funny, even when
writing about serious things.

Daniel Soyer

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End of Mendele Vol. 6.023