Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.041 July 26, 1996 1) "Ober/bloyz dem talis nemt er mit" (Bob Rothstein) 2) Luftmentsh (Meyer Wolf) 3) Importance of Yiddish culture (Louis Fridhandler) 4) Hebrew-Yiddish-Russian songs (David Herskovic) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 15:53:10 -0400 (EDT) From: rar@slavic.umass.edu Subject: "Ober/bloyz dem talis nemt er mit" Nina Warnke was presumably correct in identifying the song that Bernard Katz was looking for (6.038, 6.040). "Dus Tolesel" ("Gesungen by Mr. Juvelier," according to sheet music published by A. Teres of Delancey Street in 1912) had words by Solomon Small (S[h]mulewitz, 1868-1943) and music by Arnold Perlmutter (1859-1953) and Herman Wohl (1877-1936). The text printed in Yiddish letters begins "Dos talesl [or: tolesl]..." while the text in English letters begins "Der toles..." [Aside to Mikhl, Ellen, Dovid et al.: Shmulewitz was from Pinsk, not exactly the _tote/mome_ area; whence then _toles_?] Here is the Yiddish text: Dos talesl iz a tayere zakh dos gehert tsu dem yidn; yeder yid hot in im hofnung a sakh, yeder iz mit im tsufridn. Akh! Tayerer tales, hertslikhe treyst: fil tfiles herstu zikh ayn, fun ale bitere hertser du veyst, filst gants gut dem yidns payn. Bist imer mit dem yidele, fun zayn bris on hot er dikh, oykh ven men grobt mit dem ridele viklstu im ayn mit zikh. Begleyterin in gloybikayt, du bist dokh mayn eybikayt. Dos talesl iz nor dos eyntsige kleyd far dem yidn in zayn freyd un leyd. Fun zayn geburtstog biz in keyver geyt es mit im mit. Vert iberal geyogt, zayn lebn iz geplogt, ales vos er farmogt nemt men tsu fun yid, ales, ales, nor dem tales, dos nemt men nit, neyn, neyn, neyn. Ven s'iz mir gevorn nor draytsn yor, ongeton mir a tales. Vi veynik ikh hob dan farshtanen gor, var es mir tayerer fun ales. Ikh hob in der droshe dan tsugezogt haltn mayn talesl reyn. Leyder bin ikh fun dem goles geplogt, imer in trern geven. Ongezapt iz er mit mayn trer, triknt zikh keynmol nit oys, im iz oykh mayne tsores shver, mayn payn vi zayn payn iz groys. Begleyterin in gloybikayt, du bist dokh mayn eybikayt. Dos talesl iz nor dos eyntsige kleyd... Bob Rothstein 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 20:32:38 -0400 From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: Luftmentsh A footnote to Gustavo Kijak's information on luftmentsh [6.040]. The word appears in Mendele's 1912 'Ale Werk...' in 'Di klyatshe' and 'Xage-osef' (and maybe others); earlier versions of these stories in the 1888 edition do not use luftmentsh. Meyer Wolf 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 12:06:05 -0400 From: lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Importance of Yiddish culture Efsher is dos take emes: az ven me volt nisht gemakht a bilbl af Dreyfusn volt nisht geven Zola's J'accuse, un nisht Herzl's arbet un nisht keyn medines Yisroel. Ver veyst? Mir veln es keynmol nisht visn far zikher oyb mir hobn badarft azoyne shlekhte gesheyenishn. Efsher yo, efsher neyn. Ikh veys nor eyn zakh: az Dreyfus gufa hot gevolt laydn fun a bilbl vi er hot gevolt a lokh in kop. Nor makhteyse. Ober dos ker zikh nisht on tsum Yidishn kultur. Nisht Dreyfus, nisht Herzl hobn geshept nakhes funem Yidishn kultur. Azoy meyn ikh. Danken got farn Yidishn kultur. Tsum bayshpil: ven nisht der Yidisher kultur un dertsiung mit mame-loshn volt nisht aroysgevaksn azamin groyser kinstler vi Khayem Nakhman Bialik vos hot gemakht azoy fil sheyne Hebreyishe kunstverk. Azoy meyn ikh. Louis Fridhandler 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Jul 96 22:00:39 EDT From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Hebrew-Yiddish-Russian songs When reading about the Al Tiro Avdi Yakoyv song I was reminded of another tri-lingual song learned from my father. It is on the words from Psalms 118:20,19 Piskhi li sharay tseydek Hey donay donay Ovoy vom oyde ko Hey... repeat Efen di toyren fin gan ayden Hey... Keday ikh zol kenen Got loyben Hey.. r Oskroytche menyvar varota raya Hey... Shtobikh boga voskha lala Hey... r Yasoyr yisrani ko Hey... Ve'Lamoves loy nesononi Hey... r Shtrof mikh Got mit vos di vilst Hey... Nor tsim toyt gib mikh nisht Hey... r I don't know the Russian for this but the second line finishes 'chim karaya'. The following multi-lingual song, also from my father, is one I believe originates from the concentration camps. Loy yiye leoylom afaylo; veoyro toir loni bimhayro. It will not be for ever night; the sun will soon shine for us bright. Es vert nisht imer finster zayn; es vet nokh aynmol lekhtig zayn. Nem les mindik eytso ko; moydmek viro volo ho. (Hungarian) David Herskovic ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.041 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.cis.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.cis.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. 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