Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.016 June 6, 1997 1) Serebriani misleads a bit (Louis Fridhandler) 2) The history of re-evaluation by literary critics (Louis Fridhandler) 3) Name change (Dan Slobin) 4) The Fated Faddist (Claus Buryn) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 18:55:48 -0400 (EDT) From: Lfridhan@aol.com Subject: Serebriani misleads a bit Serebriani's bamerkungen mikoyekh Sholem-Aleykem's Menakhem-Mendl serie zaynen take zeyer interesant ober me muz untershtrikhn epes farfirerish, epes nisht in gantsn gerekht. (Sovetish Heymland, 6: 136-146, 1966). Ershtns, vel ikh do brengen a tsitat fun "Milyonen." Menakhem-Mendl shraybt fun Yehupets azoy tsu Sheyne-Sheyndlen, zayn vayb, in Kasrilevke: Vos du fregst zikh nokh af "Erets-Yisroel", kerst du avade meynen "tsinizm?" [gemeynt tsionizm] Dos iz zeyer a hoykher inyen, khotsh in Yehupets af der berze halt men epes nisht derfun. Ikh bin geven a por mol bay di hige "tsinistn" [gemeynt tsionistn] ... un hob gevolt visn, vos dos iz, hot men ober alts geredt af rusish, un dafke a sakh geredt. Dakht zikh, vos volt zey geart, zey zoln zikh durkhredn mit yidn af yidish? Ikh hob afile a por mol a red geton mit mayne khevre-layt af der berze vegn dem, hobn zey mikh oysgelakht: "Veys ikh vos? Tsinizm! Doktor Hertsl! Oykh mir a gesheft!" (Ale Verk fun Sholem-Aleykhem, Folksfond Oysgabe, T. X, Menakhem-Mendl, z. 132.) Farshteyt zikh az Menakhem-Mendl hot gevolt shraybn tsionizm un tsionistn, ober der ameratsisher, kleyn-shtetldiker Menakhem-Mendl fardreyt di verter. Der iker: Menakhem-Mendl gufe makht nisht keyn khoyzek fun tsionizm. Er shraybt az di asimilirte, rusish-redndike, yidishe berze soykhrim lakhn oys tsionizm un Doktor Hertsl. Ober Serebriani shraybt af zayt 144: Vi mir zeyen, hot inem ershtn variant Menakhem-Mendl nokh gehat dem interes tsu bikhlekh vegn tsionizm, tsum Doktor Mandlshtam, un azoy vayter. In kanon iz shoyn Menakhem-Mendl vayt fun di dozike interestn: "Oykh mir a gesheft!" Serebriani nemt di verter aroys fun di mayler fun di asimilirte, yidishe berze soykhrim un shtekt zey, aponim, arayn tsu Menakhem-Mendlen in moyl. Dertsu, Serebriani (mit andere) leygt for az mit Menakhem-Mendl, Sholem-Aleykhem meynt zikh aleyn. [English translation:] Serebriani's observations about Sholem Aleichem's Menakhem-Mendl series are indeed very interesting, but it's important to underscore something misleading, not quite accurate. First, I will cite a passage from "Milyonen." Menakhem-Mendl writes from Yehupets to his wife Sheyne-Sheyndl in Kasrilevke: You ask about "The Land of Israel." You must mean "Zionism." [His misspelling turns that into "cynicism."] That's a topic of a high order, although they don't think much of it on the Yehupets stock market. A few times I was among the local Zionists [misspelling turns that into "cynics"] and I wanted to know what it is, but they spoke only in Russian, and talked really a lot. Seems to me strange. Why should it bother them to talk over something in Yiddish with another Jew? I even raised the subject a few times with my stock-market fellows, but they made fun of me: "Go on with you! Zionism [cynicism]! Doctor Herzl! You call that a business?" The unlearned villager, Menakhem-Mendl jumbles the words. The main point here: it is not Menakhem-Mendl himself who ridicules Zionism. He is writing that the assimilated, Russian-speaking, Jewish stock traders ridicule Zionism and Doctor Herzl. However, Serebriani writes: As we see, in the first version, Menakhem-Mendl was still interested in books about Zionism, about Doctor Mandelshtam, etc. In the canonized version, Menakhem- Mendl held himself aloof from such interests: "You call that a business?" Serebriani takes the words out of the mouths of the assimilated Jewish stock traders and apparently sticks them into the mouth of Menakhem-Mendl. Furthermore, Serebriani (as well as others) suggest that by Menakhem-Mendl, Sholem Aleichem means himself. Louis Fridhandler 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 19:47:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Lfridhan@aol.com Subject: The history of re-evaluation by literary critics I am immensely grateful to Martha Krow-Lucal who pointed out (in 7.013, 3) that [in her words]: I did not know that, but then I'm not a scholar of the history of criticism of 19th century European literature. It puts Sholem Aleichem in a broader context. Thank you Martha Krow-Lucal. I suspect Dante was criticized for using Italian, a street, home and market-place language. Incidentally, this illustrates wonderfully what Mendele is for: to educate each other at all levels, wherever we find ourselves, in this most engaging field. Whenever I have taught, I have learned. Whenever I have learned, I think I might have taught. Yiddish has a word for both: lernen. It means both to teach and to learn. Now back to Sholem Aleichem. When he first began to write, he did indeed dash it off, send it off. At the time, 1883, Mendele Moykher Sforim, the great pioneer, was the only true stylist in Yiddish, and at first he thought of Yiddish as only a temporary device to be used until Jews learned Hebrew. Fortunately, Sholem Aleichem appreciated the genius of Mendele, and so eventually refined his own work in emulation. Again, fortunately, Sholem Aleichem found an adoring public almost immediately. And so he was spoiled temporarily, became cavalier in his work. As a matter of fact, he wrote once in a letter that he would give anything to erase one of his early works from the collection. I suspect that anyone who writes experiences that kind of embarrassment. Ultimately, by self criticism, he learned to write with such skill that the art is hidden, as well as the complex structure which, if altered even slightly, may make the piece fall apart. I have told some of his stories in English. Only if I maintain his structure does the piece satisfy. Mysterious. Louis Fridhandler 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 5 Jun 1997 22:18:55 -0700 (PDT) From: "Dan I. SLOBIN" Subject: Name change As I understood it from my grandfather, whose father had changed his family name, the issue was not one of simply tricking the recruitment officers with a new name, but rather of presenting a *passport* that identified the bearer as a first-born son. The name was incidental to that essential piece of information. What mattered was whether one had proof of being first-born. Was my grandfather incorrect in his interpretation? [Moderator's note: Please respond directly to the author. This and related issues are often discussed in soc.genealogy.jewish newsgroup] -Dan Slobin Berkeley, California 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 06 Jun 1997 17:28:52 +0200 From: troia Subject: The Fated Faddist esreg, esroygim der - ethrog, citron, a fruit over which the blessings are said during the Sukkoth holiday. Dutch: ceder appel. Footnote: aza frukht, vos vert bay religieze yidn banutst tsu religieze tsvekn. I started on Yiddish one year ago, during a stay in Riga. I found a copy of S. Sandler's: "Yiddish lernbukh far oyslernen zikh yiddish zelbshtendik", bought a Russian dictionary and started "oyslernen". After a few weeks I had mastered the alphabet, but not knowing Russian my progress was slow. I ordered a copy of Weinreich's dictionary and found myself a teacher. An elderly gentleman who knew Russian, German, Hebrew and Yiddish. I had made the common mistake of underestimating the difficulties of the Yiddish language, believing it to be '"some kind of German". Knowing some German and being fluent in Dutch I figured I would get the hang of it with some practice. German and Dutch are very useful. I would say that about 75% of the Yiddish language was 'understandable' to me from the outset, but the 25% is not to be sneezed at. So, having a teacher and a dictionary I started reading Yiddish literature. My teacher brought me a copy of Sholem Aleikhem's "Motl, Peysi dem khazn's". After one year I am still busy with Motl and I am finding out about the 25 %. I have bought a Hebrew dictionary and a Polish dictionary to assist me and I have just completed a word list of the words of Hebrew origin in "Motl". In the two parts of the book I have thus far located over 1200 such words and the list is still growing. The "esreg" quoted above is one of them. The reader will agree, that from the definition found in Weinreich only little can be learned, unless you are familiar with the 'ethrog' already and know about Sukkoth. Although it could be said that it is quite impossible to learn Yiddish without a good background in Hebrew, the problem is not in the first place linguistic, but cultural. A simple story like "Motl" turns out to be a whole encyclopedia of "Yidishkeyt". Without making a study of the whole cycle of Yewish holidays an "esreg" might as well be a tomato. The few people I have met who know Yiddish all agree that translating Yiddish is extremely difficult, because a lot of the value of the text is in the language itself: the way things are said in Yiddish is so 'novel', so 'different', that a translation is bound to fail. Take for instance a work by Isaac Bashevis Singer in the Yiddish version and put the authorised English translation next to it. The work has been filtered through a cultural screen and can hardly be said to be the same, but for the story. Most translators seem to have notions about how much the non-Jewish public can handle. For example, it seems to be generally accepted that the word "yid" is the equivalent of "mentsh". My friend "Motl" always tells me who in his stories is a "yid" and who not. - which seems to indicate that for Sholem Aleikhem a "yid" is a "yid" and not just a man or a person. If one allows such a "tone down" approach, an "esreg" might, 'keyn eynhore' as well be an easter-egg. Being a goy with a fancy for 'Yidish' I am, of course, a 'faddist'. I only recently subscribed to "Mendele" and have been enjoying the quaint mixture of contributions. Half forgotten lines of song, attempts to improve the YIVO spelling, learned exposis, minor misunderstandings and interesting anecdotes. Good fun and gee, it's only the internet. Since it is clearly Mendele's idea to propagate the Yiddish language I would like to plead for some more clemency from those subscribers who have a good knowledge of the language and of the Jewish culture. Where would a serious faddist be without them? Claus Buryn. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.016