Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.034 July 4, 1997 1) NYBC responds; Blimelekh (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 2) der kval far doyres == the wellspring for generations (Leybl Botwinik) 3) 'regional accent' (perets mett) 4) future of Yiddish (Abraham Brumberg) 5) Birnbaum's _Yiddish Phrase Book_ (Hugh Denman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 01 Jul 1997 20:16:03 -0500 From: "Michael J. Sweet" Subject: NYBC responds; Blimelekh To their credit, I had a very nice e-mail note from the editor of the Pakn Treger regarding my recent complaints about their non-responsiveness to queries. Perhaps e-mail is the only way to get results these days. Anyway, am glad they're trying and hope they get their act together---they may not be a scholarly organization like YIVO, as their editor argues, but they still have the obligation to be an information resource, esp. for their own members, IMHO. An unrelated question. I friend of mine, a non-Jew who grew up in Chicago in the '40s, reports hearing his native Yiddish speaking boss referring to gay men as "blimelkh." Does anyone recall having heard this locution? Meyshe-yankl Sweet 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 1997 13:30:07 +0300 (IDT) From: "Leybl Botwinik" Subject: der kval far doyres == the wellspring for generations [English summary follows the Yiddish] far di vos farshteyen, un spetsyel far di vos farshteyen (nokh) nit, vos dos iz geven dos yidish lebn in mizrekh eyrope, vil ikh rekomendirn dem nay-dershinenem bukh fun dr. heshil klepfish "der kval far doyres". in di 600 zaytn fun eseyen, makht er lebedik farn leyener dem amol, un farbindt es mitn haynt, vi a vegvayzer farn morgn. dr. klepfish nemt undz oyf a shpatsir iber alte heymishe erter, un antplekt far undz di vunder fun amol. zakhn vos zaynen i bakant, i nit (oder veynik) bakant. in dem araynfir, dertseylt der mekhaber farvos es geyt im on azoy in lebn, tsu dermonen un vider dermonen, bashraybn, baveynen un bazingen, un take balebn di farshvundene un oft fargesene veltn fun amol. zayn tifer zorg, shraybt er, iz tsulib "...dem shreklekhn shtil-shvaygn"... "s'iz moyredik shtil arum der doziker teme". ken dos take zayn? az iber toyznt yor fun shprudldik yidish lebn, fun di mekhtike dershaynungen in yidishn lebn, vern ignorirt? azoy vayzt zikh take aroys. un mir zeen dos take benogeye yidish un yidisher kultur. derfar geyt im dos on - in lebn. un derfar, brengt er vider arayn nay lebn in di alte mekoyres. er brengt far undz 61 eseyen oyf 600 zaytn, un oyf nokh 8 zaytn, a reshime fun ale dermonte nemen in der zamlung. di eseyen zaynen tseteylt in tsvey teyln: "di brik fun ashkenaz" (6 eseyen) un "in shtrom fun yidish mizrekh eyrope" (55 eseyen). di eseyen funem 2tn teyl zaynen vider grupirt tsu 5-6 arum farsheydnartike temes, vi der khurbn, yidishe yomtoyvim, vegn rabonim, vegn yidishe figurn in der moderner yidisher kultur velt, un nokh. tsum bayshpil, es khavern zikh eseyen vegn dem bundishn kodoysh shmuel artur ziglboym ("shmuel ziglboym, der zun fun poylishn yidntum"), mit andere eseyen vi "in di trit fun reb nakhmen bratslever", "nisn, der khoydesh fun dervartung in yidish mizrekh eyrope", oder "fun legende tsu virklekhkeyt: sore bas-toyvim". ikh hob nokh nit gehat dem zkhus adurkhtsuleyenen di ale vogike un vikhtike eseyen. yeder esey, ober iz zaftik far zikh aleyn, un yeder leyener vet vern gezetikt fun a yeder esey, un glaykhtsaytik virkt dos oyf tsu veln nokh. men ken dos farglaykhn tsu a mentsh vos kumt arayn in a restoran vu oyf 61 tishn vert oysgeshpreyt far im al dos guts. fun vos zol er tsu ersht toyem zayn? un vifl un velkhe zakhn zol er aroyfleygn oyf zayn teler? oyfesn alts ken er dokh nit mit eyn mol. eyn sort maykhl vet im spraven. a tsveyt mol, vet er prubirn an ander sort maykhl. oder, er vet afile tsurikkumen tsum ershtn, un veln vider farzukhn, un afile betn mer. vi noent es iz dokh dos vort "eseyen" tsum "esn": shpayz farn moyekh, farn gayst, lehavdil farn gezunt un farn guf. azoy iz oykh mit di eseyen fun dr. klepfish. ikh leyen zayne tife un rirndike verk shoyn yorn in der yidisher prese. ikh fleg shtendik oysshnaydn zayne arbetn, un zey haltn in a spetsyeln konvert, vi oytsres -- un take gehoft, az er vet amol zey tsunoyfzamlen in a bukh. un azoy iz es take geshen. un vayzt zikh aroys, az dos iz gor der 5ter aza bukh in zayn serye bikher un eseyen vegn mizrekh eyropeishn yidntum. keyn yirbu. oyb mir zoln lemoshl araynkukn in der ershter esey "di papirene brik shtarker vi shtol un ayzn", leyenen mir vegn vi lebns vikhtik der etsem seyfer iz geven baym ashkenazishn yidn. yorshim flegn zikh tsumol krign iber ver vet bakumen dem tatns farmegn -- di sforim zayne, -- oder lekhol hapokhes, vi azoy me vet zikh mit zey teyln. nit nor iz do geven a frage fun opgebn koved dem seyfer, ober take araynbrengen hemshekhdikeyt, ven der seyfer vert ibergegebn fun dor tsu dor. haynt vu zet men azoyns? haynt vern gute yidishe bikher gor aroysgevorfn vi mist in mitn gas... yo, fun dr. klepfishes eseyen iz do a sakh tsu lernen. tsu lernen take vegn der groyskeyt un gebentshtkeyt fun yidishn shteyger lebn vos iz take a kval far doyres. zayn bukh aleyn, geshribn inem loshn fun mizrekh eyropeishn yidntum, iz nokh a sibe zikh tsu bakenen mit yidish loshn un lebn -- far di vos kenen dos (nokh) nit. un far di vos kenen ye, iz dos bukh take a kval vu durshtike kenen zikh dort derkvikn. vegn bakumen dem bukh, zet untn, nokh der englisher kitser. [English summary of the above:] For those who understand about Jewish life in Eastern Europe, -- and especially for those who don't, -- I would like to recommend the new book by Dr. Heszel Klepfisz "der kval far doyres == The Inexhaustible Wellspring". [- Author's translation in the inner book cover. I would have translated this as: "The Wellspring for Generations". All further translations are mine. L.B.] In the 600 pages of essays, he brings the past alive, and unites it to the present as a guide for the future. In the introduction, Dr. Klepfisz tells us why he returns again and again to the same topic of Eastern European Jewish civilization: "... because it is terrifyingly silent around this theme". We see this with respect to Yiddish language and culture, as well. In the 61 essays, he presents us with all-encompassing themes including: "Shmuel Ziglboym, The Son of Polish Jewry", "In the Footsteps of Reb Nakhman of Bratslav", "Nisn, the Month of Anticipation in Jewish Eastern European", "From Legend to Reality: Sore Bas-Toyvim", and others. He includes an 8 page crossreference to all the personalities mentioned in the essays. Although I haven't read all the essays, each will surely satiate the reader. Each will also tickle the palette and the reader will surely come back for more. Such are the precious gems of Dr. Klepfisz, which I have been reading for many years in the Yiddish press, and which I've also clipped out and saved. As an example, if we should look into the very first essay "Paper Bridges Stronger than Steel and Iron", we see how life-sustainingly important the Jewish book was for Ashkenazic Jewry. Heirs would often fight long and bitterly to gain possession of a deceased parent's book collection. We read this today, and watch as good Yiddish and Jewish books are thrown out in the streets with the garbage... Yes we may learn a lot from Dr. Klepfisz' essays written in Yiddish, in the language of Eastern European Jewry. In fact, this is one more good reason to learn Yiddish, for those who don't (yet) know. And for those that do know, this book is truly a wellspring for the thirsty among us. The book may be ordered for $27.00 (including postage) from: dem bukh ken men bashteln far $27.00 (arayngerekhnt far post) fun: (70 NIS in Israel) Dr. Heszel Klepfisz, Rehov Shakhray 25, Jerusalem. 96470. Israel. AUTHOR: Dr. Heszel Klepfisz, LANGUAGE: Yiddish TITLE: "Der Kval Far Doyres - Yidish Mizrekh Eyrope - Eseyen" PLACE: Jerusalem YEAR: 1997. FORMAT: 608 p; Includes 8 page cross-reference of persons PRICE: $27.00 (incl. Postage) Leybl Botwinik, Netanya. 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 30 Jun 1997 13:43:55 +0100 From: Percy Mett Subject: 'regional accent' Miriam Isaacs writes in [Vol 7.026]: >tapes of Dzigan, the Yiddish comedian. He is funny and speaks with a >wonderful regional accent that you need to listen to - balancing out the >Standard, which often lacks some of the fun and musicality of Yiddish. I can't believe I am reading this! How can you call the pronunciation of Yiddish in the Polish/W Galician manner- the most popular pronuciation of Yiddish both in the interwar years and nowadays- as 'regional' ? You might as well call my London pronunciation of English 'regional'. It may not be the YIVO Standard, but it can hardly be called regional. perets mett 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 03 Jul 97 06:27:15 EDT From: abraham brumberg <102142.2545@CompuServe.COM> Subject: future of Yiddish If in the l940s and l950s--and perhaps a decade earlier--any serious student of Yiddish had the courage to consider the future of Yiddish, and to draw the right conclusions, he or she would have had to close shop and turn to other pursuits and avocations. You need not have been endowed with prophetic powers in the late l950s to know that whatever path Yiddish might take, it would not be back to the vibrant world of the late l9th and especially the first half of the twentieth century. Cozy reassurances from various platforms such as the Congress of Jewish Culture or the regular Third Seders of the Workmen's Circle Schools or in the pages of DER TOG or FORVERTS , or at yearly concerts of various left-wing mandolin orchestras were de rigeur, but I suspect that even those who desperately cherished such beliefs found it in their hearts of hearts rather difficult to sustain them. (On a personal note, I might observe that during all those years of my own Yiddish activities--YUGNTRUF, "Boiberik," directing and participating in Yiddish plays, etc.-- I knew at most six young people born in the United States who spoke Yiddish altogether freely.) It's not that most of us succumbed to wishful thinking (though of course there was some of it around), but simply because we were willing to suspend our doubts and soldier on. And also because we loved doing what we did. The same goes for the Uriel and Bea Weinreich "Say It in Yiddish" booklet. I doubt if they ever entertained the hope that some itinerant American Jew, armed with the booklet and finding himself, say, in Rome or Stockholm or Kyoto would stop a passer-by and ask "zogt mir, reb id, vu ken ikh do koyfn a funt kartofl?," or, in the port, "vifl an erakh kost a shifskarte keyn honolulu?' They composed the booklet not as a guide to thousands of travelers throughout the world, but simply to confirm the fact that Yiddish was a modern llanguage MIT ANDERE TSUGLAYKH, that it merits respect and not only Leo Rosten humoresques, and that it shoulkd remain a work perhaps for other DOYRES to discover and remember. All other speculations, anathemas` and pilpul can be safely put to rest. Abraham Brumberg 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 3 Jul 1997 16:01:15 +0200 (MET DST) From: Hugh Denman Subject: Birnbaum's _Yiddish Phrase Book_ Our shames is, of course, quite right that more than enough has been said on the topic of the Weinreich phrase-book recently. However, before the discussion is definitively brought to a close, I think Mendelyaner should know that, pace Dover and one of the contributors to the discussion, Uriel and Beatrice Weinreich, _Say It in Yiddish_ was NOT "the first extensive serious phrase book ever compiled for Yiddish". Sitting next to it on my shelf is: Solomon A. Birnbaum, _Yiddish Phrase Book_, [London]: Linguaphone Institute and The Jewish Committee for Relief Abroad, [1945], 87 pp. Birnbaum's book has about half the number of pages of that by the Weinreichs, but since the phrases are in transcription only he manages to get about twice as much material onto the page, so that the book is just as extensive and is most certainly serious. As one would expect from Birnbaum, the transcription system (supposedly for the untutored layman) is rebarbative in appearance and hard to use, but, once penetrated, accurate and "interdialectal", i.e. capable of being read both in poylish and litvish yidish. The immediate purpose of publication was to help relief workers communicate with Holocaust survivors and the phraseology offered is sober and practical in character without any casinos, airports or golf clubs. Despite the involvement of Linguaphone there is no mention of there ever having been an accompanying grammophone record. Transcribed back into yidishe oysyes it could still be useful for learners today. I suspect it was never very widely distributed and that not only Dover but also the Weinreichs were unaware of its existence in 1958. Hugh Denman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.034