Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.061 September 19, 1997 1) Max Rosenfeld (A. Cassel) 2) Yiddish Spoken - at Israeli Culture (Ellis Shuman) 3) Yiddish poem for gravestone (Gertrude Dubrovsky) 4) Poem for Headstone (Ellen Cassedy) 5) "rokhnye" (Meyshe-Yankl Sweet) 6) The Internationale in Yiddish? (Ronald Florence) 7) strong language (leon rosenberg) 8) exodus 1947 (Peter Kluehs) 9) "Yankel der Modner" (Stan Wernick) 10) "Yiddish Spoken Here", Web Mag Article (Mark David) 11) Yiddish as a part of spoken Alsatian (Dan Leeson) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:16:40 -0400 From: "A. Cassel" Subject: Max Rosenfeld Philadelphia lost a very good friend this week with the passing of Max Rosenfeld, a teacher, translator and lover of Yiddish. Max, 86, was largely a self-taught scholar, who more than made up in commonsense wisdom, warmth and enthusiasm for whatever he lacked in advanced degrees. He authored four books and translated 25 others, most recently producing two volumes of translated stories from the Yiddish-American press: "Pushcarts and Dreamers" and "New Yorkish". Earlier this year, Philadelphia's Sholem Aleichem Club published a collection of his essays and speeches, many of them written for the magazine Jewish Currents, in a volume titled "Festivals, Folklore and Philosophy: A secularist revisits Jewish tradition." After receiving a traditional kheder education in South Philadelphia, Max graduated from Central High School and enrolled at Temple University. But the Depression forced him to drop out to help support his family. He later enrolled at Gratz College and graduated in 1932 with a degree in education. Teaching jobs were few, so he worked as a department store clerk, an office manager and as a printer. During World War II, he worked in an aircraft defense plant until 1946, when he and his brother opened a printing and direct-mail business. Ten years later, he began teaching and writing full time, becoming the director of the Sholem Aleichem Folkshul in Philadelphia and a teacher at Gratz. Even in recent years and in declining health, he continued to offer some of the last Yiddish literature classes available to the general public in Philadelphia. And he was generous beyond measure with his time and knowlege, offering a struggling student of Yiddish student like me a level of help and encouragement that no formal academy could match. His contribution to Yiddish and Yiddishkeit was enormous, and he will be sorely missed. Koved zayn ondenk. A. Cassel 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 15 Sep 97 23:25:14 -0400 From: Ellis Shuman Subject: Yiddish Spoken - at Israeli Culture "Yiddish Spoken Here" is the title of this week's feature story, at a website that deals with promoting the Israel that we love and cherish - from its better side. The address is: http://israeliculture.miningco.com Highlighted this week is the Yiddish language, and how the Internet is helping its revival. Yiddishkeit, Yiddish theater and a Yiddish festival - all part of a growing phenomenom. Farshtaist? Ellis Shuman Moshav Neve Ilan, Israel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 14:43:34 -0400 (EDT) From: GDubrovsky@aol.com Subject: Yiddish poem for gravestone. One of my Farmingdale farmers was a poet, and a reader of poetry. On his wife's tombstone, he inscribed a verse from Yehoash. I am not sure of the poem it comes from and would like to hear from anyone who knows it. The verse is as follows: Ikh derman zikh fun barg fun tsusheydn, vi ersht nekhtn, zayn duft hut geduft. un mayn oyg is farlufn mit trern, un dos trer is farlufn mit blut. What a lovely thing to do, to inscribe a Yiddish poem on your mother's marker. Gertrude Dubrovsky 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 16:38:51 -0400 (EDT) From: CassBlum@aol.com Subject: Poem for Headstone Re: Barry Megdal's request for ideas for a poem for his mother's headstone [7.060], I wonder whether the famous Peretz poem might be appropriate: Shteyt in feld a beymele, Hot es grine tsvaygelech, Zitst af dem a feygele, Macht es tsu di eygelech. Af di grine tsvaygelech Vakst a goldn epele, Mach tsu, mayn kind, di eygelech, a brokhe af dayn kepele. Maybe just the last two lines would be nice. Or maybe another lullabye would seem right. Best wishes in finding something -- it's a lovely idea. Ellen Cassedy Bethesda, MD 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997 19:35:22 -0500 From: "Michael J. Sweet" Subject: "rokhnye" Is anyone familiar with the word "rokhnye" meaning a dilapidated building? I heard this from a 74 y.o. born in Galitzia, who knew it from her mother. Could this be from "rokh," meaning castle, with "nye" as a disparaging suffix? Meyshe-Yankl Sweet 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 10:47:45 -0400 From: ron@mlfarm.com (Ronald Florence) Subject: The Internationale in Yiddish? I'd appreciate if anyone has a transcription of The Internationale in Yiddish. Thanks, Ronald Florence Stonington, CT 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 09:43:07 -0700 From: leon t rosenberg Subject: strong language Re strong language [7.059]. 1. Svinya - probably Russian. 2. An oisvorf - strange word, since the literal translation is relatively inoffensive, but certainly designates a bad person. leon rosenberg 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 97 18:37:04 -0500 From: pelokoha@t-online.de (Peter Kluehs) Subject: exodus 1947 in undzer televizye hot men norvos gevizn dem film "exodus 1947" fun cicada films new york, zeyer an interesante un protimdike dokumentatsye vegn dem aliya-shif exodus vos di englender mit 50 yor tsurik hobn nisht gelozt arayn in palestine un geshikt tsurik keyn hamburg mit an erekh 4000 oylim, yidn fun di lagers far displaced persons in daytshland. azoy hob ikh zikh oykh dervust, az nisht-visndik un nisht-vilendik, der englisher oysernminister aneurin bevin hot demolt davke gepoyelt, az di internatsionale shtimung hot bald mit mazl gefirt tsu der UNO-rezolutsye vegn der shafung fun medinas israel in a teyl fun palestine. in backnang, noent tsu stuttgart, vu ikh hob gevoynt etlekhe yorn, iz oykh geven a DP-lager far yidn fun mizrekh europe, geratevete fun di kontsentratsye lagern. efsher veyst emetser tsi s'iz faran a datn-base mit protim fun di ale DP- lagern do in mayrev daytshland? ikh hob shoyn gefregt dem hoypt arkhivar fun der shtot backnang, ober on hatslokhe. vayzt zikh aroys, az ale dokumentn zaynen gekumen keyn amerike ven di amerikaner hobn farmakht dos lager inem yor 1950. a sheynem dank foroys! peter kluehs wehrheim in di taunus-berg 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 16:07:01 -0700 From: Stanley Wernick Subject: "Yankel der Modner"- a story my grandmother told many years ago Amol, a linger tsait trurik, hot geven a kleiner shtetl in Smolensk gubernya noyent tsu Minsk. The nomen fun di shtetl is geven Chichevkah. In Chivchevkah hot gevaint a man un zein nomen is geven "Yankel der Modner". Ein tag hot Yankel geshtanen in fornt fun dem shule un er hot gezogt tsu alemen, "Haint baynacht vel ikh arop shlepen di levoneh" . Aleh di menchen vos hoben gehert hoben gelacht un gelacht. Zogt Yankel, "Aleh kumen tsu dem shule haint banacht tsen a zaiger un ikh vel vaisen vi ikh vil arop shlepen di levoneh". Es kumt tsen a zaiger un aleh di menchen fun shtetl hoben gekumen tsu dem shule un hot gezen Yankel af a groiser kestel mit a langer strik un er shtait un kukt afn levone mit dem strik in hant. Er stait un kukt un kukt a gantzer sho un tut gornisht. A man fregt Yankel, "Nu, far vos shlept er nit arop di levoneh?" Zogt Yankel"Tchepet on un ikh vil arop shlepen". Please forgive the grammar but I tried to remember the story before it left my memory. I wanted to share it with all my friends and hope someone will polish up my awful writing. Stan Wernick Albuquerque, NM 10)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 18 Sep 1997 22:52:08 -0400 From: "Mark H. David" Subject: "Yiddish Spoken Here", Web Mag Article In English-language Israeli web magazine features an article by Ellis Shuman about Yiddish in Israel and on the Web that it may interest some of us to read. Follow the link named "Yiddish Spoken Here" at the web site for Israeli Culture: http://israeliculture.miningco.com This article's appearance may well be time-limited. Mark David Brookline, Mass. 11)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 19 Sep 1997 00:14:40 EDT From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@admin.fhda.edu" Subject: Yiddish as a part of spoken Alsatian While spending much of the summer in Alsace (trying to figure out the mysteries of Western Yiddish), I noticed in the local newspaper (Derniere Nouvelles d'Alsace, Wednesday, 9 July, 1997) an article speaking of an exposition being held in the museum of Pfaffenhoffen. The lead-in to the article read "Le yiddisch dans le dialecte alsacien." It is a brief article, but it also contains a cartoon with two elderly men about to enter into a fistfight with one saying, "DU BISCH E ALTER B'HEIME!" to which the other responds, "UN DU E KALOUMES!" The text below the cartoon reads "Les mots yiddisch dans le dialecte alsacien repertories par Edmond Jung beneficient de la <> humoristique de Claude Buret." (Sorry, my internet character set does not permit diacritical marks.) The actual text of the newspaper article reads as follows: [Introduction] Le musee de l'imagerie populaire de Pfaffenhoffen present actuellement une exposition d'ete consacree au <>. Le professeur Edmond Jung y montre plus de 200 maximes joliment illustrees par Claude Buret. [Text of article] Au fil des ans, le dialecte alsacien a ete enrichi par des nombreuses langues, dont le francais (il existe plus de 4,000 mots), l'arabe, l'anglais et aussi le yiddisch. C'est ainsi qu'apres un recent sejour en Israel, leprofesseur Edmond Jung, agrege de grammaire, a repertorie plusde 200 mots d'origines yiddisch et en a fait une etude consignee dans un cahier de musee. Parmi les mots et expressions releves, on en trouve de truculents, tous entres dans le vocabulaire familier dialectal. Notamment <> (derriere), <> (fou), <> (en faillite), <> (casse), <> (voyou), <> (ivre), <> (idiot) ou encore <> (camelote) et <> (dormir). A Pfaffenhoffen, 70 de ces mots ont ete illustrees par l'artiste-peintre Claude Buret qui n'a rien perdu de son humour et de son talent. Ces dessins-aquarelles sont exposes au musee et sont a vendre. Apres avoir visite l'exposition, on pourra egalement decouvrir la ville de Pfaffenhoffen et sa synagogue, sans doute la plus vieille d'Alsace restee intact, dont la restauration est en cours sans oublier a 3 km le cimitiere israelite d'Ettendorf, un des plus anciens de la region. For those who do not have French, the article speaks of the fact that the Alsatian dialect is enriched with a number of languages including about 4,000 words of French, some Arabic, English and perhaps 200 words of Yiddish. A list of about 10 is given which, for Mendele members needs little explanation. Reference is made to an exhibition in the village of Pfaffenhoffen of cartoons by the artist Claude Buret. A suggestion is made that, after visiting the exposition, a visit of the village of Pfaffendorf itself will allow one to discover the synagogue, one of the most ancient in Alsace that remains intact. Three km away, one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries of the region may be found in the village of Ettendorf. The exposition ended Sept. 15 and a book by Professor Jung dedicated to Yiddish was on sale for 15 francs. Dan Leeson, Rosanne Leeson Los Altos, California ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.061