Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 7.065 September 24, 1997 1) Asking for Gems (Marianne Luban) 2) a shenere besere velt (elye palevsky) 3) Internatsyonal (Chana and Yosl Mlotek) 4) Taking Yiddish seriously (Miriam Isaacs) 5) az me lebt (Michael Steinlauf) 6) YIVO Fellowships for 1998 (Michael Steinlauf) 7) Der Bavebter Yid (Raphael Finkel) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 12:51:28 -0500 From: Saida Subject: Asking for Gems Sholom Aleichem, Allow me to introduce myself. I am a Yiddish speaker born after WWII. I live in St. Paul, Minnesota. Besides Jewish history and culture, my interests, generally, lie in the Ancient Near East and I moderate a mailing list devoted to the study of ancient Egypt. Today I have a question and a request. I do have a Yiddish dictionary here, but it is not very comprehensive at all. Has anyone ever heard the word "haspel"? It is a surname, but what does it mean? Also, can anyone give me the names of some gem stones in Yiddish? I don't mean commonly-known items like diamant or rubenstein, but some that are a bit more obscure, including the semi-precious stones. Some chutzpah, eh? It's like saying to a complete stranger "My name is so-and-so and now will you kindly walk to the corner grocery and buy me a loaf of bread, please? Thanks." Ah, well, nisht kein kishkes, nisht kein kovod. Marianne Luban 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 Sep 1997 16:11:49 -0400 (EDT) From: EPalevsky1@aol.com Subject: a shenere besere velt dem khaver vishner an entfer: tsu dos heyst a shenere un besere velt tsi me ruft dos on b'loshn hadas tikun olam, farnemen mir zikh nokh alts mit der zelbiker yidisher avoyde. mir zaynen veltlekhe mentshn, gleybike yidn mit ofene oygn. elye palevsky 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 08:21:18 -0400 (EDT) From: EMlotek@aol.com Subject: Internatsyonal The great poet H. Leivick also translated the "Internatsyonal:" Shteyt oyf, ir knekht fun ale lender, Fun klem, fun hunger un fun noyt; Roymt op dem shinder un dem shender, Tsum kamf oyf lebn un oyf toyt. Di alte velt fun gvald un leydn Tseshtern veln mir biz grund, Un fray, un glaykh in glik un freydn Farshnaydn veln mir a bund. Dos vet zayn shoyn der letster Un antsheydener krig, Mit dem internatsyonal Veln mir geyn un kumen tsum zig. Mir kumen on mit gvure-trit; Mir ale arbeter armeyen, Der raykher shnaydt vos mir farzeyen, Itst monen mir oykh undzer shnit. Der ruf un kamf git mut dem midn, Un makht im shtark tsum alem greyt; Tseblozt dem flam un lomir shmidn, Kol-zman dos ayzn flakert royt. Dos vet zayn... (Printed in "Lomir zingen", compiled by Michel Gelbart, Workmen's Circle, l938-9) Chana and Yosl Mlotek 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 09:59:34 -0400 (EDT) From: Miriam Isaacs Subject: Taking Yiddish seriously Please help. When it comes to Yiddish learning, let's start at home. It has become increasingly apparent to me that even those who care about Yiddish don't care enough to keep up a proper front. For example, more and more people think that Moyshe Kapoyer was really Moyshe Kapore. I actually heard this repeated twice at a public conference. Someone else recently told me of someone "shleping Nakhes" from his kids. The saddest blow was to see, in a letter from YIVO, of all places the new Executive Director signing his Yiddish name upside down on the one paragraph in Yiddish tagged on the the very end of a very long letter that was largely pretending that Yiddish was returning to Poland. As if... Yiddish goes from right to left, not upside-down. My Yiddish students here know better after two weeks of study. Moyshe Kapoyer. Miriam Isaacs 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 10:51:20 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Steinlauf Subject: az me lebt Az me lebt, derlebt men in Mendele on a shir hokhmes, interpretatsyes, hamtsoes... Having gone away on vacation for some weeks, I've only just slogged my way through old mail, including the stacks of Mendele responses to my request for help in translating the above. I've responded personally to personal responses, but would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants in the fascinating Mendele thread this question produced. Un vi azoy vel ikh dos iberzetsn sof kol sof? Fort a shayle... Michael Steinlauf New York 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 10:57:52 -0400 (EDT) From: Michael Steinlauf Subject: YIVO Fellowships for 1998 YIVO Institute for Jewish Research 1997-1998 Fellowships Rose and Isidore Drench Memorial Fellowship This fellowship is dedicated to American Jewish History. Special consideration will be given to scholars working on some aspect of the Jewish Labor Movement. The fellowship is for a period of one to three months during 1998, and carries a stipend of $2,000. Prof. Bernard Choseed Memorial Fellowship This fellowship helps support original research in the field of East European Jewish Studies. The fellowship, which carries a stipend of $5,000, is for a period of one to three months during the Spring semester of 1998 to conduct research at YIVO's Library and Archives. Vivian Lefsky Hort Memorial Fellowship This fellowship helps support original research in the field of Yiddish Literature. The fellowship, which carries a stipend of $1,500, is for a period of one to three months during 1998 to conduct research at YIVO's Library and Archives. Maria Salit-Gitelson Tell Memorial Fellowship This fellowship helps support research in the field of Lithuanian Jewish History, the city of Vilnius in particular. The fellowship, which carries a stipend of $1,500, is for a period of one to three months during the Spring semester of 1998 to conduct research at YIVO's Library and Archives. Natalie and Mendel Racolin Memorial Fellowship This fellowship helps support original research in the field of East European Jewish History. The fellowship, which carries a stipend of $1,500, is for a period of one to three months during the Spring semester of 1998 to conduct research at YIVO's Library and Archives. Irving D. Klein Memorial Fellowship This fellowship is for research in the history of Yiddish education in the Americas. This includes the creation of Yiddish school networks, camps and other educational and social organizations for youth. A stipend of $1,500 is for a period of one to three months during the Spring semester of 1998. Recipients of these fellowships are expected to deliver a public lecture based on their research and submit a paper for possible publication in the YIVO Annual or YIVO-bleter. Applicants should send (or fax) a resume, two letters of support, and a research proposal of no more than three pages to: Dr. Allan L. Nadler, Director of Research YIVO Institute for Jewish Research 555 West 57th Street New York, NY 10019 tel: (212) 246-6080 fax: (212) 292-1892 Postmark deadline: December 1, 1997 Michael Steinlauf New York 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 24 Sep 1997 14:48:45 -0400 (EDT) From: Raphael Finkel Subject: Der Bavebter Yid m'hot enlekh antdekt di kale... der bavebter yid 1:2 der yidisher literarisher vebzhurnal vebadres: http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/bavebter/ in undzer tsveytn numer: poezye; iberzetsungen fun Heine un Lewis Carroll, un a yungermans a shokrndike konfesye. kumt tsu gast! mir zukhn material afn dritn numer, vos vet aroys iy"h sof detsember. a gut, gezunt yor alemen. redaktsye, der bavebter yid bergez01@popmail.med.nyu.edu, raphael@cs.uky.edu Der Bavebter Yid 1:2, the second issue of our nearly world-renowned Yiddish literary journal, is ready for your reading pleasure. The address: . Leshone toyve! Sholem Berger, New York Refoyl Finkel, Lexington ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 7.065