Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.044 August 23, 1998 1) Birds and flowers; Shvartse muzik; "Zibn Gute Yor" (Feygl Infeld Glezer) 2) folks froi, paner (Itsik Shteyn) 3) ahlevescu (Mel Poretz) 4) Shprintze (Shprintze Willis) 5) Yiddish as a foreign language (Yosef Gilboa) 6) Yiddish as a foreign language (Fred Sherman) 7) retraction (Yosef Gilboa) 8) koshere fodem (Yankel Kurtzman) 9) "A Suke A Kleyne" (R. Lea Singer) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 12:20:59 -0400 (EDT) From: yiddish1@juno.com (Feigl I Glaser) Subject: On Birds and Flowers; Shvartse muzik;"Zibn Gute Yor" ZIBN GUTE YOR UN OSTROLENKER IZKOR BUKH Oyf Jon Levitow's onfrage vegn dem lid "Zibn Gute Yor", shlog ikh for ir zolt iberkukn dos bukh "Perl fun Yidishn lid" fun Khane un Josl Mlotek.˙ Oyf zaytl 264 iz faran dos lid "vu zaynen mayne zibn gute yor?" fun Dovid Meyerowitz (1867-1943), nit fun Rumszynskin.˙ Dos Ostrolenker "Yizkor Bukh" kent ir oyf zikher gefinen in YIVO archiv, in New York. A BLUM ODER A FOYGL Ikh hob groyse sfeykes vegn Mikhl Herzog's teorye vegn "feygl un binen", (pardon me: "birds and flowers (feygl un blumen)".˙ Mayn nomen iz Feygl (me hot mikh gerufn Feygele) un s'gantse lebn hob ikh getrakht az der nomen kumt fun a foygl.˙ Un hayoys mayn letster nomen iz geven Infeld, hobn fraynd zikh gevitslt az "ikh bin a fray feygele in-feld".˙ Itst kumt fraynd Herzog un vil mikh gor farvandlen in a blum (a violet oder fiolke) vos vet mit der tsayt farvyanet vern.˙ Mir shaynt az der nomen shtamt fun "foygl" (azoy vi fun boyg - bayg un fun hoykh - haykh). Es kumt mir oys az es iz "far-fetched" tsu zogn az es kumt fun daytshn vort "Voeglein", a variant fun "violet".˙ Ikh bin ober nit keyn linguistke. Dokh blayb ikh a faygele in feld. Presto! (a feygele -- a taybele, a shvelbele, a soloveytshikl, a vorobaytshikl oder an ander sort feygele). SHVARTSE MUZIK To Henie:˙ Ikh farshtey az iz hot a groysn problem. "Negershe", oder "negerishe" muzik" volt geven der rikhtiker Yidisher oysdruk, ober es iz take politish nit onnembar. " Shvarts" iz take nit sheyn dos tsu rufn. Dem emes-zogndik meynt "shvarts" un "neger" (oder negro)˙ di zelbe zakh -- di kolir shvarts.˙ Iz Efsher volt geven a guter oysveg dos tsu rufn "Afro-muzik", nisht meynendik derbay davke Afrikaner muzik, nor muzik geshafn fun opshtamike fun afrike, oder mit vortslen in Afrike?˙ S'iz take poshet a gedank.˙ Zay azoy gut, loz mir visn vos ir hot bashlostn. Beste grusn, Feygl Infeld Glezer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1998 08:37:57 EDT >From shteyn@juno.com Mon Aug 17 08:34:41 1998 Subject: folks froi To Jon Levitov [08.042]: 1) loyt mayn meynung is a folks froi a pushete froi fun folk, velkhe, hagam zi hot nit kayn meditsinishe bildung, is zi a shtikel doktor, a "royfe", un mentshen fleygen ir mit fartroyen folgen; 2)"Zachen fun paner gevorfen in vaser" meynt, az heyoys ayer kroyve iz arayngefalen tsu di bolshevikes, hot zi gemust likvidiren say farmegn, say dokumenten, say geld,velkhe hobn zi gekont kompromitiren in di oygen fun di roite. vi bavust ,iz di shtut vohin zi is antlofen far di daytshn in 1940 geven unter di russn." Paner" shtamt mistome fun frantsoizishn "panier", vus badayt say a koyber, say a handtash; 3)ikh volt zikh unternemen deshifriren ayere brif, oyb di kopiyes zaynen genug klur un di shires distantsirt nisht veniger vi 2 cm. shikt mir arayn, bitte, ayer haskume, vel ikh aykh shiken mayn adresse. ˙˙ Mit koved, Itsik Shteyn 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1998 15:21:19 -0400 (EDT) From: EMPE@aol.com Subject: ahlevescu Another expression of my late mother's which seem to pop up like winter crocus. I was on the beach last week and pointed out to my wife a man whose suntan was a shade or two less than cordovan brown. With apologies for the phonetic recall of this expression, I said, "Ehr iz schvartz azoy vee ahn ahlevescu." I always took this to be the Yiddish equivalent of "black as a berry," but I'm sure there is a more literate translation out there somewhere.˙ Zeit gezunt un shtark. Mel Poretz˙ 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1998 19:43:13 -0400 (EDT) From: WILLIS@BINAH.CC.BRANDEIS.EDU Subject: Shprintze I have been reading with interest the various speculations on the origin of my name, SHprintze. I have heard from several sources (including Mordkhe Shector) that it originates from Esperanza. Did anyone find out about its possible origins as a bird name? And while I'm asking - my middle name is Maryasi and I was wondering if anyone knows of its origin. Those interested might be amused that my name has been converted into the nicknames "Shpritz" and the more americanized "Shprintzie." Shprintze Willis 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 04:42:51 -0400 (EDT) From: AJ Gilboa Subject: Yiddish as a foreign language In response to Ellen Prince [08.043]: I wouldn't worry. As children in the US, we learned "literary" and Biblical Hebrew. Making the switch to "real" Hebrew as she is spoke was easy once we were engulfed in a total Hebrew experience in Israel.˙ Having a solid foundation in the source literature and grammar was certainly not a disadvantage. The question is, of course, where one finds a total Yiddish environment. Meanwhile, teaching "academic" Yiddish at least opens the gates to the rich Yiddish literature in the original. Yosef Gilboa 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 00:58:54 -0400 (EDT) From: Fred Sherman Subject: Yiddish as a foreign language In response to Ellen Prince [08.043]: If you wouldn't mind stepping back on the soapbox, what is your best scenario for a desirable Yiddish future? I don't look forward to 'Victorian Yiddish' either, but I'm trying to visualize a good alternative. Fred Sherman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 06:58:12 -0400 (EDT) From: AJ Gilboa Subject: a retraction Michael Shimshoni is absolutely correct. My mistake. I just spoke to Dr. Yosef Burg, who was a Cabinet Minister in almost all of Israel's governments since 1948.˙ He confirms that Yiddish expressions were used on occasion and even quoted a few of Ben Gurion's sentences verbatim (What a memory!). But he is quite definite that Yiddish was never used as the spoken language in Government meetings. Some of you may be aware of Burg's Friday afternoon radio program in Yiddish on parashat hashavu'a. Incidentally, Burg claims that he did not know Yiddish until he was 30. So there is hope for all of us! Sorry for the misinformation. Nevertheless, the fact is that even the great anti-Yiddishist, BenGurion, could not wean himself completely from Yiddish. Yosef Gilboa 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 15:13:21 -0400 (EDT) From: "Gilda and Bob Kurtzman" Subject: koshere fodem Deena Mersky says about her mother and "koshere fodem" that "in her memory the phrase referred to a wrap, to cover something less than acceptable, usually some sort of hypocrisy or cunning at worst, or perhaps inadequacy, to be somewhat kinder." Koshere fodem reminds me of a similar phrase an old friend would use whenever a religious person would hide hypocracy and unethical behavior behind.a religious mien. He would say: Ehr iz a tzadik in pelz. He is a pious person wrapped in a fur cape to cover his immorality. It is a strong statement against religiosity that hides hypocracy and immorality.˙ Zei mir gezint! Yankel˙ Kurtzman 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 10:01:27 -0400 (EDT) From: RivkaNet@aol.com Subject: A Suke A Kleyne Text by Avrom Reisen: A suke a kleyne Fun breter gemeyne Hob ikh koym mit tsores gemakht! Gedekt dem dakh Mit a bisele skhakh - Un ikh zits in ir sukes bay nakht. I built my suke out of logs, covered it with branches, and will sit in it Sukes night. R. Lea Singer ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.044 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html