Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.102 December 24, 1998 1) bleyketsn (Wolf Krakowski) 2) vlakh, etc. (Ruth Goodman) 3) farvarfn (Noyekh Miller) 4) song (Bernard Gershen) 5) Cole Porter on Yiddish melody (Sema Chaimovitz Menora) 6) Maurice Evans and the Jewish stage (Samuel Millman) 7) bod (Arre Komar) 8) A sheynem dank (Sylvia Schleimer) 9) Learning Yiddish in Tel Aviv (Robert Werman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 11:29:45 -0500 (EST) From: "Kame'a Media" Subject: bleyketsn Dear Mendele: I am seeking a translation of the word , a word, as I understand it, for Christian sacred music, carols and the like. Wolf Krakowski 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 08:09:30 -0500 (EST) From: RuthFG@aol.com Subject: words Does anyone know the definitions of the following Yiddish words: vlakh, grabia, berlinkes, and zidlung? Thanks, Ruth Goodman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1998 14:54:44 -0500 From: "N. Miller" Subject: farvarfn Sholem Aleykhem writes about "farvarfn gendz". The general meaning of the term is clear enough from its context (to lay in a flock of geese for fattening before slaughter), but this doesn't very closely match any of the definitions in Harkavy or Weinreich. A common enough occurrence, I guess. Still, if anyone has an idea as to how this particular usage came about I'd like to read it. Noyekh Miller 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 01:13:48 -0500 (EST) From: gershen1@juno.com Subject: Song A song was heard today on a radio station on Long Island. Unfortunately I do not know the radio station call letters. However, the song was about a Jewish grandmother who is telling her grandchild about various Jewish foods. A later stanza tells that the grandmother has moved to California and now proposes that he eat health food. Does anyone know about this song, and where I can obtain a tape or CD? Many thanks. Bernard Gershen 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 02:23:48 -0500 (EST) From: Lights4607@aol.com Subject: Cole Porter on Yiddish melody The Sunday, December 13 Chicago Tribune book section, in a review of "It Happened on Broadway: An Oral Historyof the Great White Way" by Myrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer, makes reference to a quote by composer Maury Yeston. Yeston said "I don't think Cole Porter was kidding when he said to Richard Rodgers, ' You know, I think I discovered the secret of great songwriting in America.' "And Rodgers asked, 'what is it?' " 'Yiddish Melody.' " Sema Chaimovitz Menora Chicago, Illinois 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 21:56:46 -0500 (EST) From: MILLPERSON@aol.com Subject: Maurice Evans and the Jewish stage Regarding Mr. Berkowitz' letter, on the subject of Mendele as a restrictive club, I, for one, agree that anyone interested in Yiddish should be welcome in Mendele, whether or not he/she is fluent in the language, and this, notwithstanding the fact that I am , having been raised in a Yiddish speaking home so that Yiddish was my first language. However, I might respectfully point out that Maurice Evans never performed on the Jewish stage, at least not to my knowledge. I think he meant Maurice Schwartz. Incidentally, if Mr. Berkowitz went to the shows on Second Avenue during the early 1940's, he probably saw me perform as a child actor, with Menashe Skulnick, Molly Picon, et al. Samuel Millman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 01:20:11 -0500 (EST) From: Arthur Komar Subject: bod The question has arisen as to why the word bod occurs in the phrase : hob im in bod. It is clear that a bath is not exactly a horific or even negative place to be. It is my understanding that the confusion arises due to the fact that the Yidish word bod actually is a near homonym for two distinct germanic words: bad (bath) and boden (ground or earth) and it is the latter meaning that was originally intended. My suspicion is that the original expression was: hob im in bodn. But with the slurring or swollowing of the final n the intended meaning of: he can go to hell became distorted or confused. I certainly don't buy the proposed derivation based on bawdy house, since that is too far off from the clear intent of the expression. Siz epis a bisele farfetched. Arre Komar 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 14:51:21 -0500 (EST) From: Sylvia Schleimer Subject: A sheynem dank Ikh bin nit a gelernte yidishiste, ober ikh shep a sakh vargenign fun leyenen ales vus unzere gelernte fraynt oyf mendele shikn far alemen tsu leyenen. Yeden vort is tsu mir zeyer tayer. Vil ikh aych ale gibn a groysn dank, far di naches vos ikh shep fun ayere verter, un ayer gedankn. Tsu mir vet di Yiddishe shprakh ooyf eybik lebn! Lang zoln mir ale lebn! A freylikhen Hanukkah, un a gesindte nayen yor tsu ale. Sylvia Schleimer 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 04:33:23 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Werman Subject: Learning Yiddish in Tel Aviv Some 110 employees of the Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality have begun learning Yiddish. The course of study is being organized and partially sponsored by the Lerner Fund, whose goal it is to encourage the rejuvenation of Yiddish. The Lerner Fund hopes to interest other places of employment in organizing Yiddish classes, as well. Robert Werman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.102 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://metalab.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html