Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.128 February 9, 1999 1) a grus fun Repino! (Martin Horwitz) 2) Line from a play (Bob Werman) 3) New Jewish Museum in Paris and Yiddish (Marvin Meyer Engel) 4) articles from socialist press (Gerben Zaagsma) 5) Yiddish programs in synagogues (Morrie Feller) 6) relatives and horseshoes (elye palevsky) 7) seminar in Jerusalem (Avraham Novershtern) 8) shtat (Mordkhe Schaechter) 9) yiska (Jan Jonk) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 01:40:05 -0500 (EST) From: hillel@infopro.spb.su Subject: a grus fun Repino! A grus fun Repino (lebn Peterburg!) Ikh bin do afn Hillel-seminar in a pansionat(Russitsizm?) 101 kilometr fun Peterburg. Siz do 200 yinge idishe studentn un yunge layt fun dem gantsn gevezenem Sovetn-farband. Zey lernen vi azoy tsu firn a Seder (nokh dem zey veln aroysfirn fun zeyere heymshtet inkleyne shtetlekh oder shtet um makhn far di idn dortn a Seder Pesakh. Siz shreklekh interesant tsu zehen vi azoy ernst zey nemen tsu der zakh (vos vest du tuen oyb an alter mentch git an entfer af a frage un vil redn far tvantsik minut? Nu,in Lemberg ven mir zenen geven in Drogobych hobn mir bloyz gezogt "a dank"un gegangen vayter!) Zey hobn limud (toyre, parshe fun der vokh, tfilah (ikh hobn gehalt a shmues vegn di "difference" tsvishn "prayer" af eynglish, tfilah af hebreyish, davenen af idish, un "molitsya" oder "molitva" af rusish un genutst mosholim fun rusishe poeziye). Ober nisht dem bin ikh oysn,di ruakh do tsvishn di inge layt iz a mechayeh tsu zehen! Fun Tashkent, fun Kharkov, fun Kiev, fun Lemberg, fun Bryansk, fun Keshenev, fun Odes, fun Omsk (in Sibir!) zey kimen tsuzamen tsu redn vegn vi azoy tsu makhn a fule idish lebn bay zikh in shtot. Un in der ovnt di farshidene kolektivn makhn spektakln un muzik-sho. Siz geven zeyer a sheferishe spektakl vos di yunge layt fun Kiev hobn gemakht af material fun Peretsn "Khsidishe mayses", say di ernste vi "Drei matones" say komishe. Nu, s'iz do a sakh mer tsu ibegebn. Ikh bin doh tsu gefinen proektn vos undzer Fond (the Jewish Community Development Fund in Russia and Ukraine) ken shtitsn un ven ikh hob gezen az emetser fun zey krignt Mendele, 'khob gevolt a grus ibergebn fun vaytn, vaytn Rusland. Greetings from Repino (near Petersburg) I am here at a Hillel-seminar which has brought together 200 young Jews from all over the former Soviet Union for a week,to study (the parshe of the week, Jewish mysticism,how to make a Jewish web site and find Jewish mateiral on the web,etc.)aand mainly,how to lead a Seder in order to then go back to theri home cities and "take the Seder on the road" to small towns where Jews do not have the means to do community Seders. It is a real kick to see how seriously they take this project:(What do you do if someone elderly wants to spend 20 minutes answering a simple question you pose? A.In Lvov, we just waited for about 5 minutes, said thank you very, very much, and went on) They study all day,starting with a seriuos attempt to make some serious spiritual sense of the Sabbath Shakris service (I gave a small talk on the difference between the American sense of the words "prayer" and "worship", tfilah in Hebrew, and moltiva (prayer) and molitsya (to pray) in Russian, using examples from Russian poetry. But this is not why I write! I am here to find grass roots projects that the Jewish Community Development Fund in Russia and Ukraine can give some support to. And I just wanted to tell Mendelyaner that Jewish life is alive and well in many,many cities in the FSU and that there is someone in Petersburg who receives Mendele regularly. Martin Horwitz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 02:36:53 -0500 (EST) From: Robert Werman Subject: Line from a play Can someone help me locate the line, probably from a play, "Er hat [du hast?] ein croin fun blecht" [he has {you have} a tin crown]? Or as close as you can. I am notoriously inexact in quoting. Thanks. Bob Werman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 11:42:39 -0500 (EST) From: marvin engel Subject: New Jewish Museum in Paris re Yiddish I visited the new Jewish museum in Paris last week. It is located in a restored palacial setting in the heart of Paris- very clean, all spit and polish. Treatment of subject areas though, is egregiously uneven, with a heavy emphasis on tshatshkes, and with historical lacunae large enough to drive several proverbial trucks through. I confine my comments to one yawning gap. Prost un pushet, siz dort kemat gornisht oyf yidish, un nokh vayniker vegn yidish. (Plain and simple, there is almost nothing in Yiddish and still less about Yiddish.) The exhibits are physically displayed in one linear path, suggesting that the material follows a natural, continuous sequence; this is seriously misleading. Even the single small display case with a melange of Yiddish material, ranging from photos of Aleikhem and Mendele to copies of the magazine "khalyastra" and some old sheet music doesn't identify the material as being in Yiddish. No one without some reading knowledge of Hebrew and/or Yiddish would get this. With one short visit I can't be absolutely certain, but I believe that the only other mention of Yiddish is a statement, accompanied by photos of their respective staffs, that there were three Yiddish newspapers in Paris before WWII: the Communist, the Zionist and the religious. The uninformed and those who come looking for a warm fuzzy feeling of identification may think that they've been to the Jewish Louvre, but the experience is much more akin to what one might have at Disneyland. The Ashkenaz and a thousand years of Yiddish are reduced to the briefest footnotes and clean, pristine models of wooden synagogues. They become accessories in a packaged tour of a never-was antiseptic history. Some have said that Yiddish is dead; others, that it should be killed. The culture wars have now come up with a new theory - that Yiddish never was. Nu? Marvin Meyer Engel 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 12:22:08 -0500 (EST) From: gerbn@wxs.nl (Gerben Zaagsma) Subject: socialism Dear all, I have a rather specific question that involves the international history of socialism and anarchism. I am currently doing research for a museal cd-rom about Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis, a key figure in the development of socialism in the Netherlands, who later became an anarchist. One of the things I am looking for is material about him in the international (socialist) press. It is very likely that yiddish socialist papers have written about him. Is there anyone who could provide suggestions about whom to contact best about this? Thanks, Gerben Zaagsma 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 13:28:29 -0500 (EST) From: feller@indirect.com (Morris Feller) Subject: Yiddish programs in synagogues This past week-end our Reform temple, Temple Chai, sponsored a Yiddish music program in honor of Shabbos Shira. Zalman Mlotek conducted our choir in a program of Yiddish songs on Friday night. And on Saturday night he and Ms. Braitman gave a program outlining the development of Yiddish music musicals and the like over the last 100 years. On both evenings our sanctuary was filled, and the programs were enthusiastically received. This is just one way that we can continue to promote interest in Yiddish. Morrie Feller Phoenix 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 14:02:53 -0500 (EST) From: EPalevsky1@aol.com Subject: relatives and horseshoes In response to a query on relatives (08.125): I vaguely recall use of the expression 'ferd, fus, podkeve' (horse, leg/foot, horseshoe), to describe/deride an attenuated or farfetched relation(ship) to the subject at hand. elye palevsky 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 5 Feb 1999 14:45:14 -0500 (EST) From: noy@panix.com Subject: seminar in Jerusalem Es freyt undz tsu anonsirn a naye initsiativ afn gebit fun hekhere yidish-limudim: Der ERSHTER INTERNATSIONALER FORSH-SEMINAR IN YIDISHER KULTUR vet forkumen in Tel Aviv un Yerusholaim, tsvishn 20stn yuni un 2tn yuli 1999, organizirt durkhn Yivo, dem yidish-opteyl in hebreishn universitet in Yerusholaim un dem Beys Sholem Aleykhem in Tel Aviv. Der seminar vert planirt far graduir-studentn afn gebit fun yidish unmizrekh-eyropeisher yidisher kultur un geshikhte, zey zoln fartifern un sistematizirn zeyere yedies. Studentn fun farsheydene lender un forsh-perspektivn veln zikh bakenen eyner mitn andern un oykh hobn a gelegnhayt zikh tsu banitsn mit di raykhe forsh-resursn vos gefinen zikh in Yisroel. Di program iz oysn studentn vos viln zikh bateylikn in INTENSIVE LIMUDIM GEFIRT IN GANTSN AF YIDISH. Der kern fun seminar veln zayn di vayterdike temes un lektorn: - Prof. Mordkhe Altshuler: "Yidishe kultur in Ratn-farband". - Prof. Khave Turniansky: "Altyidishe literatur". - Dr. Avrom Novershtern: "Sholem Aleykhems shafn". - Prof. Khane Norich: "Yidishe literatur in di fareynikte shtatn". - Prof. Dovid Fishman: "Der onheyb fun der moderner yidisher kultur in Mizrekh-Eyrope". - Prof. Shmuel Kassow: "Yidishe kultur in Poyln tsvishn beyde velt-milkhomes". Vegn yeder teme vet gegebn vern a tsikl fun finf akademishe lektsyes. Oyser dem veln zayn shmuesn mit yidishe shraybers un kultur-tuers. Di ershte vokh vet der seminar gefirt vern in Tel Aviv. Di tsveyte - in Yerusholaim. Der seminar vet onnemen biz akhtsn bateylikte. Der skhar-limed farn seminar batreft $300. Graduir-studentn veln krign voynung-erter afn khezhbm fun di organizirers, vi oykh stipendies tsu dekn a mamoshesdikn teyl fun zeyere rayze-hoytsoes. Keyn formeler aplikatsie-boygn iz nishto. Di farinteresirte darfn araynshikn a briv oder a blitsbriv mit a kurtser biografie, a bashraybung fun zeyere forsh-interesn un eyn rekomendatsie-briv. Di organizatorn hobn fartrakht dem seminar vi an oyfn tsu helfn tsugreytn dem nayem kader fun yidish-lerers un yidish-forshers iber der velt. Der tsveyter seminar vert planirt afn yor 2001 - in Amerike. Mir hofn zikh tsu trefn in a guter sho. Dr. Avrom Novershtern, direktor Adres: Yiddish Department Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mount Scopus 91905, Jerusalem e-mail: nowers@shum.cc.huji.ac.il The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, the Yiddish Department of Hebrew University and Beit Shalom Aleichem are pleased to announce a new initiative in the field of Yiddish studies: THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH SEMINAR ON YIDDISH CULTURE, which will be held in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv from June 20th to July 2nd, 1999. The Seminar is intended for graduate students of Yiddish literature and East European Jewish history and culture. Its purpose is to provide intensive study with some of the foremost specialists in the field, to enable students from different countries and research disciplines to become acquainted with each other, and to familiarize students with the rich resources in Israel for the study of Yiddish literature and culture. ALL INSTRUCTION AND SEMINAR ACTIVITIES WILL BE CONDUCTED IN YIDDISH. The core courses will be as follows: Mordechai Altshuler (Hebrew University) "Yiddish Culture in the Soviet Union" David Fishman (Jewish Theological Seminary and YIVO Institute) "The Emergence of Modern Yiddish Culture in Eastern Europe" Samuel Kassow (Trinity College) "Yiddish Culture in Inter-war Poland" Anita Norich (University of Michigan) "Yiddish Literature in the United States" Avraham Novershtern (Hebrew University and Beit Shalom Aleichem) "The Works of Sholem Aleichem" Chava Turniansky (Hebrew University) "Old Yiddish Literature" Each course will consist of a series of five academic lectures. In addition, there will be meetings with Yiddish authors and cultural figures. The Seminar's first week of classes will take place at Beit Shalom Aleichem in Tel Aviv, and the second week - on the Mount Scopus Campus of Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Admission is restricted to eighteen participants. Tuition is $300. Housing will be provided, free of charge, for participating non-Israeli graduate students. Stipends are also available to cover a considerable part of airfare costs. There are no formal application forms. Interested graduate students should submit a letter or E-mail, with a short biography and a description of their research interests, and a letter of recommendation from a professor. The sponsoring institutions envision the Seminar as a training ground for the next generation of instructors and scholars in Yiddish literature and culture. It is anticipated that the second seminar will take place in the United States in 2001. Avraham Novershtern 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 6 Feb 1999 09:02:10 -0500 (EST) From: MSchaecht@aol.com Subject: shtat In response to Dovid Herskovits (08.111): Shtat, tseshtat, shtatalekh, tseshtatalekh zenen nisht ken datshmerizmen, nor legitime yidishe verter, kusher-veyusher. Zey zenen kharakteristish farn transkarpatishn yidish: Ingern (Oyberland), Marmerosh, Zimbergn, Slovakay. Mestom oukh Burgnland. Far vus di verter zenen vintsik bakant mekhits der teritorye? Tsilib etlekhe sibes, ober dus i'shoyn akhits a manse. Ayer Mordkhe Schaechter/Motkhe Shekhter 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 07 Feb 99 12:46:41 PST From: "Jan Jonk" Subject: yiska Wer ken far mikh iberzetsn dos vort 'yiska' in der dertseylung 'Tshishn emigrantn' inem zats: 'un tsu im in hoyz kumt men dokh zeltn. ober men kumt - men tsolt im gelt in (Shpigl) un (Gekl.verk)' yiska.' In 'David Bergelson, Geklibene verk Vilne 1928, Bd. 5. p.181 un in ' A shpigl oyf a shteyn, Tel Aviv 1964 p.66. un in derzelbn geshikhte di verter ' a jak? (...) a tut tova .. zshidew - to nima? ' inem zats : ' A jak?- hot er gefregt bay ot dem jungeren un hot gegebn a shmek di luft mit der nos, - a tut tovo .. zshidew-to nima?' In 'David Bergelson, Geklibene verk Vilne 1928, Bd. 5. p.184 un in ' A shpigl oyf a shteyn', Tel Aviv 1964 p.69. A sheynem dank Jan Jonk Alphen aan den Rijn. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.128 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