Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.129 February 10, 1999 1) "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner" (Gershon Winer) 2) Shulamis (Seth Wolitz) 3) source of a Yiddish poem? (Robert Cohen) 4) quote from Besht (Ovid Jacob) 5) A Clarification (Jerold Frakes) 6) Tumbalalaika (Ida Selavan-Schwarcz) 7) Yoshke Pendrik (Beni Warshawsky) 8) Yoshke Pandre (Matt Hoffman) 9) Jesus in Yiddish (Hershl Bershady) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 03:02:02 -0500 (EST) From: Nechama & Gershon Winer Subject: "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner" In response to Sam Gunclers inquiry on Grade's "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner". Yes, the English translation "You will always be deformed. You will remain a cripple the rest of your life", is a true rendition of the original Yiddish. Requested explanation -- as follows: Grade and his friend in the story had been students of the "Novardoker" Yeshiva established at the beginning of the century by Reb Yozel ("the old man of Novardok") of the Mussar (largely yeshiva) movement which originated with Rabbi Israel Salanter in the middle of the 19th century in Lithuania. Reb Yoizel took a dim view of man being subject to and subjugated by forces of pride, self interest and all pervading selfishness infecting even his so called altruistic acts and particularly, his motives. In place of the traditional emphasis on outward behavior as the chief priority in the Jewish way of life, i.e., human ralations, Reb Yoizel demanded absolute purity of motivation -- total selflessnes -- in all forms of behavior. This required unending self scrutiny and introspection, to identify and eradicate the slightest residue of personal benefit, not merely material, but especially psychological, the very feeling of satisfaction or self approbation in the performance of the most noble deed. The very help extended to fellow man, becomes contaminated if it is prompted by or gives rise to any sense of gratification on the part of the doer. To expect a reward, even an expression of gratitude by the beneficiary of an act of kindness pollutes the good deed and the doer. The Mitzva is thus transformed into an Aveira! The religious Jew must be engaged throughout life in a battle with -- himself. In this inner struggle, victory over selfish instincts can be achieved mainly with the help of exhibitionist acts of degrading oneself in public to bring on ridicule, sharp criticism and open antagonism. The crushing of the self, becomes the goal of the Mussar Jew. Such obsessive excruciating self examination at every step "cripples" and "deforms" the individual and deprives him of any measure of joy in his life. This is what Grade means by these terms. The theme is further developed in his masterwork, the novel "Zemach Atlas" This of course is a far cry from the philosophy of Israel Salanter who founded the movement with the emphasis on the priority of ethical behavior along with purification of motive. His motto: "A pious Jew is not one who worries about his fellow man's soul and his own stomach; a pious Jew worries about his own soul and his faellow man's stomach". Gershon Winer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 11:30:38 -0500 (EST) From: slwolitz@mail.utexas.edu (seth l. wolitz) Subject: Shulamis The Cat/Weasel and Well I gave a paper on Shulamis at the last World Congress in Jerusalem and noted that the important witness is not necessarily the cat but the well itself which is connected to the well of the water ceremony celebrated in Jerusalem. The sacred oath of Avisholom and Shulamis is sealed then by the blessings of the Temple and the sacred well from which the water was drawn for that happy festival. The well in the desert as witness ties their oath to all that is sacred in Israel and reenforces the unity of Israel which is part of the hidden agenda of the play: All Israel is one! Thus nature and Israel's God are witnessing and legitimizing their love-free love- as opposed to the arranged marriage tradition. This oath which is the key to the play marks two individuals' allegiance to their future marriage. [It also alleviated the tension of Shulamis losing her virginity to our "enflamed" Jewish macho who was an aristocrat and perhaps less than noble! This oath which Shulamis presses held off the "bliss" until the marriage bower!] Goldfadn, let us not forget was a modernist and subtly defended the individual pursuit of happiness. Using the tale of the well and weasel permitted him to defend the right of individual choice of partner by finding a "proof text" deep in the tradition and proffered even a sacral quality. Thus all the terrible events which occur later are justified by such powerful witnesses! Rozhinkes mit Mandeln Chana Mlotek is correct that Rozhinkes mit Mandeln is sung by Avisholom to himself and perhaps his servant-a subject of embarrassment for us today given his Hamitic origins and stereotypical functioning. The footnote by Goldfadn which she mentions as his realizing the absurd anachronism of alluding to the railroad [stanza 4] in the song is her misprision of the textual footnote. Goldfadn was alluding to the entire song in the context of the setting. Here is what the footnote states on page 9 of the Hebrew Publishing Company edition of Shulamis: AVISHOLOM: Rozhinkes mit mandeln-es erinert mikh in dem lidele Mit vos Bas-Tsyion hot farvigt ir ben yokhid yidele- * [sic!] [starred footnoting] At the bottom of the page *) Khotsh dos lid iz nisht do dos plats derfun- nor ikh hob es for aher arayngeshtelt vayl dem publikum is dos lib, un bakant. In short, this song is an interpolation and as I showed at the recent MLA Yiddish Discussion Group in San Francisco. It was composed earlier than the rest of the songs in the Shulamis masterpiece which are far more sophisticated texts. That Goldfadn placed this song here is exactly as he stated: "Although this song is not in the right place, it was placed here because the public loves it and it is well known." In short this extraneous "song hit" enriched the popularity of the play and Goldfadn, a man of theater par excellence, made use of its popularity by embedding it early in the first act to draw in his public. This event has turned out to be a happy confluence of theater studies, performance history, culture studies and Yiddish folklore. sincerely, Seth Wolitz Austin, Texas 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 10:58:17 PST From: "Robert Cohen" Subject: source of a Yiddish poem? Could you help me identify the source of a Yiddish -- or Yiddish/English? -- poem that my nephew's parents printed on his bar mitzvah brochure: truly beautiful, with beautiful values. But they (and they're both librarians!) attribute it only to an "anonymous Jewish folk rhyme" -- and they don't think the rabbi they learned it from knows any more than that. It's titled "All I Got Was Words" and begins in English, "When I was young and fancy free / My folks had no fine clothes for me; All I got was words: Got zei danken / Got vet geben / Zol mir nor leben un zayn gezunt." A number of other verses, and it concludes again with "All I got was words!" Can you help -- with source, author, when or where, etc. Many, many thanks--I'm most appreciative for anything you can do. Robert Cohen 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 14:24:16 -0500 (EST) From: Ovid Jacob Subject: quote from Besht taeyre yidishe mavonim, i am looking for a quote attributed to Ba'al Shem Tov, possibly in yiddish. the english version of it have goes thus: "From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven. And when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, their streams of light flow together, and a single brighter light goes forth form their united being." 1st question, does anyone know if this is really due to the BeShT? 2nd question, is there a yiddish version of it? any help would be really appreciated. zay gezunt, ovid jacob 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 8 Feb 1999 17:11:53 -0500 (EST) From: "Jerold C. Frakes" Subject: A Clarification A Clarification: In the announcement of the upcoming lectures at the LA Workmen's Circle, khaver Gordon listed Vilna among the places where I've taught. Here he's referring to last summer's Vilnius Program in Yiddish, where I had the privilege of giving two supplemental lectures. The actual teaching was in the expert hands of the program faculty, Dr. Dovid Katz (director), Dr. Dov-Ber Kerler, Anna Verschik, Mendy Cahan, and Miriam Koral. Best wishes, Jerold Frakes 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 02:25:43 -0500 (EST) From: Yosef & Ida Schwarcz Subject: Tumbalalaika Fradle Freidenreich's additions to Tumbalalika reminded me of the Hebrew version we sang: Ma rotse rotse he-haluts Keshe-ba keshe-ba kesha-ba la-kibuts Keshe-ba la-kibuts rotse le-ekhol Ro'e halutsa, shokhe'ah ha-kol Ida Selavan-Schwarcz 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Feb 1999 03:17:50 -0500 (EST) From: "B&D Warshawsky" Subject: Yoshke Pendrik In response to David Herskovic's question (8.113) regarding Yoshke's surname, Marcus Jastrow's Dictionary of the Talmud states,"Pandera (Pantera, Panteri) surname of Joseph the father of Jesus of Nazereth. Additionally, Jastrow states that the Aramaic term panter is a panther or a leopard. Beni Warshawsky 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 16:22:04 -0500 (EST) From: matthoff@uclink4.berkeley.edu (Matt Hoffman) Subject: Yoshke Pandre This is in response to Morkhe Schaechter's posting in vol. 08.126 regarding the origin of the term Yoshke Pandre to refer to Jesus. Schaechter's refusal to consider 'panther' as the meaning of 'pandre' overlooks the Talmudic origin of the name Yeshu Ben Pandera, as a name for Jesus (not the only one). Numerous scholars speculate as to the origin of the name Pandera, with one of the main theories being that it comes from the Greek "Panthera" meaning panther. Morris Goldstein discusses this in length in his book, __Jesus in the Jewish Tradition__ on pp. 35-39. The name stuck in popular Jewish literature and folklore, such as the __Toldot Yeshu__ legends, first compiled in the early Middle Ages, and made its way into the Yiddish speaking world of Ashkenazi Jews. The term 'Pandre' (Pandera) is not originally a Yiddish one, and may well mean 'panther.' Zayt Gezunt, Matt Hoffman 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 2 Feb 1999 09:20:00 -0500 (EST) From: "Harold J. Bershady" Subject: Jesus in Yiddish My grandparents referred to Jesus as der goyishe yossel. One of my uncles sang a little ditty, sing-song style, denigrating the cross. This was politically and in all other ways incorrect. For scholarly purposes, I reproduce it here: Ikhl, pikhl, af tsilukhes mi nemt dem tsalem un stkht im in tukhes! Hershl Bershady ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.129 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