Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 08.032 July 23, 1998 1) Declarations and Resolutions of the 8-th World Yiddish Conference (Leybl Botwinik) 2) Yiddish in Israel (Sholem Berger) 3) yidish in yisroyl (sylvia schildt) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 14:04:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Leybl Botwinik Subject: Declarations and Resolutions of the 8-th World Yiddish Conference Following are the Declarations and Resolutions of the 8-th World Yiddish Conferenceof the World Council for Yiddish Culture which took place in Israel on June 8 - 11, 1998 (14-17 Sivan 5758): [English translation follows the Yiddish] Rezolutsyes un deklaratsyes fun der 8ter velt-konferents fun veltrat far yidisher kultur, opgehaltn in yisroyl, tsvishn 8-11tn yuni, 1998 (14-17 sivan, 5758) beys der 8ter sesye fun der veltrat far yidisher kultur vos iz opgehaltn gevorn in di teg fun 8tn bizn 11tn yuni, 1998 in ashkelon un in neve ilan, hobn di forshteyers fun yidish-organizatsyes in yisroyl un in di tfutses, tsugeshtelt di folgndike deklaratsyes un rezolutsyes tsu der nay-oysgeveyltr velt ekzekutive fun dem veltrat: bagrisungen: 1) mir bagrisn di yisroyl medine tsu ir 50-yorikn yoyvl. mir vintshn ir sholem un vuks oyf ale gebitn. mir farlangen, ober, az zi zol aynflekhtn di yidishe shprakh un kultur in dem lebn fun ire toyshvim, un zorgn far ophitn un flegn di oytsres fun der yidisher kultur in yidish. 2) mit freyd merkn mir op 90 yor zint der tshernovitser velt-konferents far yidish. 3) mir badanken di institutsyes un yidish-sheferishe perzenlekhkeytn vos zetsn for zeyer umdermidlekhn tog-teglekhn kamf far dem hemshekh, oysdoyer un koved fun der yidisher shprakh un kultur. a bazundern yomtevdikn vuntsh shikn mir tsu avrom sutskever, lekoved zayn 85stn geboyrntog. 4) mir bagrisn oykh 50 yor tetikeyt fun nosn gilboa oyfn gebit fun yidishn teater in yisroyl. 5) a spetsyeln dank shikn mir her beni uaknin' birgermayster fun der shtot ashkelon, un di ortike yidishe kultur-tuers mit yoysef yakubovits un refoyl blumenfeld berosh, far der guter organizatsye un prekhtiker oyfname in di ershte 2 teg fun der konferents. troyer-oysdrukn: mit tifn tsar hobn mir oyfgenumen di yediyes vegn der ptire fun undsere tayere kultur-kolegn, sheferishe geshtaltn in zeyere gebitn: - mordkhe shtrigler (fareynikte shtatn) - shmuel gordon (moskve) - binem heler (yisroyl) - eliyohu lipiner (yisroyl) - hershl polyanker (kiev) - shmuel bunem (yisroyl) koved zeyer ondenk! derklerungen: 1) mir protestirn sharf kegn der politik fun dem yisroyldikn bildungs ministeryum vos torpedirt dos oysfirn dem kneset gezets fun merts 1996 vegn shafn a natsyonaln rat far yidish, -- bshas di paralele komisye far ladino iz shoyn oyfgeshtelt gevorn. 2) mir fodern az in ale yizker akademyes in yisroyl un iber der gantser velt zol di yidishe shprakh' -- di shprakh fun di milyonen kdoyshim, -- arayngenumen vernin di programen mit ofitsyele redes in yidish un pasike lider un forlezungen. 3) mir rufn ale yidish reydndike zikh tsu bamiyen reydn yidish mit di kinder, un shafn a yidishe atmosfer in zeyere heymen. 4) mir rufn ale ekzistirndike yidishe lern-anshtaltn in di tfutses, vu es lernen zikh kinder fun ashkenazishn opshtam, ayntsufirn dem limed fun yidish. 5) mir rufn dos bildungs-ministeryum fun yisroyl tsu fargresern di tsol shoen fun dem yidish limed. 6) mir derklern, az ale khilukey deyes velkhe ekzistirn in un tsvishn di farsheydene yidish-krayzn, brengen gornit akhuts shodn. mir rufn, deriber tsu bazaytikn perzenlekhe makhloykesn umetum, vu es shteyt oyf der vogshol der goyrl fun yidish. rezolutsyes: 1) di bateylikte in der 8ter sesye veln oysvayln a kontrol-komisye, vemens flikht vet zayn nokhtsufolgn dos realizirn fun di ongenumene bashlusn fun der konferents. di folgndike perzonen vern bashtimt far der komisye: - leybl botvinik, forzitser - yoysef yakubovitsh, vitse-forzitser - nokh mitglider veln vern tsukooptirt tsu der komisye 2) di konferents nominirt a komisye tsutsugreytn, formulirn un fortsuleygn a nayem statut farn veltrat far yidisher kultur. - der forshlag vet baarbet un dergantst vern in zayn fuln tekst - in aynklang mitn yisroyldikn gezets - durkh a kompetentn yurist. - der oysgearbeter statut vet gebrakht vern tsu bashtetikung un vet arayn in kraft nit shpeter vi dray khodoshim nokhn shlus fun der akhter velt-konferents far yidisher kultur. 3) di gantse nokhfolg-arbet bizn oysfartikn dem statut un zayn endgiltiker bashtetikung, vet durkhgefirt vern durkh di forshteyer fun der komisye oysgevaylt oyf der akhter velt-konferents. di folgndike perzonen vern bashtimt far der komisye: - avi nadra, forzitser - yoysef luden, vitse-forzitser - nokh mitglider veln vern tsukooptirt tsu der komisye 4) di dray ofitsyele forshteyers fun dem veltrat vos veln unds reprezentirn in der natsyonaler rat far yidish, loytn kneset gezets fun merts 1996, veln bashtetikt vern oyf der noentster ekzekutiv zitsung. 5) mir veln banayen un farshtarkn di farbindung mit ale mitglid- organizatsyes. mir rufn oykh oysnutsn di moderne tekhnikn fun internets un efenen a veb-zayt. 6) mir veln shafn a gezelshaft "fraynd funem veltrat", mit agentn un forshteyers in di gresere yidishe yishuvim, vos vet zikh farnemen mitn zamlen gelt far di aktivitetn un proyektn funem veltrat. 7) der veltrat vet makhn ale bamiyungen kedey tsu shafn a keyt fun lern- anshtaltn fun ale madreyges -- kindergertner, shuln, vi oy kh universitetn, -- vu di umgang un lern-shprakh vet zayn yidish . glaykhtsaytik, darfn geshafn vern kursn farn lernen ibern internets un mit video-konferents. 8) der veltrat vet makhn ale bamiyungen kedey tsu shafn a modernem tekhnologishn, pedagogishn tsenter vos vet zikh farnemen mit aynzamlen, derhayntikn un shafn naye dertsiyerishe materyaln vi bikher, shpiln, avdeo-video un kompyuter materyaln. 9) der veltrat ruft tsum organizirn a velt-fareyn fun akademikers mit studentn vos farnemen zikh mitn yidish limed, un tsu organizirn far zey yerlekhe tsuzamentrefn. 10) der veltrat nemt oyf zikh di initsyativ tsunoyftsushteln a gezelshaftlekhn komitet mit forshteyers fun akademishe krayzn, velkhe zoln shafna verterbukh-farlag vos vet: - farendikn aroysgebn di vayterdike bend fun dem groysn verterbukh fun der yidisher shprakh in bukh form, vi oykh in elektronisher (kompyuter) form - farefntlekhn a buletin vegn der yidisher shprakh un vegn der forsharbet - tsunoyfshteln yidish-andershprakhike verterbikher 11) der veltrat vet shafn a prese-byuro kedey tsu haltn an ongeyendike farbindung mit yidishe un andere komunikatsye mitlen. far der rezolutsye-komisye: leybl botvinik, forzitser (yisroyl) yitskhok luden (yisroyl) shmuel bat (fareynikte shtatn) shloyme groman, sekretar (yisroyl) tsvi dagan (yisroyl) [English translation:] At the 8-th session of the Conference of the World Council for Yiddish Culture (June 8-11,1998 in Ashkelon and Nevey Ilan) the representatives of Yiddish organizations in Israel and in the World submitted and the Conference adopted Declarations and Resolutions as follows: 1.We salute the State of Israel on its 50-th Anniversary, and we wish it peace and prosperity and growth in all fields of life. We demand also that the State of Israel introduce the Yiddish Culture into the lives of its people, and takes care to preserve and develop the treasures of the Yiddish culture in the Yiddish language. 2.We mark with joy the 90-th anniversary of the Tshernovitz World Conference for Yiddish. 3.We give our thanks to the Yiddish institutions and creative personalities for their day-to-day struggle for the continuation, preservation and dignity of the Yiddish language and culture. We send special cordial greetings to Avrom Sutskever on His 85-th birthday, and we wish him good health and arikhas yomim. 4. We send our greetings to Nosn Gilboa for his 50 years of activities in the Yiddish theater in Israel. 5.Special thanks go to Beni Ouaknin, the Mayor of the city of Ashkelon and to the local Yiddish culture-activists headed by Yoseph Yakubovich and Refoel Blumenfeld for the excellent organization and for the wonderful reception of the Conference in its first two days in Ashkelon. Expressions of sorrow With deep grief we learned about the passing away of our dear culture-colleagues and creative personalities Mordkhe Shtrigler(USA) Shmuel Gordon ( Moscow,Russia) Binem Heller (Israel) Eliyohu Lipiner (Israel) Hershl Polianker (Kiev,Ukraine) Shmuel Bunem (Israel) blessed be their memory! Declarations 1.We vigorously protest the policies of the Israeli Ministry of Education which torpedoes the execution of the Knesset Law of March 1996 concerning the institution of a National Council for Yiddish, whereas the parallel Council for Ladino has already been instituted. 2.We demand that Yiddish -- the language of millions of Martyrs -- be included in the programs and official speeches at Memorial programs, in songs and in lectures in Israel and in the world over. 3. We appeal to all Yiddish speaking parents to strive to speak Yiddish to their children and to create a Yiddish atmosphere in their homes. 4.We appeal to all existing Jewish learning institutions in which children of Ashkenazic parents are studying, to introduce Yiddish studies and classes. 5.We call on the Ministry of Education of Israel to add more school hours and classes of Yiddish study. 6.We declare that all controversies that exist among and between different Yiddish circles are harmful. We therefor appeal to all, to eliminate personal quarrels everywhere and always when the fate of Yiddish is under consideration. Resolutions 1. The participants of the 8-th Conference will elect a Control Commission which will be obliged to control the realization of the resolutions of the Conference. The following persons have been designated to the Commission: Leybl Botvinik, chairman Yoseph Yakubovich, vice-chairman more members of the Commission will be co-opted. 2.The Conference will elect a Commission to prepare, formulate and propose a new Statute of the World Council for Yiddish Culture. The proposed Statute will be worked out in its full text according to the laws of Israel by a competent lawyer. The produced Statute will be confirmed by the World Council for Yiddish Culture, and will become operative no later than three months after the closing of this world Conference for Yiddish Culture. The follow-up work until the completion and confirmation of the Statute will be done by representatives of the Commission. The following persons have been designated to the Commission: Avi Nadra, chairman Yoseph Luden, vice-chairman more members will be co-opted. 3.The three officials to represent the Conference and the World Council for Yiddish Culture in the National Council for Yiddish in accordance with the Knesset Law of 1996 will be confirmed at the next meeting of the Executive Committee. 4. We will renew and stragthen our connections with all member- organizations. We call to use the modern technology of the Internet and to open a Website. 5. We shall institute a society "Friends of the World Council for Yiddish Culture" with agents in the larger Yiddish settlements of the world to collect donations for the activities and projects of the Council. 6.The World Council will make all efforts to create a chain of learning institutions of all levels -- kindergardens, schools and universities -- where the day to day language will be Yiddish. Simultaneously there shall be instituted teaching courses over the Internet and by video-conference. 7. The World Council will make all efforts to bring to life a modern technological, pedagogical center to collect, modernize and create new educational materials - books, games, audio-video and computer materials, and to prepare Yiddish teachers. 8. The World Conference calls for a world union of academicians and students who are engaged in Yiddish studies, and to organize yearly meetings for them. 9. The World Council will take the initiative to assemble a communal committee including representatives of academic circles to create a Dictionary publishing house which shall: - complete and publish the subsequent volumes of the Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language in a book form, and in an electronic (computer) form; - publish a bulletin about the Yiddish language and about the research being conducted; - compose Yiddish - non-Yiddish dictionaries. 10.The World Council will establish a Press-Bureau to stay in constant contact with Yiddish and other language media. Resolution Commission: Leybl Botvinik (Israel) Yitskhok Luden (Israel) Shmuel Batt (USA) Shloyme Groman (Israel) Tsvi Dagan (Israel) 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1998 00:58:51 -0400 (EDT) From: "Sholem Berger" Subject: Yiddish in Israel Lucas Bruyn is mistaken when he states that (the lack of) Knesset support for Yiddish is not a "literary [or] linguistic issue[.]" There is a vital intersection here, made even more essential by the fact that the Knesset has mandated itself by law to support Yiddish (and for that matter, Ladino), a law which the Knesset has so far blatantly ignored. It would be quite nice if the Sholom Aleichem Memorial Foundation were to put out a dictionary, or YIVO were to put MEYYED on the Web. They are not legally bound to do so, and public pressure will probably not convince these two private organizations to change their practical day-to-day operations -- i.e., they're not gonna do what they should. The Knesset has legally bound itself to help Yiddish but seems to have forgotten. They need to be reminded, and should be, as they are at least to an extent answerable to the Jewish people. Sholem Berger 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 16:18:07 -0400 (EDT) From: creativa@charm.net (sylvia schildt) Subject: yidish in yisroyl Ikh vil entfern af di komentarn fun mayn bekovedikn kolege and fraynt lucas bruyn af eyn vikhtikn punkt - un dos iz vos di frage fun yidish limud in isroyl iz a politishe frage un derfar iz dos nit undzer eysik. Altz vos iz shayekh kium yidish shtaygt iber politishe grenitzn. politish zaynen di mentshn vos dershtikn yidish, di shprakh fun 5 milyon kdoyshim (ober in der zelber tzayt hobn ayngeshtelt hibshe aktivitetn lteyves ladino shprakh. dos iz politik. un es art undz alemen vos hobn lib mame loshn un haltn zi tayer. es iz nit genug zikh amuzirn mit zikhroynes fun petsha un heyse diskusyes vegn shoyresh fun vort "davenen" -- yidish shprakh, kultur un literatur muzn vayter lebn un shafn. un di torpedo aktzyes vos kumen for in isroyl zaynen vikhtik farn veltlekhn kium fun undzer shprakh. di yidish-shprakh organizatzyes un instantzn khutz l'aretz muzn lozn hern fun zikh. zikher iz dos a form fun politishn drang, ober fort vikhtik. in knesset un eykh in bildungs komitet vos teylt di gelter. der knesset hot bashtimt tzu shtitzn di tzvey shprakh, yidish un ladino -- un afn moment bahandlt men yidish vi a shtifkind. es tor azey nit bleybn -- un mir torn nit shvaygn. vos mer bekovedik yidish vert ongenumen in eretz yisroyl, altz beser farn kium fun yidish iber gor der velt. in ashkelon afn konferentz hot men undz gelozt hern a 10 yidishe khorn fun gantz land - a sakh a sakh rusn tzvishn zey - dos iz a yerlikher festival vos heyst "freyd fun yidish" -- khorn fun tel aviv, yerushalayim, ashkelon, dimona, un andere -- zey hobn mit aza libshaft gezungen yidishe folkslider, lider fun varshavsky, gebirtig, un azey vayter. di mi, mitgefil un libshaft tzu yidishe kulturele oytzres hot aroysgeshaynt funem zingen. do in amerike zaynen do yidish khorn, ober a yerlikhe simkhe in velkhe es bateylikn zikh khorn fun gantz land in a festival mit plakatn af yidish - nor in yisroyl. di tzaytn fun "rak ivrit" zaynen ariber. der knesset hot ongenumen a gezetz in mertz 1996, vos me hot sheyn farviklikht benugeye ladino. nor me makht sabotazh ven es kumt tzu yidish. mir torn nit shvaygn. yidish hot zikh nit mit vos tzu shemen in yisroyl -- zi iz nit kin betler af der khasene. yidish iz geven di shprakh vos hot balebt di tzionistishe khaleymes un hofenungen. der forvertz, der yidisher forvertz, hot geshtitzt di isroyldike arbeter-farbandn in ire bleter. itzt ven ivrit iz a gezunte un zelbshtendike moderne shprakh iz tzayt me zol opgebn yidish dem rikhtikn koved. ikh klep tzu a komunikatzye fun leibl botvinikn mit di bagrisungen, derklerungen un rezolutzyes ongenumen baym konferentz un hof az me vet farshteyn vos tzu ton vayter vegn dem inyen. mit hartzike bagrisungen ale mendelyaner. mir darfn arbetn tzuzamen -- ale organizatzyes, instantzn, yekhidim, akademiker un pedagogn, aktivistn, shrayber, shpiler, un ale vos hobn lib a yidish vort in moyl. eyb nit vet nit zayn fun vos (un mit vos) tzu redn. sylvia schildt baltimore, maryland ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 08.032 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