Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 56 August 24, 1992 1) Tailors, movies (Yitzhak Kertesz) 2) Sign Language (Zachary Baker) 3) Sesame and calves-foot jelly (Seymour Axelrod) 4) Shayles (Noyekh Miller) [As the first two messages suggest, the dearth of traffic on Mendele may have been due to network troubles rather than a collective exile on Cape Cod. Sorry about that. nm] 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 07:47:01 PDT From: Yitzhak Kertesz Subject: one more try Reb Noyekh, let me try one more time, although it may not be relevant anymore. It's interesting that my apologies made it, and this poor thing got rejected 5-6 times. Date: Tue, 4 Aug 92 07:55:20 PDT To: mendele@vax1.trincoll.edu From: "Yitzhak Kertesz" Subject: tailors, movies 1. I think, Paul Weichsel owes an apology to our Ambassador to Montreal, Zachary Baker, for changing his name to Taylor (2.51 #3). If he said butcher, mi-meyle, but a tailor ...! Considering the low socio-economic status of tailors (and shoemakers, baale-melokhe in general), Zachary may rightfully feel to be insulted. See, for instance, Reb Tevye, who makes a deal with the respectable butcher Layzer Wulf, only to find out that his daughter fell in love with the poor shlemil Motl Kamizol, the tailor. Tevye is very worried that Motl will not be able to support the family, but one cannot convince children these days ... 2. I have no doubt that the New York area Mendeleyt saw it, but let's bring our exiled colleagues up to date. This Sunday's (8/2) New York Times (Book Review Section, p. 25) had a positive review of J. Hoberman's book on Yiddish films. The book: Hoberman, J: Bridge of light; Yiddish film between two worlds. New York: Museum of Modern Art / Schocken Books, 401 pp, $40.- Yitzhak Kertesz 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 10:53:11 PDT From: "Zachary M. Baker" Your mail to mendele@vax1.trincoll.edu is being returned, delivery attempts have failed for 5 days. From: Zachary Baker (BM.YIB@RLG.BITNET) Date: August 5, 1992 Subject: Sign language The latest issue (no. 4) of the Max Weinreich Center News (a newsletter issued by YIVO's graduate center) contains the following inquiry: We have received a query regarding the existence of a sign language developed for deaf or hard-of-hearing speakers of Yiddish. Please write to us if you have any information on this. If any subscribers to MENDELE can shed light on this subject, please share it with us, directly (by writing to me at YIVO, 1048 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10028) or indirectly (through MENDELE). Zachary Baker, YIVO Library 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 22 Aug 1992 09:56:59 -0500 (EST) From: Seymour Axelrod Subject: Sesame & calves'-foot jelly Eli Katz (2.55.3) asks about the Yiddish for "sesame". Mordkhe Schaechter (Food: A Yiddish Terminology [Yiddish title: Mit a gutn apetit!], mimeo 1976) translates "sesame seeds" as *der seza'm (-zoymen)*. Some previous correspondence had to do with jellied calves' feet (*petsha'* in my childhood home). Schaechter gives *petse'*. Seymour Axelrod 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 24 Aug 1992 From: nmiller@trincc Subject: Questions These from subscribers: 1. Would it be fair to assume that today's Ashkenazic final -s (aggodes, tekhines, kehilles, etc.) was also used by Yiddish speakers 200 years ago? 2. If you already explained this, I missed it... what is the origin of the name Mendele for this list? There is a street in Yerushalayim named Mendele Mocher Sforim. Is this person our namesake? Who was he? ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.56 If your message is intended for MENDELE, please write to: mendele@vax1.trincoll.edu If you want to discuss personal business or have a shmues with the shames, please write to: nmiller@vax1.trincoll.edu Please sign your articles.