Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 64 September 14, 1992 1) Der Bay (Fishl Kutner) 2) Taharas hamishpokhe (David Sherman) 3) Pani Sholem Aleykhem (Berl Hoberman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- [Fishl Kutner is the editor and guiding spirit of "Der Bay", a West Coast newsletter devoted to Yiddish everywhere. This post was solicited. nm] Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 00:44:31 -0700 From: Philip Kutner Subject: Der Bay To increse the effectiveness of Der Bay specific issues will be geared to teachers, clubs or bands. The months those issues will be published, that segment may receive the issue even if they do not contribute. Another important activity was to be highly selective in the database. While over a thousand names are in the database and a larger number have been removed, it is the acccuracy that is critical. TYN contacts and contributors receive each issue of der bay and may receive lists upon request. Other key people will receive issues periodically in order to keep the mailing list current. My financial resources no longer permit me to totally finance my wonderful "hobby" of networking Yiddish around the world. All mailings outside of the US will continue to be sent without solicited contributions and are highly selective. Areas still needing to be represented are in South America and the CIS. It is essential that contacts not only be interested in Yiddish, but must understand some English. The first ever International Calendar of Yiddish Events is now published in der bay. Yiddish teachers, Yiddish clubs, and Klezmer bands, this newsletter is your clearinghouse. Philip "Fishl" Kutner, 1128 Tanglewood Way, San Mateo, CA 94403, (415) 349-6946 is your editor. To receive a list or to be listed, send Fishl a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). Gigs and teaching positions are handled only by the parties involved. Fishl does not get involved in financial arrangements, nor is there a fee. The Yiddish Network (TYN) now has contacts in 102 cities. Every state, Puerto Rico, and 14 foreign countries are covered. When you move or travel, the contact person will send you a list of Yiddish activities and names of several Yiddish speakers. All you need do is send the contact a SASE. Checks for der bay's support should be made payable to Peninsula JCC (PJCC). Fishl Kutner 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 01:24:15 -0400 From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.CA Subject: RE: tahars hamishpoke [In response to Hersh Basser's query:] It's a common term in Orthodox speech today. I hear it quite often. One might refer to someone else as "keeping taharas hamishpokhe" just as one might refer to someone else as "keeping Shabbos" -- i.e., they follow the relevant halachic requirements. Of course, because of the subject matter it tends to get mentioned less in the context of one's acquaintances, since it's intrusive and immodest to discuss it. However, it's quite normal to hear a rabbi discuss it, for example, as one of the core halachic requirements. [For those who don't know what this is all about: it means "family purity", and deals with the religious requirements for a husband and wife to separate during the wife's monthly period; after a number of "clean" days and immersion by the wife in the mikveh, the couple reunite. The laws of taharas hamishpokhe mandate no physical contact, including touching, during that time. Aside from being very efficient at producing large families (!), the system is widely considered to do wonders, psychologically, for the relationship between the husband and wife.] David Sherman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 14 Sep 1992 13:34:16 -0400 (EDT) From: Robert D Hoberman Subject: Pani Sholem Aleykhem Thinking about translations of Sholem Aleykhem, I was wondering about the way in which the story-teller in the Tevye der Milkhiger stories (and maybe some others) addresses the higher-level narrator, Pani Sholem Aleykhem. Why did Sholem Aleykhem use the Polish (also Ukrainian?) word for Mr.? What did this mean to Yiddish readers in Eastern Europe at the time? I could guess that it implies social distance, and perhaps a deferential attitude of the simple story-telling character to the secularly-educated writer-Sholem-Aleykhem-character, that Reb or other Yiddish titles wouldn't have. Does anyone have a more educated guess? Bob/Berl rhoberman@ccmail.sunysb.edu ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.64 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.