Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 2 no. 101 November 25, 1992 1) Der Kamenitzer Magid (Payrets Mett) 2) Goy (Hershel Basser) 3) Tenure (Ellen Prince) 4) Sneezing (Shulamith Berger) 5) Shoyfer-blozn (David Neal Miller) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 17 Nov 1992 15:11:07 +0000 From: P.Mett@open.ac.uk Subject: Kamenitzer Magid For Henry Breitrose: I am most interested in this project as my wife is a great-granddaughter of the Kamenitzer Magid. Bli neydr, I shall dig out some references for you. Meanwhile please tell me the exact yiches of Nathan Maccoby (my son has researched the family tree, but the said person does not figure on it yet). Payrets Mett 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 10:28:43 -0500 From: fishbane@epas.utoronto.CA Subject: RE: Goy Goy meaning gentile is recited everyday in morning prayers-- baruch hashem shelo asani goy. True in biblical Hebrew is means an entire nation (etymologically related to the word for body) and can even refre to Israel. That usage disappears quickly as goy, nochri, akum becomes standard for an idolator, a gentile, in short for a goy. we also have goya, not the artist, but the cleaning woman who used to clean my bubbe's house and the usage in the singular, male or female probably goes back at least 2000 years. Can Israelis be goyim. Certainly, thats how they were defined in the religious right-wing world, "goyim who speak Hebrew". Yiddish simply took over te Hebrew. Hershel Bolshiviker. 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 13:18:17 EST From: "Ellen F. Prince" Subject: tenure Why God Never Received Tenure at the University - - ----------------------------------------------- 1. Because He had only one major publication. 2. And it was in Hebrew. 3. And it had no references. 4. And it wasn't published in a refereed journal. 5. And some even doubt He wrote it himself. 6. It may be true that He created the world but what has He published/done since ? 7. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited. 8. The scientific community has had a very rough time trying to repeat His results. Ellen Prince 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 15:57:01 PST From: Shulamith Berger Subject: Genossen! Does anyone have any information on what people say on hearing someone sneeze? I grew up hearing the following from my mother, who was born in Kovno and grew up in a Yiddish speaking household in Chicago: Tsu-gezunt, tsu leben, tsu vaksen, tsu kvelen, a yingel vestu hobn, un khasene vet veln. The commas basically indicate the sneezes, i.e., a sort of punctuation mark. After a certain number of sneezes the punctuation (or actual sneezes) became almost irrelevant. I don't recall that there was a comparable ending for my brother. At some point my father would chime in with what seemed to be an alternate ending, although it didn't rhyme, namely, gey shoyn in der erd, du host shoyn a kalt. It also sounds very American. I have never heard anyone else go further than tsu leben. Admittedly I was a champion sneezer as a child, but has anyone out there ever heard anything similar, or know if anyone has ever written anything on this? Shuli Berger 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 25 Nov 92 3:56:48 EST From: David Neal Miller Subject: Shoyfer-blozn MENDELE readers might be interested in the newly published special issue of _Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies_ (10:4) devoted to Yiddish and Ashkenazic Studies. Articles include "The Geograhpy of Ashkenaz: On the Development of an Ethno-Geographic Information System (EGIS)," by Neil G. Jacobs and Joseph C. Loon; "History of the Jewish Collections at the Vernadsky Library in Kiev," by Zachary M. Baker; "A Maiden's Tale," by Jennifer Dowling; "Tevye and His Women" by Sheva Zuckera; and an editor's introduction, "Yiddish Studies in America: The Third Wave," by (feeling odd about writing this in the third person) David Neal Miller. David Neal Miller miller.3@osu.edu ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol 2.101 If your message is intended for MENDELE, please write to: mendele@vax1.trincoll.edu or mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu If your node is Bitnet-only and is not connected to the Internet, please send your message to: mendele@trincc or mendele@yalevm If you want to discuss personal business or have a shmues with the shames, please write to: nmiller@vax1.trincoll.edu or nmiller@trincc Please sign your articles.