Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.065 July 21, 1993 1) Hershele (Bob Hoberman) 2) Introduction (Susanne Shavelson) 3) Kollegh (Yosef Hochberg) 4) Bukh or bikhl? (Meylekh Viswanath) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 20 09:50:16 1993 From: Robert D Hoberman Subject: Hershele A widely used textbook of Israeli Hebrew, produced by Americans and Israelis in the US, includes a couple of stories about a character named Hershele, an impoverished, conniving guy who manages to trick people into giving him something for nothing. My feeling is that the stories as retold in the textbook, together with some other elements in the book, demonstrate a very low Jewish self-image, one reason I'm reluctant to use the book in teaching. (I wish we had a Hebrew textbook with the combination of cultural and linguistic sophistication of some of the Yiddish books.) I wonder about the source of these stories: is this Hershele Ostropolyer, or some other character from Yiddish folklore? And who is Hershele Ostropolyer, anyway--a character from fiction or folklore? And where can the original stories be found? Bob rhoberman@ccmail.sunysb.edu 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 20 10:29:09 1993 From: SHAVELSON%BRANDEIS.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: Introduction Hello, I'm very happy to be a new Mendele participant! I am a University of Michigan doctoral candidate in the Program in American Culture. My thesis is on Jewish immigrant women's Yiddish and English autobiographies. I began my study of Yiddish in the summer of 1989 at YIVO, and then continued for two years at Michigan. My mother, who spoke Yiddish as a child, is thrilled that once again she has someone to speak with. Susanne Shavelson [Tsipe Khana] 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 20 12:22:26 1993 From: Yosef Hochberg Subject: Kollegh I think it means a geflochtene challe used in celebrations and chasidic gatherings. Yosef Hochberg 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 20 16:45:53 1993 From: Meylekh Viswanath (viswanath@draco.rutgers.edu) Subject: bukh or bikhl? Shloyme Axelrod asks: >2. Bukh oder bikhl? The first edition of *Yidish Tsvey" was >subtitled "a lernbikhl far mitndike kursn." The subtitle of the new >edition is "a lernbukh far mitndike un vaythalters." Somewhere >(maybe in the first edition, maybe in *Afn Shvel*?) Schaechter notes >that the ordinary word for "book" is "bikhl", not "bukh". Sounds >curious to non-native-speaking me. Apparently it's not a matter of >size: The second edition [the lernbukh] has 586 pages; but the >first [the lernbikhl] has 497+--not at all a small book.) Fregt >zikh di frage in any case, Why the change from lernbikhl to >lernbukh? Melekh Viswanath, can you help us here? I'll check with Dr. Schaechter. And since we are speaking of Yidish Tsvey, I think it would be appropriate to provide some details on this book, which should be very welcome to many Mendeleniks. I am reproducing the press release (in English; as Shloyme noted, the Yiddish version is interesting in its own right, but the English one may be more useful in getting the information where it needs to go). Meylekh. Press Release: (for details call 212-787-6675 Yiddish II: An Intermediate and Advanced Textbook (henceforth, Y2) by Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter (Senior Lecturer in Yiddish Studies Emeritus at Columbia University) has just come off the press. It has been eagerly awaited everywhere by students who have completed a beginner's textbook, or have equivalent background, and wish to continue their progress in the Yiddish language. Y2 is the first continuation level Yiddish textbook ever written for speakers of English. However, speakers of other languages with only a passive knowledge of English can use this book with equal profit. Y2 is unique in giving particular emphasis to the sounds and patterns of authentic spoken Yiddish, at the same time enriching the student's knowledge of the written language as well. Y2 is the first Yiddish textbook to enter the age of technology. Its text materials incorporate the Yiddish terms for computer science, to input, tape recorder, burglar alarm, answering machine, photocopier, FAX machine and skyjacking. Y2 is also rich in its inclusion of proverbs and aphorisms from the traditional Jewish world. Such sayings are encountered in the seech of religious and secular Jews alike. Y2 contains valuable informaton on the major dialects of Yiddish in its Eastern European heartland. Geographical areas are identified with their traditional Yiddish names and located according to both historical and 1993 political boundaries. Y2 has 586 pages and serves as both a textbook and a reference grammar, covering topics never before treated in any Yiddish grammars or textbooks published anywhere. Y2 is a must for all teachers and students of the Yiddish language, literature and folklore. It will also be of great benefit to Yiddish writers, editors, proofreaders, actors and musicians--whether scholars or laymen-- as well as to Yiddish book collectors and anyone else who loves the Yiddish language. The price is $36 per copy for the hardcover edition and $28 for the softcover. (For members of the League for Yiddish, whose dues are current, prices are $30 and $24 respectively for the hard and soft-cover editions.) If ordering by mail, please add postage and handling ($4 for the first copy ordered and $2 for additional copies). All orders must be prepaid in US funds (made out to the League for Yiddish) and sent to: Yiddish Language Resource Center League for Yiddish, Inc. 200 W. 72 Street #40 New York, NY 10023-2824. ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.065