Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.069 July 27, 1993 1) Forverts (Jascha Kessler) 2) Philologus (Miriam Halkin) 3) Lernbukh/bikhl (Meylekh Viswanath) 4) Mendele on Gopher (Victor Bers) 5) Eppes,khale,lox (Harold M. Orbach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun Jul 25 16:10:40 1993 From: KESSLER Subject: re FORVERTS I'm abashed to say that I had know that the FORVERTS had gone into English lang uage publication, though I seem vaguely to have read about it somewhere, the ne w york times? Anyhow, I should be grateful for the editorial mailing address, tel or FAX, all of them, please; editorial management, ed-in-chief, literary editor, etc. Jascha Kessler 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jul 26 06:13:36 1993 From: MHALKIN@LIB.HAIFA.AC.IL Subject: philologos As Hillel Halkin's sister, I've been following with great interest the lengthy discussions re the identity of Philologus. At a couple of points my mother (Hillel's, as well) has been cited as the source of the Philologus = Hillel hypothesis. I'd like to state, for the benefit of anyone interested, that my mother has been dead for over ten years, and that unless there are Mendelniks who are active participants in seances, she could hardly be the source for any information at all concerning Philologus. Miriam Halkin 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jul 26 13:17:14 1993 From: Meylekh Viswanath (viswanath@draco.rutgers.edu) Subject: lernbukh/bikhl Regarding Shloyme Axelrod's question, I checked with my wife, who was heavily involved in the editing of Yiddish II (I couldn't access Dr. Schaechter right away). She tells me that the original version was not supposed to be important enough/big enough to be a lernbukh, so it started out as a lernbikhl, even though it turned out to be big enough to qualify as a lernbukh. The new edition, is certainly @vazhne@ enough to be called a lernbukh, and so it is. (In other words, Shloyme's guess regarding the bukh/bikhl distinction was confirmed to be correct.) (I will check directly with Dr. Schaechter when I get the opportunity, but I will forbear posting his reply unless its different from the above.) Meylekh 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jul 26 13:33:04 1993 From: VBERS@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: MENDELE on Gopher Though neither the Shammes nor I (the titular on-site "owner") know how this happened, back issues of MENDELE, up to Vol. 3.46, are available on GOPHER. I myself stumbled on it by asking the VERONICA search at the University of Nevada at Reno to find "Yiddish." As often with GOPHER, one doesn't know whence the files are coming, but I *think* it's from cic.net, wherever that may be. If the lamed-vovnik(e) who put them there would identify him/herself, we will express public or private gratitude, as s/he prefers. If "GOPHER" means nothing to you, inquire of your local computer authorities. It's an extremely convenient system, far easier than FTP. Victor Bers 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Jul 27 07:06:16 1993 From: Harold L. Orbach Subject: eppes, khale, lox ... etc. After a month in Europe I returned to catch up on Mendele and found a great number of fascinating items to read, from the discussions about Philologos and Wexler's speculations to the Slobodjanskyj case. Our library doesn't have Lingua Franca so I couldn't find the story. I must say that in the sociological field, writing a review under a false or assumed name would be considered ethically unacceptable, and reviewing your own work as part of this even further beyond the pale. A literary nom de plume is one thing in literature, or even in politics, where no unethical deception is involved but the "open norms" of science demand public accountabilty. We have a specialized journal of reviews and it is edited as any other journal. 'eppes': part of my time was spent in Switzerland, based in Basel with trips to central Switzerland. My friend/colleague, a native Schweitzer- Deutsch speaker from the heartland of Switzerland, assures me that 'eppes' as equivalent to 'etwas' is common throughout Switzerland and suggests it is also found in Swabian German. 'khale': on Saturday morning in Basel my friend brought a braided Khale from the local corner bakery for our morning coffee and bread and jam. It was in part for me and he said it was a special "weekend" bread; he since has told me that it is common in Switzerland and is called a "zopf" which generally refers to a braid, as in braided hair, or a tip of something which is braided. His family ran a mill and bakery in the past in a small town near Lucerne; he said that since "times have been better" the "zopf" is sometimes baked a few times a week as a kind of special or "luxury" bread, but generally just on the weekend. Is this a case of something "borrowed" from Jews (not any to be found in his home town) and generalized in Switzerland, or the other way around or .... ? In any case, the braided, long Khale tasted like a real Khale from the Jewish bakeries of my youth. 'lox': I meant to note that in Sweden and Scandanavia generally, 'lox' is just salmon; special kinds have special names, i.e., grav lox, made by curing the salmon between boards in the sun; it looks grayish. 'Smoked salmon" which is not the lox of Jewish bagel/cream cheese fame, i.e., chunks or sides of salmon that have been cured, is sold regularly in the US as "smoked salmon" so that US usage seems to have followed Jewish lox which I assume was borrowed from Scandanvians or Germans. In Munich in the Nordsee chain of fish stores found in most local markets, a "lox sandwich" is thin-sliced "lahks" as in any Jewish US store, but on various rye or wheat rolls with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc., but no cream cheese. Very popular with Weissbeer! But you can also buy lox (i.e., fresh salmon) steaks for broiling. Munich Jewish Museum: Anyone visiting Munich should stop by the small Jewish Museum (two small rooms two flights up at Maximillianstr. 36; corner of Thomas Winner Ring) just across the way from the famous Voelkerkunde [anthropological] Museum, and just a few blocks down the street from the National Theatre and State Opera house). It is run by Richard Grimm who is an art dealer and a non-Jew who has created this on his own as part of an effort to prod the local city to assume some responsibility for the history of Munich's small Jewish community. Begun in 1989, he mounts various exhibitions in cooperation with other museums and Jewish groups. While I was there he had a fine exhibition of photographs of the Synagogues of the Venice Ghetto. The next exhibition is entitled "Juedische Zeremonien Kupferstiche von Bernard Picart (1673-1733)" to be mounted this month till winter. He has a small collection of Jewish art objects including pages from a French book of the 18th century depicting Jewish life and customs, (described as engravings by an 18th century artist, Martin Engelbrecht.) I was there on a non-open day and managed to see him by chance. While the museum is now listed in the city's official tourist maps, they give no information of the exact address or times it is open. Hours are Tu and We 2-6 and Th 2-8. Stories appeared in Art News (Oct '92), Allgemeine-Juedische Wochenzeitung (6 Aug '92) and in Die Zeit (2 Jul '93). Harold L. Orbach ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.069