______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.274 March 9, 1994 1) Feygelekh (Daniella HarPaz) 2) Musz/darf (Yankel Lantz) 3) Yiddish in _Bridges_ (Clare Kinberg) 4) Shprintsaleahs (Dan Leeson) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 7 17:22:11 1994 From: Daniella.HarPaz@um.cc.umich.edu Subject: re: "feygelekh" If it makes any difference, I asked my grandmother, who shtams from Poland (near the Russian border) and spent WWII in Siberia, came to the US after the war....Anyway, she swears that she knew the word feygle for homosexuals in Poland..but that's my grandmother. Also, re. an earlier entry: In Hebrew there exits (EXISTS) a slang word "parpar" for homosexuals, meaning butterfly..... Daniella 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 7 20:39:33 1994 From: RWLANTZ%JMUVAX.bitnet@YaleVM.YCC.Yale.Edu Subject: musz/darf Michael Shimshoni posted a question a few days ago concerning the use of "musz" as opposed to "darf" to mean "must." I haven't seen any response yet. That's a question about which I have also wondered. If I am not mistaken, I have heard the song "Jome, Jome" use "Musz men gehen, dem whatever sogn," as well as "darf men gehen, ... ." My theory is that "musz" is, how you say in Englisch, "Umgangssprache," that is, not exactly sng, but more everday usage. What do you folks think? Yankel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 7 21:50:15 1994 From: Clare Kinberg Subject: Yiddish in _Bridges_ Hello to all Mendele subscribers! I just joined this list and would like to introduce myself and my work. I am the Managing Editor of *Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends* Bridges is unique in several ways: it is the only contemporary feminist publication to publish Yiddish, and its in-depth articles and serious literature on Jewish topics are interesting and accessible to people immersed in Jewish study, and to non-academics and non-Jews alike. Bridges places equal emphasis on activism for social justice, feminism and Jewish identity and continuity. Irena Klepfisz is Bridges' Editorial Consultant on Yiddish Language and Culture. The Yiddish in Bridges is typeset by Lorin Sklamberg. Below is a description of the Yiddish we have published to date (all back issues are still available): Volume 1 Number 2 (Fall 1990) Yente Serdatsky's short story "Vide/Confession" The story, in Yiddish, is nine pages, the translation by Irena Klepfisz, is five pages. It originally appeared in Serdatsky's 1913 collection Geklibene shriftn (Collected Writings). Kelpfisz introduces the story with biographical information and commentary on the text. Volume 2 Number 1 (Spring 1991) Kadya Molodowsky, 4 poems,(Dzshike Gas/Dzshike Street; Khronik/Chronicle,1932; Mayn Papirene Brik/My Paper Bridge,1930; and Briv fun Geto/Letters from the Ghetto, 1941). These poems are published in Yiddish *and* transliteration with English translations by Kathryn Hellerstein. Abraham Sutzkever's poem "Etele mayn shvester/My Sister Ethel" English translation by Ruth Whitman Volume 2 Number 2 (Fall 1991) Irena Klepfisz' "Bread and Candy: Songs of the Holocaust," a drama for five voices with 18 songs in Yiddish, English, transliteration and notation. Volume 3 Number 2 (Spring 1993) Blume Lempel's "Scenes on a Bare Canvas" from her 1981 collection A rege fun emes/A Moment of Truth. The story in Yiddish is eight pages, the translation by Sheva Zucker is five pages. Volume 4 Number 1 "Di mames dos loshn/The Mothers, the Language: Feminism, Yiddishkayt and the Politics of Memory" In this essay, Klepfisz focuses on the memoirs, diaries, stories, and essays of four Eastern European women who committed their lives to Jewish continuity through the Yiddish language. Sore Shenirer, an Orthodox educator; Ane Heller Rozenthal, leader in the Jewish Workers Bund; Gina Medem, Bundist and later Communist; and poet, writer, editor Kadya Molodowsky each wrote, in Yiddish, about their commitments, values, and experiences as Jewish women. In "Di mames, dos loshn," Klepfisz translates from their writings (excerpts are published in Yiddish with translation) and relates their work and commitments to contemporary Jewish issues. The article includes several photos from YIVO archives. Clare Kinberg To subscribe to Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends write to: PO Box 24839, Eugene OR 97402. Back issues available. Subscriptions are $15 for 2 issues (about one year). If you don't have $15, send what you can. If you can afford more, please make a contribution. We are a non-profit and contributions are tax deductible. Free to women in prison, nursing homes and mental institutions. Free to print-disabled subscribers through Jewish Braille Institute JBI phone number 800-433-1531 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Mar 7 22:22:00 1994 From: leeson@aspen.fhda.edu Subject: Shprintsaleahs I offer the follow solution to the term "shprintsaleahs" meaning "a princess." First, in our usage it was pejorative, something akin to the recently discredited Jewish American Princess. Second, I was informed that its origin is derived from the purported superior behavior of Sephardic Jews. (Please note that I said "purported" since I am not in agreement that Sephardic Jews behaved in this fashion.) But why Shprintsaleah? Because, the name thought to be Yiddish in origin (i.e., "shprintsa") was actually derived from the Spanish, "Esperanza." Thus the connection. The "Leah" attachment is unknown to me but may be related to the Southern American habit of giving everyone two names: Jimmy Bob, and Ellie Sue. But the Esperanza/Shprintsa has an interesting background. According to Ben Zion Kaganoff's Dictionary of Jewish Names, a number of Yiddish names are so derived. He says, "In the middle ages, Jews coined new Hebrew names even for their daughters. This was truer of Italian Jews and in Sephardic communities than for Ashkenasim... A number of Italian and French names that Jews have used are not immediately recognizable because they have been filtered through Yiddish... Who would ever guess that Schprinzel is a Polish Jewish 'improvement' on Esperanza brought east by Italian Jews? It was a regular practice for the Jews of Italy to translate the Hebrew 'tikvah' into Esperanza. The name became 'Esperance' among the French Jews and was transformed into Sprinze as it moved through Germany and Poland." Dan Leeson ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.274 To subscribe, send SUB MENDELE FIRSTNAME LASTNAME to: LISTSERV@YALEVM.YCC.YALE.EDU Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a Subject: line. 2. Sign your article. Send submissions/responses to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Other business: nmiller@starbase.trincoll.edu Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Mendele: Yiddish literature and language