Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 3.306 March 31, 1994 1) Gefrishte matzoh (Blumke Shteynberg) 2) Learning Yiddish (Henekh Gildemeister) 3) A Pesach question (Khayem Bochner) 4) Learning Yiddish and Harduf (Hal Berman) 5) Gefrishte Matses (Stanley Werbow) 6) 2nd International Conference of Yiddish Clubs (Saul Berman) 7) Say/saydn (Eli Katz) 8) Radio days (Ellen Prince) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 30 10:32:58 1994 From: Subject: Gefrishte matzoh My parents were from Zashkov (Ukraine); steamed or scalded matzoh was (perhaps after being coated with beaten egg--about this I'm not sure) fried in oil to make "," at our house--the same Pesach specialty my mother-in-law (born in Poland) called "matzoh brei." We never just buttered the steamed matzoh. ... When I lived in Rome, someone in the community told me that in her family matzoh was used as the basis of Passover pizza; I was surprised; my surprise surprised her, and she asked "Ma perche non?" (why not?) and I've been doing that ever since--does anyone else do it too? Blumke Shteynberg (Blossom S. Kirschenbaum) 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 30 11:36:08 1994 From: Subject: Learning Yiddish Rob Frantz's techniques for learning Yiddish were a lot like mine. When I was 14 I started teaching myself. It wasn't till I was 15, I think, that I got College Yiddish, but what I did was through friendship of an Auschwitz survivor, I received a book that was the Auschwitz memoirs of someone from Khust (then in Slovakia, earlier in Hungary, now in Ukraine). I just opened the book and started. I learned the meaning of the loshn-koydesh words from repeated context, and I used a pocket German dictionary (as we all know and I soon found out, cognates do not necessarily bear the same meaning). A book that I would strongly recommend to beginners once you get your bearings is Isaac Bashevis Singer's Der Knekht. I needed very little extra help. What I didn't learn until later was the aspects of verbs (Ikh gib a kuk, ikh kuk; ikh hob gelernt, ikh hob oysgelernt). Of course, taking formal classes would be a good idea if they're available in your area. I just HATE school, though. Listening to the radio and talking to people helps. And "you don't have to be Jewish" to learn it (remember the rye bread ads?) Enrique-Rick-Henekh Gildemeister 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 30 12:00:36 1994 From: bochner@das.harvard.edu Subject: Re: A Pesach question Dan Leeson describes steaming matzoh, and writes: > Anyway, how were matzoth prepared this way referred to in Yiddish? > But what Yiddish word describes them? My grandmother always referred to > them as being refreshed or "frished auf" but that is not the name of the > thing, only a description of what was done to it. Well, in our family we always called it (surprise!) "oyfgefrishte matse". We actually did it a "high-tech" way: moisten the matzoh, smear it with butter, wrap it in aluminum foil, and stick it in a hot oven for a minute or two. Then eat it fast, before it hardens back up. I used to love it! Like Dan, I've found that this "maykhl" isn't too widely known, and I'm delighted to see some one besides me ask about it. Also, to head off some confusion, I recall from the last time we discussed this that some people use the term "(oyf)gefrishte matse" to refer the matzoh & eggs dish we call "matse bray". Lovely, but different than what we're talking about. While I'm thinking of it, did anyone else have "matse mit kave" in their repertoire? A zisn yontef, -- Khayem 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 30 13:38:50 1994 From: Subject: Learning Yiddish and Harduf A) I am currently learning American sign language, and I can agree with the sentiments put forward by Rob Frantz that you have to stick with it. Unless you keep at it you'll be taking 2 steps forward and two back. I just finished my second course, and as I took my test I realized two things. The first is that I have much more to learn, and the second is that I have learned a fair bit. Learning enough vocabulary to have a converstaion takes time and patience. Then you have to learn the idomatic and semantic aspects of the language. It takes a long time, I am learning, but it will be worth it. B) I do not like Harduf as a dictionary. It has too few words, and too few important word. Also, I am not happy with the translation in general. It doesn't always ring true to me, a native Yiddish speaker. Hal Berman 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Mar 30 15:19:16 1994 From: glaa273@utxvms.cc.utexas.edu Subject: gefrishte matses In reply to the query about steamed matses, my family prepared them similarly, but no butter in those days, in fact no milk products at all during Passover. The matses were placed in a bowl and boiling water was poured over them and then poured off. The semi-limp matses were covered with beaten eggs and fried. This my Mother called gefrishte matse. Today we call it Matsebray, probably a Germanism. Stanley Werbow 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Mar 31 13:23:06 1994 From: Subject: 2nd International Conference of Yiddish Clubs On the weekend of Oct. 7-10, 1994 a second conference of Yiddish clubs will be hosted by The Friends of Yiddish of Toronto. The date co-incides with Columbus Day in the U.S. and Thanksgiving Day in Canada. Program events will include: Friday & Saturday Services Oyneg Shabes Prominent speakers, artists and musicians Workshops: Inter-generational Yiddish Yiddish typesetting on the computer Yiddish learning experience for teachers and study groups Yiddish Folk Song as Social History Tour of Yiddish Toronto Saturday night gala (with professional Yiddish entertainment) For further information: Bess Shockett or Sylvia Lustgarten 4600 Bathurst St. Willowdale, Ont. M2R 3V2 Ph. (416) 635-2883 ext.155 Fax (416) 631-5715 or E-mail to this senders address . Saul Berman 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Mar 31 13:57:54 1994 From: katz@Sonoma.EDU Subject: say/saydn Here's a stab at an explanation for the initial [s] in say and saydn, in spite of their being part of the German component: say and saydn derive respectively from the subjunctive phrases whose NHG reflexes are "es sei" and "es sei denn". In both these cases the voiced or lenis ini- tial of "sei" is devoiced (or strengthened) by assimilation to the [s] of "es", producing [es(s)ay]. When the [e] is lost (and the etymology disappears together with the subjunctive) the [s] becomes ini- tial, but is protected from be analogized back to voiced/lenis by the prevalence of initial [s] in the Hebrew-Aramaic and Slavic components. Eli Katz 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Mar 31 14:56:40 1994 From: Subject: Radio days to rick gildemeister: wow! i can't tell you how delighted i am to learn that someone out there heard, enjoyed, and remembered my wevd presentation! and understood it!!! it may amuse/infuriate you to know that a famous yiddish showbiz couple repeated most of what i said (without bothering to mention their source) a few years later on wevd, but what they heard and repeated was filtered thru their own prejudices. i had said that sarah gorby, while sounding very 'bessarabian' to the naked ear till the end of her life, had actually switched to a more standard dialect, presumably thru social pressure and definitely against her will, and that this switch was observable only thru statistical analysis. well, the famous couple reported that she originally sang in 'tote-mome lushn' but 'GRADUALLY IMPROVED'!!! i'm sure madame gorby would have been thrilled to know that. :) are you familiar with the recordings of isa kremer, btw? also a magnificent singer and also in 'tote-mome lushn'. and also with a south american connection... (gorby never lived in s.a. but toured there regularly and even recorded in argentina. did you know her in peru, btw?) well, thanks for that very flattering post! it's sooooo nice after all these years of thinking it was a total bust! ellen prince ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 3.306 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 Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net