Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.145 October 19, 1994 1) Did Sholem Aleichem have Attention Defecit? (Harvey Spiro) 2) A nut or berry called "afn"? (Shleyme Axelrod) 3) Events at Stanford (Sarah Lorayne Stein) 4) Yiddish Music Class (Bert Steinberg) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue Oct 18 10:00:50 1994 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Did Sholem Aleichem have Attention Defecit? In Mendele 4.143, Louis Fridhandler writes: > As a student of Yiddish culture I am interested in whatever > psychoanalytic thinking may reveal about the hidden depths > of literary creators and their creations (especially Sholem > Aleichem). ... For example, ... claims that Tevye was obese The more I read Sholem Aleichem, the more I feel that he may have suffered from what is currently called Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (or ADHD). ADHD is a label now in vogue among child psychiatrists for what used to be called "hyperactivity" or "impulsivity" in kids. (ADHD was featured on the cover of Time magazine this summer.) Such people, adults and children (predominantly males), are characterized as having: limited attention spans, trouble with decisions, and jump (verbally, physically and in their thought processes) from one topic to another. As the parent of such a child, I see aspects of similar behavior in several of Sholem Aleichem's characters, and wonder whether he was reflecting his own (?) ADHD in those characters. Tevye is a classic attention deficit adult. His conversations ramble and diverge wildly from their original objectives, and he keeps having to remind himself of his original theme and intentions. Whole sections of dialogue start off paragraph after paragraph with "b'kitsur," then continue deviating from the main topic. He daydreams of riches on his wagon, and runs into a tree. He listens to Menakhm Mendl's schemes all night, understands nothing, impulsively hands over all his "groyse gevins," then later asks his Golde what it was that he invested in. He jumps from disapproval to approval of Layzer Volf's bid for marriage, then reverses himself when his daughter appeals to him. All of course sprinkled with Tevye's unique medreshim. Motl, Peysi dem Khazn's would certainly be diagnosed today as "hyperactive," jumping from thought to thought, can't seem to keep his body still. As I read the stories, I imagine him prancing and dancing around New York, London and his home shtetl. (Motl's "khaver" Pinni is also probably ADHD.) Life as a poor orphan and immigrant was hard, but I bet a prescription of Ritalin would have made him a more manageable kid -- although possibly unworthy of literary fame. In two short stories, "An eytse" and "Fun'm priziv," the protagonists keep jabbering and jumping around verbally, have difficulty sticking to their topic, don't hear what others say to them, and keep losing their listener's attention. In the former, the young husband (whose wealthy wife has fallen for her doctor) is constantly reminded by Sholem Aleichem to get to the point. In the latter, the father of the youth who is called several times for army physicals tells such a convoluted story that he creates his own undoing. As he goes from lawyer to lawyer without making his case understood, he ends up crying rhetorically: "Er zogt az ikh bin a nudnik. IKH bin a NUDNIK?!" Which of course he is. Any thoughts or comments appreciated. Harvey Spiro 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 22:16:34 -0400 (EDT) From: ptyaxel@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: A nut or berry called "afn"? A friend recalls that her late father, a Yiddish speaker from Czechoslovakia (or maybe Romania), used to talk of a berry (?) or nut (?) called an "afn" or "afen". The word is not in Weinreich or Harkavy, or in Mordkhe Schaechter's _Mit a gutn apetit!: a reshime gastronomishe terminen_. Can some Mendelenik identify it? A sheynem dank. Shleyme Axelrod 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Oct 1994 22:01:12 -0700 (PDT) From: slstein@leland.Stanford.edu Subject: Events at Stanford On behalf of the Stanford Jewish Studies program, I want to extend an invitation to all Yiddish enthusiasts to the following events: Dan Miron, the well known Israeli literary scholar and critic, professor of Jewish Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Columbia University, and the YIVO Institute, is delivering two lectures at Stanford University in November. November 2, 8:00 p.m., Professor Miron will deliver a lecture in English entitled: "The Literary Image of the East European Shtetl: An Aesthetic Construct, A Historical Comment" in Stanford's Tressider Union, Oak West Lounge. November 3, 4:00 p.m., Professor Miron will deliver a lecture in Yiddish entitled, "Tsi iz take faran ein moderne clal-isroel literatur?" (Is there a unified modern Jewish literature?" in Stanford's Tressider Union, Cypress South Lounge. Both lectures are free and open to the public. A reception will follow each lecture; dietary restrictions obeserved. For more information, please call (415)723-7589. Sarah Lorayne Stein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Oct 1994 01:22:29 -0400 From: Mate1920@aol.com Subject: Yiddish Music Class For anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area: A six week class (started October 17th) on Monday mornings from 10-11:30 a.m. is being offered at the Contra Costa JCC, 2071 Tice Valley Blvd., Walnut Creek : a history of Yiddish music in the new world. Meyer Halpern, who teaches courses on Yiddish culture and life in America, is the instructor. First class this Monday was fabulous. Individual lecture attendance is permitted at $10 each. Highly recommended. Bert Steinberg ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.145 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) A Table of Contents is now available via anonymous ftp, along with weekly updates. 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