Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.273 January 11, 1995 1) Yitzhak Kertesz z"l (Zev Hochberg) 2) Yitzhak Kertesz z"l (Yossi Galron) 3) Yitzhak Kertesz z"l and Leybl Tenzer z"l (Noyekh Miller) 4) Talk on Yiddish at MIT (Dovid Braun) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 20:39:37 -0500 (est) From: hochberg@dorsai.dorsai.org Subject: Yitzhak (Istvan) Kertesz Some of you may remember Yitzhak (Istvan) Kertesz, who was an occasional contributor (but frequent lurker) to this list. I am sorry to report that Yitzhak died this past Monday morning. Yitzhak was a librarian at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. He was a linguist, Talmudist, and author of a book on Talmudic and Rabbinic humor. The funeral is Wednesday Jan 11, at 1:15 PM, at Riverside (180 W 76 St) in New York. Yehi zichro baruch. Zev Hochberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 22:04:41 -0500 (EST) From: jgalron@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Yitzhak Kertesz z"l Mendelenikes: I am sorry I have to bring you the sad news about the death of an old Mendelnik, Yitzhak (Istvan) Kertesz. Yitzhak was librarian at the Leo Baeck Institute in New York. While awaiting a liver transplant, Yitzhak developed kidney failure and died yesterday morning. Funeral services will be Wednesday January 11 at 1:15 pm at Riverside Memorial Chapel on Amsterdam Avenue and 76th Street in New York City. Joseph (Yossi) Galron 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 11 Jan 1995 12:31 From: nmiller@trincoll.edu Subject: Yitzhak Kertesz z"l and Leybl Tenzer z"l Two friends are gone. Yitzhak, a learned and witty man, wrote some wonderful posts for Mendele. Here is an excerpt. ********************* Date: Tue, 2 Jun 92 07:52:53 PDT From: bm.lbh%rlg@forsythe.stanford.edu Subject: Noch schlimmer mazl to Hersh Volf Basser (2.04 #1) I did not intend to deny that mazl means luck, fortune. You are right that in that Talmud, and even all through the Middle Ages mazal meant constellations, astrology. When we wish a mazaldike sho, or sing "siman tov umazal tov yehe lanu", these are in the future tense. But how am I supposed to understand "Mazl tov, I heard that your son got married!" Is this a prayer to the stars about something that is done already? Or does it mean, that the marriage should turn out to be successful? In which case mazl means success, not stars. This is of course still not luck, unless you are ready to claim that a successful marriage is only a matter of luck! David Braun is (2.05 #2) absolutely correct, that mazl came to mean "congratulations". ((Regarding the ironic use of mazl tov when something breaks: since we scream mazl tov at a wedding when the glass is broken, one might argue that this reaction to the sound of breaking glass in other situations may be a Jewish Pavlovian reflex.)) The English words are confusing, too. Fortune magazine is not about winning in Las Vegas, and the game-show Wheel of Fortune is not about picking the lucky stocks. I know that I am not clear, but I don't have an answer yet. All I know, is that this is a very understudied concept called "chance", which would belong to a network devoted to Jewish philosophy, called - I guess - Spinozele. ((This must mean "nose twisting", if we follow the oylem - goylem phallacy that David Roskies described in his article: Forward 5/22. Are you online, Reb Dovid?)) As for the conventional wisdom which explains the shlemiel spilling soup on the shlimmazal, I have problems with it. First of all, as far as I can see, and I am eager to hear if somebody has proof to refute me, this definition does not appear in ANY European source. Moreover: If shlimmazal is an event of bad luck that can happen to anybody, why is the person sitting there called shlimmazal? Is it a person, or an event? And if it is a person, but can happen to anybody, why does he have a special name? If you believe that they are two separate categories (I disagree) then shouldn't the case be the reverse? Shlimmazal spilling on the shlemiel? "I was just getting ready to have my soup, when, to my shlimmazl, can happen to anybody, my sleeves got caught in the edge of the table, and there went the bowl. And that poor loser Shlemiel sitting there, the soup could have gone to my left, to my right, but no, it landed straight on his new suit!" Yitzhak Kertesz ********************* Leybl Tenzer was known to everyone in Montreal where he headed the Yiddish schools. Others knew him from his role as master-teacher at the National Yiddish Book Center's summer schools. A gentle man, a wonderful teacher. Koved zeyer andenk. Noyekh Miller 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 10 Jan 1995 17:57:07 EST From: dovid@mit.edu Subject: Talk on Yiddish at MIT (Cambridge, MA) David Braun (PhD student in Linguistics at MIT) will be giving a half-hour presentation on the endangered status of Yiddish, at MIT on Thursday, Jan. 12. The presentation will be part of the IAP (Independent Activities Period) that MIT holds during intersession, in which less formal courses and seminars are led by both faculty and students. This year a number of professors and students have organized an "IAP Workshop on Endangered Languages and the Maintenance of Linguistic Diversity" that will have four meetings on Thursdays from Jan. 12 to Feb. 2. It is open to the public. Here is a description of its character and purpose: "Linguistic diversity is decreasing at an alarming rate. Of the world's 6,000 languages, 5,000 are threatened with extinction within the next century. Researchers actively involved with endangered languages will discuss the linguistic situation in various parts of the world with a focus on ongoing language maintenance programs. No knowledge of languages or linguistic theory is necessary." Topics to be covered over the four sessions: 1. What is a language? When is a language endangered? Why maintain linguistic diversity? 2. The United States (status of Native American and other languages) 3. Yiddish 4. Central America 5. South America 6. Australia 7. Ireland 8. Ireland 9. The Far North (e.g. Siberia) 10. The UK 11. What works in language maintenance? The first three topics will be discussed on Thursday, Jan. 12. The session begins at 1:00 pm and lasts until 4:00 pm, in Room 66-154 of MIT. Call David Braun for more details (375-9533) or e-mail him at dovid@mit.edu. Dovid Braun ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.273 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. Anonymous ftp archives available on: ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files Archives available via gopher on: gopher.cic.net Send articles to: mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Send change-of-status messages to: listserv@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele nomail b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. To unsubscribe kholile: unsub mendele Other business: nmiller@mail.trincoll.edu