Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.295 January 28, 1995 1) Ishkabibel Domanickel (Yossi Galron) 2) Khaver (Michael Shimshoni) 3) Khaver (Paul Pascal) 4) Jewish folk art in Galicia (Kathryn Hellerstein) 5) Learning YIddish as political act (Kathryn Hellerstein) 6) Der nayer Oksforder Institut (Matt Motl Dailey) 7) Romanized Yiddish-English dictionary (Morrie Feller) 8) Yiddish and the North American Indian (Les Train) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 26 Jan 1995 20:55 EDT From: jgalron@aleph.lib.ohio-state.edu Subject: Ishkabibel Domanickel A patron at the Ohio State University Library asked at the Refernce desk the source of the term "Ishkabibel Domanickel". A search at the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) did not produce any result. In a story by Haim Chertok, in the Jerusalem Post of April 2, 1993 "The Six Questions", a Pessach story from the Bronx, it says: "All I need to break her up is to whisper 'Ishkabibel' under my breath." Can someone on Mendele help us to find the source of the term? Is it Yiddish? Are there any bibliographic refernces for this term? A sheinem dank, Yossi Galron Columbus, Ohio 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 95 11:49:33 +0200 From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il Subject: On another use of khaver Recently there was some discussion on the uses of Reb and Khaver as an address. Some have mentioned that Khaver was used by the left like Comrade. In Israel it was very common among the socialists to use khaver as the address preceding the name (usually the family name). But in Hebrew the word has lots of meanings (e.g. member of an organization) so that it has also non socialist uses. I wish to draw attention to a use of khaver in Germany. In shuls sometime a person had the title khaver given to him as a sign of his standing in the community, especially perhaps to his frum behaviour and ability to "learn". From then one such a person be called up to the Torah: ya'amod hakhaver etc. This is not really surprising as the word khaver was sometimes used in our ancient sources as someone trustworthy as opposed to the am ha'aretz who was not reliable on kashrut matters. Also in the Kusari of Yehuda Halevy, the man representing the Jewish view is called hakhaver. Michael Shimshoni, Rehovot, Israel 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 27 Jan 95 17:17:52 EST From: 75332.2735@compuserve.com Subject: "Khaver" as an appellation As a kid at Yiddish day school (I.L. Peretz Folk School in Winnipeg during the fifties) we called all our teachers "khaver" and "khaverte". It wasn't until years later that I realized this was a remnant of the socialist leanings of the school and had political resonances (khaver=tovarishch=comrade). Peretz School was founded three years before the Russian Revolution and was originally called the Jewish Radical School. Over the years its ideology slowly faded (no doubt Stalin's purges had something to do with it), though its rival in Winnipeg, the Sholem Aleichem Shul, stayed doggedly pro-Moscow. Only now in the nineties am I realizing that the men teachers were Khaver + Surname (Khaver Bronshteyn, Khaver Zolf) while the women teachers were Khaverte + Given Name (Khaverte Pnina, etc.). So much for ushering in the egalitarian society. Paul Pascal Toronto 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 04:53:35 -0500 (EST) From: khellers@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Jewish folk art in Galicia There is a fabulous exhibition at Beth Hatefusoth (the Diaspora Museum) on the campus of Tel Aviv University. It is called "Rediscovered Treasures -- Judaica Collections foro Galicia, from the Lvov Museum of Ethnography and Crafts" -- and has beautiful and to me previously unknown samples of Jewish objects ranging from copper bowls, tubs, and urns to shtern-tikhlekh and other religiously- and ritually-associated fabric items , some manufactured only in Lvov before the war. Someone should bring this exhibition to the US!!! This is of direct interest to Mendele readers, I hope -- because the objects in this exhibition make concrete and tangible many Yiddish words that the dictionaries define but cannot evoke. Kathryn Hellerstein Ramat Aviv, Israel 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 04:34:39 -0500 (EST) From: khellers@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Learning YIddish as political act In reply (belatedly) to Djulia Schere's query re. learning Yiddish as a political act -- have you read Irena Klepfisz's excellent article in Bridges (Spring, 1994), "Di mames, dos loshn: The Mothers, the Language; Yiddish and the Politics of Memory" (This may not be the exact title). Kathryn Hellerstein 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 09:31:01 -0500 (EST) From: mdailey@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Subject: Der nayer Oksforder Institut Noch dem vi ich hob geleyent dem artikl in Forverts vegn dem nayem Oksforder Yidisher Institut, hob ich a tracht geton vegn dem nayem nomen fun dem institut. Fun Yidisher Visenshaftlicher Institut mir hobn YIVO, vos hobn mir fun dem Oksforder Yidisher Visenshaftlecher Institut? Ich meyn az mir hobn, OY VEY. Gey veys. Matt Motl Dailey Columbus, Ohio 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 09:32:28 -0700 (MST) From: feller@pcef.pc.maricopa.edu Subject: Romanized Yiddish-English dictionary In response to Yankle Gerger, there has been an excellent dictionary available for a long time. It is: The Yiddish Dictionary Sourcebook: A Transliterated Guide to the Yiddish Language. Authors are: Herman Galvin and Stan Tamarkin (Ktav Publishing House, 1986) Morrie Feller Phoenix, Az. [The dictionary and related items are discussed in Vol.3.324 and in Vol.4.072 nm] 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 27 Jan 1995 17:08:27 -0500 (EST) From: ltrain@epas.utoronto.ca Subject: Yiddish and the North American Indian Sheen Daixel wrote a book called _Indianishe Dertsaylungen_ (1959: New York). In it he talks of his travels amongst the Apache, Sioux, Hopi, and Navajo. If you are interested in such things - including actual Hopi dialog transliterated into Yiddish, I recommend that you located a copy of this fine book. He also wrote stories of his travels in Asia called, as you might expect _Asiatishe Dertsaylungen_ (1924). i-kon-naya, bes-nu-on-na-wakna (which means: main tayerer, kh'hob dikh zeyer lib!) Les Train Toronto ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.295 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. 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