Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.317 February 7, 1995 1) Introduction (Rokhl Bernard) 2) Proverbs, curses, etc. (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 3) A tchaynik hakn (Howie Aronson) 4) The retort too late (Jeff Zucker) 5) Oxford Yiddish Course (Dafna Clifford) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Feb 1995 19:35:47 -0500 (EST) From: dschrag@acs.bu.edu Subject: Introduction I have already posted on Mendele but have not introduced myself. Ikh hays Rhoda Bernard (Rokhl oyf yiddish) un ikh bin a zingerke. Ikh zing Yiddishe musik, hebreyishe musik, klasishe muzik, djez, un musik fun "Brodvey." Ikh makh mayn gants lebn fun muzik -- ikh zing, ikh lern a por talmidim. Ikh hob zikh gelernt redn Yiddish in der Uriel Vaynraykh zumer program fun Yiddishe shprakh, lituratur, un kultur. Ikh bin geven in der program zumer nayntsnhundert fir un nayntsik. Nokh der program, bin ikh geblibn mit Yiddish. Ikh hob gekoyft "Yiddish Tsvey" -- itst, leyen ikh a por bleter yeden tog. Ikh leyen dem Forverts. Ikh shmues zeyer oft mit andere mentschn vos redn Yiddish -- mayn mans bobe hot a verterbukh noyent tsu der telefon, k'dey tsu nitsn dos bukh ven zi un ikh schmuesn oyf Yiddish. Ikh red Yiddish ven ikh gib a kontsert -- ikh derkler di lider tsum ershtn oyf Yiddish un tsum tsveytn oyf English. S'iz mir zeyer gut tsu leyenen Mendele yeder tog in der heym -- ikh hob a sakh gelernt fun Mendelen. Es volt mir zayn a fargenign oyb ir volt gekent mir derklern andere vegn vos mit zey ikh ken nitsn mayn Yiddish un oyslernen di sprakh. Ikh vil nisht farloyrn mayn Yiddish! Rokhl Bernard 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Feb 1995 16:51:05 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Proverbs, curses, etc. Far Daniella HarPaz, iz faran an English book, "Freud and Fargenign" by Meyer Zaremba, a gevezener principal in New York, velkher iz haynt a leydikgeyer in Florida. Er iz gevorn a troubador velkher shpant fun condo tzu condo un makht komishe forshtelungen far di pensyonern. The book lists, defines, explains, and discusses curses, shtokhverter, shprikhverter, glaykhverter, rednsart - more than 999 'irreverent' Jewish expressions. Example of a shtokhvort: "If someone would suggest (to his shviger) that a blouse was made of silk, she'd nod skeptically and comment, 'Siz geleygn leybn silk.'" The book is entertaining as well as educational. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 6 Feb 95 21:31:56 CST From: hia5@midway.uchicago.edu Subject: A tchaynik hakn Jack Feldman (Mendele Vol 4.313) translates "hakn a tshaynik" as "literally- bang me no tea kettle..." Frankly, I wish that were so. That translation makes sense. But, unfortunately, a -tshaynik=, as I understand it, is not a tea kettle (the Yiddish cultural equivalent being, I assume, -samovar-), but a teapot. I always understood the idiom as coming from a small child banging a spoon, etc., on a tea kettle or samovar, as if playing a drum, and the parent entreating "Hak mir nit a 'tea kettle'." It makes less sense to me if one is referring to a tea pot. (Unless, of course, the meaning is "Don't make a tempest in a teapot :).) Howie Aronson 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 7 Feb 95 00:35 EST From: zucker@maccs.dcss.mcmaster.ca Subject: The retort too late I once heard a rabbi refer to a thought that he had recalled after giving his droshe, which he wished he had included, as a "trep-zikorn" (i.e. what one remembers too late, as one is walking down the steps of the bime). Jeff Zucker Hamilton, Canada 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 07 Feb 1995 11:31:34 +0000 From: clifford@vax.ox.ac.uk Subject: Oxford Yiddish Course The Oxford Yiddish Summer Course 1995 ===================================== The first intensive Oxford Yiddish Summer Course to be organised by the new Oxford Institute for Yiddish Studies will be held from 17 July to 11 August 1995. The course comprises morning sessions at four levels ranging from elementary to advanced. The afternoon programme includes: a conversation workshop for beginners (audio lab available), a Yiddish folksong workshop, a project on the theme of Displacement, and a special lecture series on Isaac Bashevis Singer, history of Yiddish theatre, modern Jewish art, Jewish films and Hollywood, and illustrated history of Klezmer music. The faculty: Ms. Helen Beer (Oxford), Dr. Dafna Clifford (Oxford), Mr. Peter Cowdrey (Cambridge), Mr. Gennady Estraikh (Oxford), Prof. Yonia Fain (New York), Mr. Michael Friedland (London), Dr. Dovid Katz (Oxford), Dr, Dov-Ber Kerler (Oxford), Ms. Shura Lipovsky (Amsterdam), Prof. Yitskhok Niborski (Paris), Ms. Mira Rafalowicz (Amsterdam), Prof. Chone Shmeruk (Jerusalem). Guest Lecturers: Mr. Majer Bogdanski (London), Prof. William Fishman (London), Dr. Anne Kershon (London), as well as the famous stars of the Yiddish stage in Britain: Bernard Mendelovich (Bournemouth) and Anna Tzelniker (London). Tuition Fees: 650 Pounds Sterling (or U.S. $975) Full time students and unwaged: 300 Pounds Sterling (or U.S.$450) For further informaion and registration forms write to: Marie Wright Oxford Institute for Yiddish Studies Golden Cross Court 4 Cornmarket Oxford OX1 3EX Great Britain Tel.: +44 1865 798989 Fax: +44 1865 798987 Dafna Clifford ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.317 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. 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