Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.320 February 10, 1995 1) Jacob P. Adler's memoirs (Zachary Baker) 2) Kashe, klots-kashe (Dovid Braun) 3) Oxford Yiddish program (Ellen prince) 4) Anumelt (Harvey Spiro) 5) Meanings of "mentsh" (Louis Fridhandler) 6) Tevye as a father (Daniella HarPaz) 7) Zemtsovskii's Jewish folk songs (Nathan Snyder) 8) Yung Yiddish (Uri Tadmor) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 8 Feb 95 15:58:07 PST From: bm.yib@rlg.stanford.edu Subject: Jacob P. Adler's memoirs My friends and colleagues Tsirl Kuznitz and Dovid Braun have answered Noyekh Zide's queries about the Yiddish versions of Joseph Buloff's memoirs (they appeared in Di goldene keyt, no. 116/117 ff.) and the folktales collected by Bina Weinreich (who is indeed working on a Yiddish edition; translations into other languages are also in the works). Now to the Urtext of the Jacob P. Adler memoirs: They were not published in book form, in Yiddish. According to the "Leksikon fun der nayer yidisher literatur" (vol. 1, col. 25), Adler published a series of articles, "Mayn lebns-bashraybung," in "Theater zhurnal" in 1901. These were later expanded and edited (anonymously) by Yoel Entin, under the title "40 yohr oyf der bihne," and published in the daily newspaper Varhayt/Wahrheit (April 30, 1916-Feb. 22, 1919; presumably not every day!). Another series of memoirs by Adler, entitled "Mayn leben," appeared in "Di naye varhayt" (March 14-July 18, 1925). (See also the bibliography, appended to the article on Adler, in Zalmen Zilber- tsvayg/Zylbercweig's "Leksikon fun yidishn teater," vol. 1, col. 27.) Zachary Baker 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 08 Feb 1995 23:03:17 EST From: dovid@mit.edu Subject: Kashe, klots-kashe To Yude Rozof: _klots-kashe_, from _klots_ 'log', relates to the image of putting a log -- a stumbling block -- in front of someone. So a _klots-kashe_ which is foolish is one that is, by nature, unanswerable. A _klots-kashe_ which poses great difficulty is also unanswerable -- it's difficult to cross over the log to get to the answer. To Yale Reisner: To be even more precise, Yiddish _kashe_ '(intellectual) question; (intellectual) problem' comes from Aramaic _kashya_, which is the adjective form with the definite article, I think. _kushia_ is used in Talmudic Aramaic and Modern Hebrew Talmudic discourse, but somehow Yiddish incorporated the adjectival form and not the noun form. You'll notice that when _lernen_ is done in Yiddish, you speak only of a _kashe_. When _lernen_ is done with Modern Hebrew as the vernacular for discussion, it's _kushia'_. Dovid Braun 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Feb 1995 02:41:53 EST From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Oxford Yiddish program to: ben alpers re what's going on at oxford, among other things, the director of the yiddish program, dovid katz, has been fired for embezzlement. ellen prince 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu Feb 9 09:10:15 1995 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Anumelt In the past week, both in a Yiddish newspaper and some reading, I came across the word "anumelt," which Weinreich and Harkavy define as "recently." That word was not in my (admittedly quite meager) receptive Yiddish vocabulary, and I puzzled about its possible etymology. From its sound, I assumed a Germanic root, but found no cognate form in any of several German dictionaries. Undaunted, but bolstered by courage born of linguistic naivete and profound ignorance of the languages at issue, I tried Polish, Czech, French and even Hebrew/Aramaic (Jastrow) dictionaries with no success. I even looked for forms assuming that the initial "a" was a prefix. Does anyone have information on the derivation of "anumelt"? Might it be a contraction? Also, is it considered a rare form, or is it frequently used? Harvey Spiro Vienna, Virginia 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 09 Feb 95 12:51:45 EST From: 74064.1661@compuserve.com Subject: Meanings of "mentsh" The Yiddish word "mentsh" can have three meanings: 1) person, 2) employee, or 3) something inexpressible in any _single_ English word. Weinreich offers "responsible/mature person" for the third. Harkavy daytshmerizes to "mensh" and ignores the third meaning. I figured this evocative Yiddish word deserves a little more reflection. I've long felt that "mentsh" exemplifies the expressive power of Yiddish. However, my assertion (4.310) that only Yiddish has such a word was clearly too broad. I haven't checked all languages. Martin Davis (4.313) cites a passage from the Magic Flute libretto in the original German to suggest that the German "Mensch" can sometimes carry the same force as the Yiddish "mentsh." I have asked Yiddish speakers who also speak German, Hebrew, French, Russian, or Hungarian, et al. whether they know of a _single word_ in the other tongues that has the resonance of "mentsh." The answer has been, uniformly, "No." Checking two comprehensive German-English dictionaries (Harper Collins and Oxford Duden) yielded no translation of Mensch (German) that had the ring of mentsh (Yiddish). But usage often transcends dictionary definition. The Magic Flute passage cited by Martin Davis certainly suggests that. I would be very interested to know how English translators have understood that bit of German. Further, the other-worldly, supra-human, magical ambience of the delightful Magic Flute plot suggests caution in interpreting the libretto. The plot reflects the arcane symbols of freemasonry. Both Mozart and Schikaneder (the librettist) were Freemasons. I can't express the "mentsh" concept in any one English word, but I believe I can approach that elusive ideal with a number of words: a reliable, empathic person who has matured beyond narcissistic self-absorption, whose stable identity supports character autonomy that, in turn, steers toward community responsibility and toward _humane_ thoughts, words and actions. Halevay! What a lofty goal! But that takes nothing away from the Yiddish word's power to inspire one to extend limits. I once asked two people (both fluent in English, Russian and Yiddish) if Russian had a _single_ word like mentsh. They said no, but to express the same idea in Russian, they rattled off a couple of reverberant phrases in voices filled with cheerful admiration. Louis Fridhandler 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 09 Feb 1995 17:48:54 -0500 (EST) From: harpaz@binah.cc.brandeis.edu Subject: Tevye as a father The class I'm teaching on Yiddish literature in translation is keeping me very busy, but is a lot of fun. We are now finishing *Tevye the Dairyman* and I want to share some interesting discussion points with you. I'd be interested in any feedback/discussion. To me one of the most interesting discussions the class has had has been about Tevye as a father. What kind of a father was he? The story of his daughter Chava is what promted this discussion. My students came up with a list of qualities that were "fatherlike", or that were important for a father to have. Their list, as I wrote it on the board was something like: caring, compassionate, supportive, loving, helpful.... So I asked them to add to the list some stereotypic father images, since their initial group compiled list read like a description of a 1990's sensitive new-age guy. They added: authoritative/tarian, strong, always right, learned, family leader, dominant/neering.... An interesting discussion ensued. Did some of their "stereotype" characteristics need to exist in a father? or in a parental unit? The class decided that some authority was necessary from parents. (This was not an obvious decision for the students. They took some time arguing about it, but decided that teaching boundaries, right from wrong, giving direction--these things came from some authority in the parents.) So, did Chava's marriage to Fedka have more to do with Tevye's "lack of fathering" than some other options? As the class (of mostly young women) was split--half identifying with Chava and half with Tevye in the story--was it Tevye's own doing, that he "lost his daughter"? Is this picture of a present but "non- fathering" father representative of a larger issue/problem in the Jewish community of Tevye's time? of today's time? Did God, the ultimate father-figure, fill some of the need for authority in the family? enough? Anyway, the class was exciting/ed. We're not done discussing the book. They were also very into discussing Shprintze (the daughter who kills herself) in contrast to/compared to Chava. Which loss was greater, more painful for Tevye, etc. Daniella HarPaz 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thursday, 9 February 95 14:57:39 CST From: llnis@utxdp.dp.utexas.edu Subject: Zemtsovskii's Jewish folk songs Does someone have the correct address to obtain Zemtsovskii, I.I. "Jewish folk songs" St. Petersburg, 1994. The address John Rauch, Center for Jewish culture & creativity 423 N Palm Dr Apt 102 LA CA 90007 is not correct. Nathan Snyder [Please send replies directly to above address. nm] 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 10:53:46 -1000 From: uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu!tadmor%hsi.uucp@cs.yale.edu Subject: Yung Yiddish Ikh zuch di email-adrese fun Mendy Kahan, vus iz der prezident fun der barimter organizatsye 'Yung Yiddish' in Yerusholayim ir hakoydesh. A shaynem dank! Uri Tadmor [Please send replies directly to above address. nm] ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.320 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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