Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.375 March 27, 1995 1) Poem for a Mendelnik (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 2) Warm invitation from Sholem-Aleykhem (Louis Fridhandler) 3) Bashevises kinder mayses (Adam Whiteman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 07:55:29 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Poem for a Mendelnik, Janet Hadda For Yiddish it's December I came upon this moving poem in the Jewish Women's Literary Annual (1994) published by National Council of Jewish Women, New York Chapter. December by Sarah Traister-Moskovitz For Yiddish it's December There's no more oven hearth The small fire sinks and flames only in dreams The rebbe who taught little children there died with them together on the other side Atlantic in the great fires of hate And here, our Yiddish drowned in roaring waves and crash and flood of mass culture There is no cemetery for a language only for each speaker And every mouth becoming silent takes with it a piece of world; a client of the Yiddish street a teacher's effort, a mother's song, a sister's comfort a brother's help, and hundreds of untold stories, gifts ungiven carved from thousand years of Yiddish history When Latin died she was sanctified in holy churches There are no holy walls to honor my Yiddish Only lonely professors carrying the burden of millions of silent graves as single alien guest in Departments of German. This poem is dedicated to Professor Janet Hadda who teaches Yiddish in the German Dept. at U.C.L.A. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Mar 95 14:25:04 EST From: 74064.1661@compuserve.com Subject: Warm invitation from Sholem-Aleykhem Both Sholem-Aleykhem and J.H. Ravnitski were born in 1859. Their personalities were quite different. Sholem-Aleykhem seems to have been generally rather affable, even daring, brash and mischievously playful while Ravnitski was known as a _shvayger_, a reserved, quiet, thoughtful one. His literary taste and judgment gained the deep respect of his colleagues. In 1892 these two began a brief collaboration, writing critical essays in Hebrew under the rubric, Kevurat Soferim (Burying Writers). They used as pseudonyms the names of two obscure prophets (Numbers 11:26-29), Eldad (Sholem-Aleykhem) and Medad (Ravnitski). The warmth of Sholem-Aleykhem's friendly feeling toward Ravnitski is expressed in a letter published in Der Tog (New York) on October 28, 1923, page 8. The latter is dated July 4, 1895, when he wrote in Yiddish from his summer place in Boyarka (near Kiev) inviting Ravnitski to be his guest there. [my translation is not side by side because of length] Vos heyst ver hot mir dertseylt az ir fort keyn Skvire? Paye un Boni zenen dokh geven bay undz. Un vos ir zogt mir oykh shver, is nor shver di heskeme biz ir vet bay zikh poyln. Di nesiye aleyn kost haynt a shmek tabake, fir oder finef rubl. Un lebn vet ir bay undz vi Got in Frankraykh. Dehayne, a bazunder tsugekloybn kheyderl fun ayertvegn mit a kleyn bedl af tsu bodn zikh in der fri in frishn Dniepr vaser getsoygn durkh rern fun Kiev un a marmor bitl mit a kleyn baseyntshikl af tsu shvimen, a gortn mit alerley peryes, vaynshl, malines, karshn un shpeter oykh epl mit barn, berhamotn mit gdolim, blumen sheyne shmekendike, a taykhl mit fish un mit shiflekh gefarbte, muzik ale farnakht in vald, teatershpil un kontsertn on gelt, tsaytungen un bikher alerley, yunge oyfes mit katshkelekh gebrotene, milkhiks fun Tevyen l'rov, kreplekh, varenikes, vertutin, mlintses. Nor eyn zakh feylt: maskilim, a rendl a maskil. Khokhomi Kiev, kumen afile yo amol aher tsu forn, nor me zeyt zey nisht den zey antloyfn bald tsurik aheym. Zey konen nisht fartrogn di hige luft. Haklol, ikh zog aykh, s'iz bay undz a shtik gan edn. Ir vet zayn erger fun geshmodt oyb ir vet kholile nisht aropkhapn zikh tsu undz hayntikn zumer khotsh af etlikhe teg. Es vet zayn a simen az ir zent dos nisht vert. Karasik, der gelhilf funem yidishn senzor in Kiev, iz shoyn borekh hashem gekumen tsurik fun Kharkov nor er iz geblibn alts der eygener Karasik vos frier. Ikh hob fun im keyn shum bukh nit bakumen. Hayntikn Zuntik kumt er tsu undz in Boyarka af a tog, er un zayn gants hoyzgezind. Ven ir hot seykhl kumt ir oykh Zuntik. Es vet zayn bay undz hayntikn Zuntik a tsunoyffor fun gest alerhand; fun Kiev, fun Barditshev fun Vasilkov, un fun Varshe. [my translation] Why do you ask who told me you were going to Skvira? After all, Paya and Boni [mutual friends] were with us, visiting. And about your claim that it's difficult: the only obstacle is your agreement to get yourself to just do it. These days, the trip itself costs a pinch of snuff: four or five rubles. At our place you'd live like God in France. Listen to this: a separate little furnished room for you, a basin for morning washing in fresh water from the Dnieper piped in from Kiev and a little marble tub with a little pool for swimming; a garden with all kinds of fruit: sour cherries, raspberries, sweet cherries; later in the season, apples and pears; bergamot; magnificent, fragrant flowers; a stream with fish and colored boats; music every evening in the woods at twilight; free theater and concerts; all manner of newspapers and books; spring chickens and roast ducklings; dairy goods (mainly from Tevye); dumplings, blintzes. The only thing missing: maskilim. When clever sages of Kiev ever do take a trip out here, they keep out of sight and soon rush home. They can't stand this air. All in all, I tell you, our place is a taste of paradise. You would be worse than an apostate if you don't snatch at least a few days to drop in this summer. It would be a sign of your unworthiness. Karasik [a maskil], assistant to the Jewish censor in Kiev, has already, thank God, returned from Kharkov, but he remains the same Karasik as ever. I haven't received a single book from him. This coming Sunday, he and his whole household is coming to visit us for the day. If you're smart, you'll come, too. All kinds of guests are gathering at our place next Sunday: from Kiev, Berdichev, Vasilkov, and from Warsaw. [End of translation] The letter ended on an even more seductive note. Ravnitski was a 36-year-old widower, and Sholem-Aleykhem mentioned an approaching visit by an attractive woman who was then looking for a husband. I can't help wondering if this did not make Ravnitski, a rather independent type, a bit anxious. After all was said and done, he did not accept this fine invitation at that time. Summer life in Boyarka of the 1890s sounds wonderful. Note the mention of Tevye, a real milkman in Boyarka. This letter was written a couple of months before he wrote (or corresponded with editor Mordecai Spector about) his very first Tevye story, Tevye der Milkhiker (original title, later changed to Dos Groyse Gevins in 1903). Louis Fridhandler Irvine, CA 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 25 Mar 95 16:47:41 EST From: 74031.775@compuserve.com Subject: Bashevises kinder mayses Ikh hob letstns gezen a por sheyne kinder bikher fun Bashevises kinder mayses ibergezetst af eynglish. Zenen Bashevises kinder mayses gedrukt in bikher af yidish tsi zenen zey ale gedrukt in yidishe tsaytungn un zhurnaln? Oyb zey zenen nor gedrukt gevorn in tsaytungn un zhurnaln, vi ken men gefinen di dates un krign kopiyes? A dank faroys. Adam Whiteman Queens, New York ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.375 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. 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