Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.382 April 11, 1995 1) Leivick lullaby (Goldie Morgentaler) 2) Poem far a Mendelnik (Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz) 3) Poem far a Mendelnik (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 4) A few short notes (Dovid Braun) 5) Leyg dem kop af mayne kni--a viglid (Mikhl Herzog) 6) Patsh, frask, un khmalye (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 7) (Roberta Saltzman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Mar 95 20:51:32 EST From: brlv@musicb.mcgill.ca Subject: Leivick lullaby The lullaby by Leivick which Mr Frankenstein asked about, beginning "Leyg deyn kop oif mayne kni" can be found in Ale Verk fun H. Leivik where all four verses are printed on pp 63-4. It is also sung by Chava Alberstein on one of her Yiddish recording from the 70s. I will give the text of the last two verses, which Mr. Frankenstein was ask- ing about, with apologies for my transliteration:"Hob nit moire, ikh bin do/ Vell dikh not farshtoysn--/ Host genug geveynt shoin haynt/ Vi es past a groisn." Verse four, the lsyt, goes:"Ongeveynt un ongeklogt/ Ikh vel dikh farvign; Leyg deyn kop oif mayne kni--/ Gut azoi tsu lign." Goldie Morgentaler Montreal 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Mar 95 21:16:26 PST From: shoti@eworld.com Subject: Poem far a Mendelik Der nes fun yidishlid (Leyb Fainberg) Vol.33, pp.240, Musterwerk (mus. Nosn Bieleykin), pp. 241. In yedn dor hot a rotzeakh farmostn iber dir dayn shverd, nor s'iz nishto aza koiakh dikh tzu farshnaydn fun der erd. s'iz nor nito aza sakone, vos zol tseshtern dayn getzelt.. Es veyen altz nokh dayne fonen oif ale mastn fun der velt. iz vart, ir fintztere bagrebers! vi s'gleybt in got a frumer yid ikh gleyb in nes fun yiddish lebn, ikh gleyb in nes fun yiddish lid. vart-zu, ir faldzeers-neviyim, un ir, nit-gleybike in nes: tsu- fri nokh raysn krieh, zikh zetsnshive nokhn "mez"! hert-oif, ir klogers un kavronim, tzu freyen zikh mit shodnfreyd, zet: oif tzepikenish di soinim iz yiddish shtarbn nokh nit greyt. iz vart mit denkmelers fun brondze, halt-z'rik di moln fun arkhiv: oib yiddish zol fargeyn in Bronzville, vet's lebn in Tel-Aviv. In flam fun kdoishim-blut gelaytert, vi iam un erd, vi barg un shteyn, vi ale doirez, ale tzitn, vet yiddish kein mol nit fargeyn. Shoshana Balaban-Wolkowicz 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 10:17:47 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Poem for a Mendelnik To Ellen Prince: All of us on Mendele are here as proof of, and a tribute to, Yiddish's vitality, and a yea! to its rich life and perpetuation. The moving poem to Janet Hadda was an ode to the pain, the beauty, the love of a language as the soul of our people, and of the intensity the poet felt at the loss of 6,000,000 brothers and sisters who can no longer speak. To hawk five descriptive lines: Only lonely professors carrying the burden of millions of silent graves as single alien guest in Departments of German. which restress the aloneness, the burden of alienation, the powerful loss, and to "infer from these lines that it is sad or bad or something else negative..." is an improper reading of these words. To view these lines as an evaluation of academic management or assignment of space is defensive and narrow. Perhaps linguists see only the particular, while poets adhere to a gestalt philosophy, to a broad stroke universalist view. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 00:41:26 EST From: dovid@MIT.EDU Subject: A few short notes 1. The women's prayer said at havdole "Got fun avrom" is included in some sidurim nowadays. (It's a women's prayer among East European Jews, a men's prayer among "Westjuden". 2. _Peti-meti_ in Sholem-Aleykhem's writing is slang for 'money'. (Anybody understand its origin?) 3. I don't know where the text of "Leyg dayn kop..." can be found, but a superb rendition is recorded on one of the recent tapes by Yiddish singer Sima Miller out of Chicago. Does anyone know whether she performs live? I am only familiar with her "album" of six (I think) cassettes. 4. Could anyone tell me whether the An-sky Expedition exhibit is still being shown at the Jewish Museum? and if it is, till when will it be there? Please respond to me personally: dovid@mit.edu Dovid Braun 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 95 01:20 EST From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Leyg dem kop af mayne kni--a viglid Ruben Frankenstein asks about the song _Leyg dem kop af mayne kni_ I've transcribed the following from a recording, identified as CBS 62929, sung by Chava Alberstein, (_hobn mir a nigndl_: Chava Alberstein sings Yiddish Folk Songs). It's offered there as _A viglid_, and designated as _folks-lid_, with no reference to H. Leivick. I've transcribed it in Standard Yiddish (more or less), and provided the punctuation.. Chava Alberstein's renditions of Yiddish songs are sufficiently beautiful to compensate (even me) for her (sometimes jarring) dialectally inconsistent rendering of the text. Leivick's _Lider_ are easily accessible, although I won't have access to my own copy till next week. I'll check for additional stanzas. Ruben speaks of the poem as having been translated, but makes no mention of the language into which it was translated. Perhaps he can transmit a copy of the translation to which he's referring. Mikhl Herzog **** Leyg dem kop af mayne kni, siz gut azoy tsu lign; kinder kleyne shlofn aleyn, groyse muz men vign. Leyg dem kop af mayne kni, siz gut azoy tsu lign; kinder kleyne shlofn aleyn, groyse muz men vign. Hob keyn moyre, ikh bin mit dir, ikh vel dikh nisht farshtoysn; host shoyn haynt genug geveynt, vi es past far a groysn. Kinder hobn shpilekhlekh; zey shpiln ven zey viln; groyse shpiln nor mit zikh, mit zeyere gefiln. Hob keyn moyre, ikh bin mit dir, ikh vel dikh nisht farshtoysn; host shoyn haynt genug geveynt, vi es past far a groysn. Leyg dem kop af mayne kni, siz gut azoy tsu lign; kinder kleyne shlofn aleyn, groyse muz men vign. 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 10:17:45 -0500 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Patsh, frask, un khmalye Vu iz farshvundn mayn shayle velkhe ikh hob aykh geshikt mit a vokh tzurik? Mayne Vinkl talmidim ervartn entfers fun Mendelen. Ikh layen zay di bleter fun Mendele. A zeesn Paysakh un a gezunt yor, vintsht aykh, Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan 7)---------------------------------------------------- From: rsaltzma@nyplgate.nypl.org Date: Fri Mar 31 10:56:46 EST 1995 Subject: Singer's kinder mayses In Mendele 4.375 Adam Whiteman asked (in Yiddish) about I.B. Singer's stories for children and their availability in Yiddish in book form or newspapers. (Please forgive me for answering in English, as my Yiddish writing skills are poor). As far as I know, none of Singer's stories for children have been published in Yiddish in book form; they only appear in the "Forverts". This means, unfortunately, that in order to obtain them you need to make photocopies from a microfilm. I have the publication dates for about 40 of Singer's children's stories in Yiddish (various Chelm stories, "The topsy-turvy emperor of China", "The wicked city" and others). If you are interested in a particular story, or would just like a list of the information I have, please e-mail me directly: rsaltzma@nyplgate.nypl.org Roberta Saltzman New York, NY ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.382 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