Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.393 April 20, 1995 1) Hagode songs (Yude Rozof) 2) Amplification-by-ex-lax (Bob Werman) 3) Lejwik`s "Shloflid" (Ruben Frankenstein) 4) Mu Asapru (Bob Poe) 5) Pesach songs (Berel Leiser) 6) Cdroms and Yiddish (Meyer Dwass) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 17:00:12 -0400 (EDT) From: jrosof@sas.upenn.edu Subject: Hagode songs Regarding Elye Juni's question. I recently saw a copy of a 1790's hagode from Hamburg. It also says Nun boy nun boy, boy dayn templ shire for eil bnei, eil bnei, bnei beitkha beqarov. Nun did not trouble me, since I know it through German to mean "now." It gives an extra flavor of encouragement to the call for the temple's rebuilding. I however am as perplexed as you are about "shire" meaning soon. It would seem to have a semitic or germanic derivation, as Hamburg should fall within the domain of western Yiddish, although it did receive some Easterners during Khmelnicki's rampages. It would be interesting to examine whether this version of the song was universal in Ashkenaz, extending to Franconia, the Burgenland, Alsace, Kovne, and the land of tote-mome lushn. Yude Rozof 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 14:28 +0200 From: rwerman@vms.huji.ac.il Subject: Amplification-by-ex-lax Does anyone remember the Yiddish jingle advertising Ex-Lax? It praised the amplifying action of the chocolate flavored laxative. Thanks and a gute moyayd. Bob Werman Jerusalem 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 16:19:10 +0200 (MESZ) From: frankens@mibm.ruf.uni-freiburg.de Subject: Lejwik`s "Shloflid" Many thanks to Bret Werb (who contacted the poet`s daughter-in-law), Bob Rothstein, Goldie Morgentaler, Mikhl Herzog, Willy Brill (did you interprete this song already?) and Varda Ullman Novick, who answered my question and could help me find the missing stanzas. I wonder how it happened that my first question some months ago remained without reaction at all and this time I was flooded by readiness to help. To answer Mikhl Herzog`s question as to the translation I was refe- ring to, this was done by Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger, Paul Celan`s 2nd cousin, who succeeded just to rescue 57 wonderful poems before she died at the age of 18 in the Nazi work-camp of Michailowka, Uk- raina. 5 of the poems were translations: one poem by Paul Verlaine, into Yiddish and into German, one from Rumanian into German and two from Yiddish into German: "Ikh bin der veg keyn mayrev" by Itzik Manger and "Shloflid" by H. Leivik. Here is the german translation as requested: SCHLAFLIED Leg den Kopf auf meine Knie, so ist es gut liegen. Kleine Kinder schlafen schon, grosse muss man wiegen. Kinder haben Schpielzeug viel, spielen wann sie wollen. Grosse sind sich selbst zum Spiel, muessen ewig wollen. Musst nicht fuerchten, ich bin da, werd` dich nicht verstossen. Hast heut schon genug geweint, ganz wie alle Grossen. Hast geweint und hast geklagt, nun will ich dich wiegen. Leg den Kopf auf meine Knie - so ist es gut liegen. 11.VII.1941 In a concert dedicated to Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger Ursula Fritzsch sang her own tunes to the poems with a guitar while I was speaking in memory of the destructed jewish culture of Bukowina and Tschernowitz - "Where people and books once lived". Alas I cannot repeat the tune of Leivik`s song for the readers of "Mendele". Ruben Frankenstein 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 11:12:36 EDT From: poe@keps.com Subject: Mu Asapru In response to Alan Shuchat's query, a set of lyrics to this song has already been posted. But since the query referred to Theo Bikel's version on the Elektra LP "Theodore Bikel Sings Jewish Folk Songs", I want to mention that this album has been reissued on CD (along with "More Jewish Folk Songs") on the Bainbridge label, BCD 2507. The enclosure in the CD "jewel case" appears to be reproduced from the original Elektra booklet. Here are the lyrics, as they appear in that enclosure (which may not agree exactly with the way Bikel sings them), without standardization of the spelling: Bob Poe 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 13:06:18 EDT From: leiser@pacevm.dac.pace.edu Subject: Pesach songs A small addition to our growing collection of hagode niggunim: At the end of the seder, the Bobover Rebbe sings the following niggun, which he says was sung every Pesach by his father and his grandfather. Di mame hot gehaysn Niselekh opraysn. Oy, vi hoyekh zenen di tzvaygelekh, Oy, vi niderik zenen di kinderlekh, Mir kenem nisht dergraykhn. Berel Leiser 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 19 Apr 1995 07:43:58 -0500 From: mdw016@lulu.acns.nwu.edu Subject: Cdroms and Yiddish Jeffry Mallow of Chicago YIVO (2315 Hartzell, Evanston,IL 60201,voice phone:(708)328-8832)) wants to know if there exist Cdrom-based materials for teaching Yiddish. Meyer Dwass ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.393 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