Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 4.403 May 1, 1995 1) Yiddish on cd-rom (Ellen Prince) 2) Yiddish on cd-rom (Irving D. Goldfein) 3) Yiddish on cd-rom (Leybl Botvinik ) 4) Yiddish-Russian/Russian-Yiddish dictionary (Howard Gershen) 5) Mayses fun dem Brooklyner shtetl (Bernard S. Greenberg) 6) Peyger gelt (Irving D. Goldfein) 7) Ongepatched (Patty Becker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 18:08:44 EDT From: ellen@central.cis.upenn.edu Subject: Yiddish on cd-rom count me in as one of those who'd be thrilled to have yiddish lit (in fact any yiddish texts) on cd rom. the problem i foresee is scanning it in. for one thing, you need very clean texts, which i doubt is what would be available, for the most part. more importantly, you'd need software for scanning in yiddish. hebrew is available but that isn't going to be very satisfactory as the probabilities of letter combinations are totally different. if anyone knows of such software, please let's hear about it! (i have a private interest in this, as well as a group one.) of course, one could always type it all in... kha kha kha kha. ellen prince 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 19:10:00 -0700 From: goldfein@ix.netcom.com Subject: Yiddish on cd-rom Indeed the technology required for efficient development and production of a comprehensive Yiddish language and literature CD-ROM is available. The serious difficulty is the text-entry and preparation. Even with currently available scanning and Hebrew-Yiddish OCR (optical character recognition) technologies, there would be an enormous amount of editing/labor required. Sounds like a good project for Aaron Lansky and the Yiddish Book Center. Aside from the contents suggested by Noyekh Miller and Louis Fridhandler, I believe the _Algemeine Entsiklopedie_, and a Tanakh in Yiddish, would make important and interesting additions as well. I'd be more than happy to lend technical expertise if someone is seriously interested in coordinating such an enterprise. Irving D. Goldfein I would very much appreciate hearing from all Mendelyaner who use the _Encyclopaedia Judaica_ and have comments, suggestions, preferences to express with regard to the CD-ROM version. No promises made, but serious attention will be paid to all communications. Please e-mail replies to goldfein@ix.netcom.com 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 1 May 95 10:19:46 IDT From: leybl@telecomm.tadiran.co.il Subject: "CD-ROYM" : CD-Read Only Yiddish Memory avade darfn mir ariberfirn undzer literatur oyf andere media, un oyf CD-ROM iz a guter gedank. in V4.401, hot Louis Fridhandler gemakht di vikhtikste bamerkung, az dos iz an inyen fun gelt. az m'et kenen shafn di neytike fondn, vet men alts kenen ton. ikh aleyn hob farayorn gemoldn (in V4.038) vegn a gedank tsu shafn a pedagogishn resursn tsenter vos zol adurkhfirn punkt ot azelkhe proyektn fun tekhnologishe nayvarg oyf yidish. ikh zukh nokh gelt... ver volt gekent oysfirn aza proyekt? - a shlisl institutsie vi der YIVO, oder der NYBC, nokh beser, a grupe azelkhe institutsies: YIVO, NYBC, Kultur Kongress, Arbeter Ring, Yiddishe Folks Bibliotek (montreal)... ikh bin greyt tsu helfn kontaktirn in yisroyl:1) di universitetn; 2) di yidish kultur organen: Veltrat far yidish un dem Hemshekh Dor Ohavei Yidish. vi azoy bakumt men gelt/shtitse? - farinteresirn a melukhe-organizm oder a raykhe universitet tsu zayn a shutef. lemoshl: iberfirn, tsuzamen mit dem US National Holocaust Centre di literatur funem khurbn; mitarbetn mit dem Library of Congress, oyf iberfirn zeyere materialn. un azoy vayter. leybl botvinik netanya 4)---------------------------------------------------- From: howard@boxhill.com Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 08:45:32 -0400 Subject: Yiddish-Russian/Russian-Yiddish dictionary A visiting Israeli (ex-Moldavan) cousin is interested in a Y-R/R-Y dictionary. I found out about two, a paperback sold at Victor Kamkin's here in NYC and a hardback sold at the Workmen's Circle. Does anyone know anything about such a dictionary? I don't even know if this is the same book, in different formats. My cousin's funds are limited, so I think he'd prefer a book that costs $20-25, preferably less. Thanks in advance. Howard Gershen 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 21:35:12 -0400 From: bsg@basistech.com Subject: Mayses fun dem Brooklyner Shtetl Our esteemed Reb Zellig Bach writes in 4.401 of tsadik, tsadeh, tsadek, and the "tsadik in pelts", the impious pretender to piety. This reminds me of an experience I think I should share with this group. When I was 10 or 11, my mother (may she live and be well!), who to this day sports a salty tongue, was excoriating a man who lived upstairs, and said loudly before me what sounded like, "Oh, xxx, he's a real paid tsadik!" Now, I knew enough of the loshn koydesh to know what a tsadik was, and I imagined that a paid one was something like Reb Zellig described- a poseur who donned the airs of a sage when properly remunerated, or perhaps only when there was something potentially in it for him: a mercenary philosopher with wisdom for hire, all of which seemed fairly subtle to me. Relating it to Reb xxx as I knew him, and why my mom would call him this, spun my young mind in circles for quite a while. Years later, upon prompting her to explain, I was dismayed to learn that she was merely saying "peh-tsadeh", i.e., a "putz." Bernard S. Greenberg 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 1995 19:20:22 -0700 From: goldfein@ix.netcom.com Subject: Peyger gelt A contest: My father-in-law, tzu lange yorn, tells often of the money-making opportunities in the Jewish neighbourhoods of Toronto in the 1930's. I've especially enjoyed his explanation of the concept of "peyger gelt" (for the Galitzyaner: payger gelt). With apologies to sensitive souls, it would be most interesting to hear proposed explanations. Anyone care to guess? Irving D. Goldfein 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 30 Apr 95 23:07:24 EDT From: patty_becker@mts.cc.wayne.edu Subject: Ongepatched It seems to me that ongepatched means "overdone," as in wearing too much jewelry or being over-fancy in the house. Patty Becker ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 4.403 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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