Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.019 June 6, 1995 1) Introduction (Susan Herschorn) 2) Introduction (Yisroel Feldman) 3) Introduction (Max Applebaum) 4) Genghis Cohn (Zellig Bach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 2 Jun 1995 15:09:06 -0400 (EDT) From: sherschorn@dawsoncollege.qc.ca Subject: Introduction I teach psychology at Dawson College, a CEGEP, CEGEP which is unique to Quebec. I have spent a year learning to speak Yiddish. I am not quite flisig as yet, but am very hopeful. By the bye, if anyone has a copy of any of Doyle's sherlock Holmes stories translated into Yiddish, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it. Susan Herschorn 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 03 Jun 1995 00:27:23 -0400 (EDT) From: wexfeld@delphi.com Subject: Introduction I am an attorney working for the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. I began studying Yiddish last fall at the D.C. JCC, in a class taught by Mendele subscriber (and contributor) Leybl Goldberg. I started slowly, and began seriously studying the language only in January, 1995. By now, I can work my way through a good deal of the Forverts each week, and I can speak and under- stand the spoken language more than a bisl. I like to play my tapes of Yiddish children's songs for my 7- and 4-year old children. My parents are from Philadelphia. My grandfathers both died before I was born. My father's mother (who came from near Kiev) spoke Yiddish, which I heard on my frequent visits to Philadelphia as a child. (My mother's mother, who was from a well-to-do family in Budapest, frowned on Yiddish and, as far as I know, never learned to speak or understand it.) I also occasionally heard Yiddish spoken when I was growing up in Washington, by elderly relatives of friends, etc. I remembered very little of the language, however. I have always been very interested in history. Yiddish is for me a natural entry point to begin to understand my own past, and the (Ashkenazic) Jewish past. Besides, it is a beautiful and expressive language. And, perversely, the decline of the number of Yiddish speakers over my own lifetime (I was born in 1950) has made it seem to me more worthwhile learning. Yisroel Feldman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 3 Jun 1995 01:02:58 -0400 From: maxa6423@aol.com Subject: Introduction I studied Yiddish in New York back in the 30's, attending the Yankev Levine elementare shule and later at the JPFO mittltshule. My father, an immigrant tailor, made many sacrifices to pay the tuition. He loved Yiddish and wanted his children to learn and love the language as he did. As a young man, I dabbled a little in the Yiddish Theater - as an extra (for a short while) with Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theater on Second Ave.; and then bit parts with the Yiddish Theater Ensemble (an outgrowth of the Artef) under the direction of Benjamin Zemach of the Habima. Being unpaid, I maintained my amateur standing. Although I can read and write, my overall knowledge of Yiddish is very weak, but with Mendele, it is slowly becoming stronger - despite being intimidated, and confused, by the etymologists and linguists. But, I do enjoy reading all the posts especially from the younger set all over the world. Max Applebaum 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 18:10:04 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com To: Mendele@yalevm.ycc.yale.edu Subject: Genghis Cohn Some time ago the Arts and Endowment Network on cable TV showed the dark comedy "Gengis Cohn," a 1993 movie made for British TV. It was based on the novel _The Dance of Gengis Cohn_ by Romain Gary. The premise of the book and movie is that the ghost of a Jewish comedian who was killed in a concentration camp is out to get his revenge on the SS officer who shot him. And what could this "ghostly" revenge be? By gradually turning the former murderer but now prosperous and respected police commandant of a large town in Central Germany into a Jew! The ghost's means of accomplishing this imposed "conversion" is by having the commandant gradually, but inexplicably, sprinkle his high, polished German with Yiddish words and expressions, and by suddenly developing a craving -- and ordering in public! -- Jewish deli dishes. It is as if a dybbuk possessed the commandant, to his own and everybody else's undecipherable puzzlement. In one scene in a synagogue the ghost of the martyred Jew shows the former Nazi how to say ka'dish over him. I know, of course, the old Yiddish saying "af a mayse fregt men nit kayn kashes" (don't ask questions about a story): When it is, by design, a dark comedy, allow for illogicalities, or implausible events, even if it based on such a tragic background. It is quite likely that the Jewishness of the comedian, prior to his tragic demise, did not extend beyond some borsht belt (Catskill, N.Y.) Yiddish words and expression for the sake of their supposed humorous effect, and certain popular Jewish dishes. Thus, the character of the supposed "judaized" postwar SS officer, in the fantasy of the revenger, is but a mirror-image of his own former self. Still, the implications are troubling. Yiddish expressions and cravings for Jewish cuisine do not make a Jew. And one can not become a bal-tshuve [penitent] by the force of a ghost without an inner voice from one's own heart. A ka'dish imposed by the ghost as revenge will certainly not bring any comfort to the soul of the departed. The concept of being Jewish without Jewish concerns, beliefs, and teachings is meaningless. Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.019 Mendele has 2 rules: 1. Provide a meaningful Subject: line 2. Sign your article (full name please) 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 ****Getting back issues**** 1. Anonymous ftp archives are available. ftp ftp.mendele.trincoll.edu in the directory pub/mendele/files A table of contents is also available, along with weekly updates. 2. 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