Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.039 July 6, 1995 1) Af tselokhes (Mikhl Herzog) 2) Af tselokhes (Harvey Spiro) 3) Af tselokhes (Arnie Kuzmack) 4) Af tselokhes (Hershl Bershady) 5) Af tselokhes (Paul Pascal) 6) Af tselokhes (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 7) Af tselokhes (Zellig Bach) 8) Af tselokhes (David Sherman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 95 07:12 EDT From: zogur@cuvmb.columbia.edu Subject: Af tselOkhes Michael Shimshoni asks about _af tselOkhes_: Try it this way: _af tsu_ 'in order to' _lehakhIs_ 'to anger' from Hebrew, based on the same root as _kA-as_. Mikhl Herzog 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed Jul 5 16:17:25 1995 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Af tzelokhes Michael Shimshoni asks (Mendele 5.038) for the origin and usage of "af tselokhes," an extremely versatile Yiddish phrase. By spelling it out (af tsu lehakhis), the origins of the three-word phrase are clear. The first two words are germanic, "af tsu," or "in order to." The zinger word is from Hebrew: "lehakh'is" is the infinitive of the "hif'il" (usually causative) conjugation of the root kaf-ayin-samekh, meaning "to anger," or "to make angry." (The three root letters also make up the shared Hebrew/Yiddish noun "kas," meaning anger or wrath.) Thus, the phrase means literally: "in order to anger [someone]." Its use is similar to the English expression "just for spite," or "just to be contrary." If you tell your teenager that his hair is too long, he may shave it all off, af tselokhes. When I was young, many non-observant Jews I knew made a point of playing basketball, or eating out in a restaurant, on Yom Kippur, af tselokhes, i.e., to show their disregard for both the fast and the fasters. A Yiddish song (don't know the name, origin or author) defiantly cries out: "af tselokhes ale sonim, am yisroyel khay" -- i.e., Jews should live and enjoy life, to hell with those who want to destroy us. I believe that at the first graduating ceremony of the Reform Rabbinical Seminary in the US, in the early part of this century (?), they symbolically served shrimp at their luncheon, af tselokhes, to show their contempt (indifference is too gentle a term here) for the traditional dietary laws. (I don't mean to reignite ancient wars here; the Reform movement has come a long way since then, in my opinion, toward reaching out to other Jewish movements -- but this is not the place for that discussion.) Although af tselohkes is somewhat used in modern Hebrew today, it also has a fully-Hebrew first cousin which I believe I have heard creeping into Yiddish spoken in Israel, namely "davka." "Davka" is less negative than af tselokhes, and is generally considered untranslatable, but roughly means: "just because," "just my luck," or "because I wanted to." There is a tinge of orneriness in davka, but never as deliberately spiteful as af tselokhes. "I arrived on time for the train, which always comes late, but davka today the train left early." Harvey Spiro Vienna, Virginia 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 00:39:41 -0400 (EDT) From: kuzmack@umbc.edu Subject: Af tzelokhes I'm a little surprised that Michael, as our resident expert on Hebrew, was the one to ask this question. 'lokhes' is the Hebrew 'lehakh`is', to make angry. To do something 'af ts'lokhes' is to do it for spite, in the full knowledge that it will make the other person angry. The interesting question, for which I do not have an answer is "Why 'af tsu'?" B'sholem, Arnie Kuzmack 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 12:07:44 -0400 (EDT) From: hbershad@sas.upenn.edu Subject: af tzelokhes I think "af tzelokhes" might mean "for spite" or even something like "just for the hell of it." My uncle used to sing this little ditty (among others that I'll feed to Mendele slowly lest I get stoned): Ikhl, pikhl af tzelokhes mi nemt der tzalem und shtekt im in tukhes ya ba ba ba, boi, boi, etc. There's not quite enough context to get the meaning clearly, but it's a start. Hershl Bershady 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 06 Jul 95 12:51:35 EDT From: 75332.2735@compuserve.com Subject: Af tselokhes Michael Shimshoni of Israel asks about the meaning and origin of "aftsulokhes". He may be surprised to learn that the Yiddish expression comes straight from Hebrew. *L'hakh'is* (lamed-hey-khof-ayin-yud-samekh) means "out of spite" in Hebrew (literally, "to enrage"), and this is exactly what it means in Yiddish, with a couple of redundant prepositions--*af* and *tsu--jammed onto the front of the word just to press the point home. Paul Pascal Toronto 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 17:20:16 -0400 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: Af tzelokhes The Yiddish expression "af tzelokhes" is equivalent to the English "for spite". Er hot es im geton oif tzelokhes = He did it to him for spite. I also recall my folks calling a spiteful person a tzelokhesnik. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan North Conway, New Hampshire 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 6 Jul 1995 17:36:22 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: Af tsu lehakhes When spoken, or spelled phonetically -- af (or af tsu) tselokhes -- the embedded etymon of lehakhes (or lehokhes) remains invisible. However, in writing, when the word is spelled lamed, hey, khof, ayen, yud, samekh, it becomes evident that the root word is the Hebrew ka'as (anger), spelled kof, ayen, samekh. Lehakhes (or lehokhes) is thus a Hebrew component of Yiddish, a verb meaning in both H & Y to cause someone to become angry, to arouse his anger, to "anger" him in a transitive sense. As a rule the expression refers to _two_ parties. For instance, "af tsu lehakhes mayne so'nim" (in spite of, or to spite, my enemies) the lehakhes refers to one's opponents, to those who wish the speaker ill, but there is also an unarticulated reference to oneself. Thus, while the literal meaning of "lehakhes" is negative, as Shimshoni stated, the entirety of the expression, its construction, carries as well a positive message, since it also conveys, while unuttered, hope and bito'khn (confidence) that the speaker will succeed no matter what obstacles lie ahead or will be placed in his path. I imagine, for instance, that at the moment of the foundation of the State of Israel someone might have said with the deepest of hopes, heart-throbbing pride, and unshakable providential bito'khn that Israel will grow and prosper "af tsu lehakhes its many enemies," as indeed it did. Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 5 Jul 95 22:52:45 EDT From: dave@cai.lsuc.on.ca Subject: Af tselokhes Michael Shimshoni, in Israel, asks about the meaning of "af tzelokhes". Isn't it wonderful how a Hebrew word can become so unrecognizable in Yiddish that an Israeli knowledgeable in Yiddish can't figure it out? Here's my understanding of the expression... L'hach'is, in Hebrew, is the hiph'il form of ka'as, "anger". The hiph'il form of a verb means "to cause to...", so tzelokhes is something done in spite, or as a deliberate attempt to make someone else angry. A tzelokhesdiker is someone who is always stirring up trouble. In some contexts, af tzelokhes can mean "on purpose", as opposed to "by accident", but only when the purpose involves deliberately annoying/upsetting someone else. David Sherman Toronto ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.039 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. 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