Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.046 June 10, 1995 1) Kroyvets (Bernard S. Greenberg) 2) Kroyvets/kroyvoys (Eliyahu Juni) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 9 Jul 1995 13:57:10 -0400 From: bsg@basistech.com Subject: Kroyvets I had always assumed that Mr. Krawitz down the hall was merely the Polish Jewish version of Mr. Schneider (Pol., "krawiec", tailor). Is there something hidden or clever going on here in the history of this name, or is this a red herring... Bernard S. Greenberg 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 10 Jul 1995 05:32:12 -0400 From: ao107@freenet.carleton.ca Subject: Kroyvets/kroyvoys In volume 5.040, I wrote that "kroyvets" is a corruption of the Hebrew word "kroyvoys". In vol. 5.043, Paul Pascal and Mikhl Herzog sent in alternative etymologies: Paul suggested it is an acronym of the posuk 'Koyl Rino Vishuo B'oholey Tsadikim', and Mikhl cited the _Tishbi_, who says it has a Romance derivation. Both of these responses surprised me: I have always seen and heard "kroyvets" and "kroyvoys" used interchangeably (in speech and writing), and never doubted the connection. The only difference I noticed was that "kroyvets" was treated as a singular noun, while "kroyvoys" was treated as a plural noun (but not as a plural adjective--evidence that it's Yiddish and not loshnkoydesh?) I got curious, so I did what any thoroughly lazy researcher does in such situations: I asked someone else who knows more about it, in this case my father. He said that "kroyvets" is a corruption of "kroyvoys", and he has also heard them used interchangeably. (Yes, I was careful not to load the question.) He then went and found me lots of info on names for piyutim (mostly from that gem of a collection, _Oytser Yisroel_). The _Tishbi_ quotes the acronym which Paul mentioned; he also says it's a popular mistake (an early example of folk reanalysis?) and asserts that it's a corruption of "kroyvoys". He explains the etymology of "kroyvoys" as follows: The piyutim are recited by the khazn; The khazn is/was formally called up to the 'omud' (similarly to the way Ashkenazim call up to the bime for aliyes); The khazn is known as the "koreyv", because he is called up with the commandment "krov"--'come near'; Since the piyutim are recited by the "koreyv", they are called "kroyvoys". (A side note on the commandment "krov": similarly, in the Ashkenazi nusakh for calling up the first oyle, the gabbai says ". . . koyheyn krov, ya'amoyd khloyne ben shmeruk hakoyheyn. . .") [Oytser Yisroel doesn't mention Romance sources at all; I haven't seen the Tishbi in the original.] Oytser Yisroel also quotes another etymology from Avudraham, who says that "kroyvoys" are named for Rabi Aleksandro Krovo or Kroyvo, who is mentioned in a medresh as being the author of many of them. I still have no clue as to why the name "kroyvoys" applies specifically to the piyut for Purim, or why Purim's piyut should have a special name. I have never come across the usage of "kroyvets" to refer to a makhzer (mentioned by Reb Mikhl). In fact, I have never come across "kroyvets" except in the phrase "kroyvets/kroyves l'pirem" or in a Purim-related context. (I have also never heard the pronunciation "payet" for "piyet".) There are also a bunch of other names for specific piyutim: "Oyfanim" (sing. "oyfn") are piyutim inserted in k'dusha d'sidra (the middle of the brokhe of "yoytser ham'oyroys") before the words "vho'Oyfanim v'khayoys hakoydesh" (the connection here should be clear). ("Yoytser" originally referred to a piyut inserted in the first brokhe before kriyas shma, "yoytser ham'oyroys,' and was subsequesntly applied to any piyut inserted in shakhris or khazoras ha-sha"ts. See vols. 5.040 and 5.043.) A "Zulas" is inserted in the middle of the brokhe after shma ("go'al yisroel") at the words "ein lonu oyd eloykim zulosekho selo". ('zulas' plus possessive = 'zulosekho'). A "Seyder" is a piyut which explains something in order, e.g. the "seyder ho'avoydo" for Yom Kipur, which delineates the Yom Kipur service in the Beys Hamikdosh. A "Pizmon" is any piyut which has a chorus or a refrain. (Supposedly from a Greek root involving the consonants p,z,m, used in Targum as a translation for the word "Vaya'an"--'and [he] answered'.) [There are also other names for piyutim based on their structure, such as "shniyo", "shlishiyo", and "shalmoynis", but I don't think they were a part of everyday speech.] I seem to remember "pizmen" making its way into some Yiddish idioms with a different meaning, but I can't remember them offhand. I imagine the others were occasionally borrowed by Yiddish speakers, but I don't think they became independent of their original meanings, the way "yoytsres" and "pizmen" have. Has anyone come across them outside their direct reference to piyutim? My apologies to those for whom this discussion has strayed too far from Yiddish into loshn hakoydesh. (Having spent an inordinate amount of effort trying to make it to those parts of "Ashkenaz" that were just before and just after Shabbes, and sorely regretting the fact that some very interesting events were held at times when anyone Orthodox couldn't be there, I needed quite a bit more to consider it 'even' :-). Eliyahu Juni ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.046 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. Mendele archives can also be reached as follows: via WWW: http://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mewais.html via gopher: gopher://sunsite.unc.edu/11/../.pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele via ftp: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/academic/languages/yiddish/mendele