Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.056 July 17, 1995 1) Toyvye (David Herskovic) 2) Concentration camp song (David Herskovic) 3) Brengen (Shleyme Axelrod) 4) Fifth Annual Yiddish Teachers' Conference (Naomi Kadar) 5) Rabeynu Tam (Harvey Spiro) 6) Rabeynu Tam (Khaskl Igelfeld) 7) Rabeynu Tam (Mark Melnick) 8) Rabeynu Tam (Joel Maxman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 17 Jul 95 11:56:13 EDT From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Toyvye The name is Toyvye and Tevye and it all depends on pronunciation. It is spelled with a choylem and a choylem is pronounced cheylem by litvishe, choylem by poles and choalem (as in boat) by Anglo Saxons. David Herskovic 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 17 Jul 95 11:56:06 EDT From: 100114.750@compuserve.com Subject: Concentration camp song My father who is an Auchwitz survivor told me about a song that was sung in the concentration camp. He thinks the song was called Papirene Kinder (a reference to the murdered children with nothing left of them but a few photos). Two lines he remembers are: Papirene kinder hengen oif di vent Papirene kinder tap ich mit di hent Does anyone know all the words? and maybe even the tune? David Herskovic 3)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 14:02:24 -0400 (EDT) From: ptyaxel@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu Subject: _Brengen_ in argumentation/verbal aggression In Zellig Bach's informative posting on children's verbal aggression (5.049), he uses the verb "bring" where I would have expected "give", "present", or "cite": "Some of the verbal-aggression samples I bring below I remember from my childhood..." This is an interesting use of the word that is sometimes encountered in discussions/disputations about Jewish religious belief or practice when an authority or source is cited. E.g., "In support of his position, So-and-so brings the Rambam's statement that ...". I have the feeling that the locution comes from Yiddish. Can someone [Eliyahu Juni?] confirm (or refute) the idea that _brengen_ was/is customarily used this way in Yiddish discussions about Torah and Talmud? In a recent conversation, I mentioned to Zellig that as a child of 6 or 7, I was often called "Salami" by my friends; they knew that my name was Shleyme, and I always assumed that this was simply an innocent play on the similarity of the words. But when in response to an insightful question, I told Zellig I was a fat child, he suggested that my playmates might well have been referring to my being "stuffed" like a _vursht_ --another example of verbal aggression with names. Rotten kids. Shleyme Axelrod Buffalo, New York 4)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 14:21:20 -0400 From: stdowling@aol.com Subject: Fifth Annual Yiddish Teachers' Conference This is being sent for Workmen's Circle Schools director Naomi Kadar. Her computer is on the blink. The Art of Teaching Yiddish Thursday, August 3rd, 1995 From 10:00 AM - 5:30 PM In The Workmen's Circle Building Lecturers Greetings from Yosl Mlotek, Director Emeritus, W.C. Education Department David Braun Beyle Gottesman Miriam Hoffman Pesakh Fiszman Conference Fee: $25 for WC Members, $35 for non-members For information and registration, call: Naomi Kadar (212) 889-6800 Ext. 226 45 East 33rd Street, New York, NY 10016 Stephen Dowling Brooklyn 5)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon Jul 17 09:47:41 1995 From: hjs@nrc.gov Subject: Rabeynu Tam Yori Yanover asks for the words to the very funny poem Rabeynu Tam by Itzik Manger. The poem was put to music and appears in one of the two Workman's Circle songbooks by the Mloteks. It also is sung by Chava Albershteyn in one of her early Yiddish tapes. Sorry I don't have the specifics available. Harvey Spiro Vienna, Virginia 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 15:25:24 -0400 (EDT) From: igelfeld@math.toronto.edu Subject: Rabeynu Tam I don't vouch for the accuracy of what follows (from memory): Lomir zingen dos naye lid Aydl didl dam Gefloygn iz di goldene pave Ibern roytn yam. Gehat in moyl a brivele, A roze libes brivele Tsu dem Rabeynu Tam, tsu dem Rabeynu Tam Ay ay ay ay dam, etc... Ver hot geshribn dos brivele Aydl didl day Geshribn hot dos brivele Di malke fun Terkay. Geshribn es mit roytn tint Un farkhasmet es geshvint Mit heyse trern dray, mit heyse trern dray Ay ay ay ay dam, etc... Vos shteyt geshribn in brivele Aydl didl du Rabe ikh libe dikh Un vozhe shvaygstu nu? Ikh esse nisht un trinke nisht Un ver tsezetst fun benkenish Ich habe nisht kayn ru, ikh habe nisht kayn ru Ay ay ay ay day, etc... Vos zogt tsu dem der Rabeynu Tam Aydl didl de Er kratst zikh in di bord un peyes Un makht dray mol fe. Un dos tsigele in shtal Dos heylike tsigele in shtal Helft im unter me, helft im unter me Ay ay ay ay day, etc... Vos zogt dertsu di rebetsn Aydl didl doy Zi shlogt im mit a valgerholts Un zogt tsu im azoy: Shikses lign dir in kop In yakh in yakh in yakh vi bin Dan hays gelibte fro, dan hays gelibte fro Ay ay ay ay day, etc... Ver hot dos lidl oysgetrakht Aydl didl dam A shnayder yung hot dos oysgetrakht Tselehakhes dem Rabeynu Tam. Shabes tsvishn tog un nakht Hot a lets arayngelakht Akurat tsum gram, akurat tsum gram Ay ay ay ay day, etc. That was fun! Khaskl Igelfeld 7)--------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Jul 1995 18:27:33 -0400 From: melnickm@aol.com Subject: Rabeynu Tam In response to the recent inquiry by Yori Yanover about the song Rabbi Tam, my father also used to sing that song to me when I was a child. I did not know the song's name at the time; I knew it only as a childhood lullaby with a catchy chorus of "Idle deedle idle dum, idle deedle dum...." When I became interested in Jewish music later as an adult, I had always hoped to stumble upon the song, but didn't for quite a long time, until I found it on a 1992 Chava Alberstein CD entitled "The Best of Yiddish Songs." The disc does not contain the lyrics, and I cannot recite them, but if it will help, let me mention that the CD is distributed by Atoll Music, 18/20 rue du Borrego - 75020 Paris, telephone 43 66 69 22. On the CD, the song is credited to "I. Manger/Hertzrubin." The arrangement of the song on the CD is credited to Menachem Wiesenberg. Good luck in your quest. Mark Melnick 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 9:46:58 -400 From: jm400@rnc2.rosenman.com Subject: Rabeynu Tam Yori: See either "Lomir Kinder Zingen" [Kinderbuch Publications, NYC (1985)], p. 212; or "Mir Trogn A Gezang" [Workmen's Circle, NYC (1972)], p. 170 for full words and music. I'm fairly sure both of these are still in print. If you can't find either one, send me your snail-mail address. Joel Maxman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.056