Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.145 October 20, 1995 1) Yidishe literarishe gasn (Elyet Hersh Gertel) 2) Sholem Aleichem Street (Ron Robboy) 3) ICOR (Daniel Soyer) 4) Khavruse/khevraye; aderabe (Eliyahu Juni) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Oct 1995 17:46:40 -0800 (PST) From: egertel@ccvax.fullerton.edu Subject: Yidishe literarishe gasn Vegn Iosif Vaismans brivl (5.141) : >The only other Yiddish literary name on the map that I know is Perets >Markish Street in his hometown in Podolia. In koop-siti in bronks, nyu-york iz faran an "Asch Loop." (Asch Loop, Coop-City, The Bronx, New York). Elyet Hersh Gertl Ekvelterton (a/k/a Fullerton), Kalifornia (CA) 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Oct 1995 16:52:19 -0700 From: rrobboy@cts.com Subject: Sholem Aleichem Street If we are limiting our register to streets per se, then perhaps American municipal entities have indeed dropped the ball when it comes to honoring Yiddish writers. But if we take a more liberal view of public space, then surely we can recognize Peretz Square in Manhattan. (Where is it, Houston Street & Avenue A? I am not a New York resident.) And if public space is our criterion, let us not sell ourselves short, Mendelyaners, denizens of the pioneering site in cyberspace named, fittingly, for _der zeyde_. Ron Robboy 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Oct 95 18:46:10 EDT From: 74212.2700@compuserve.com Subject: ICOR No one mentioned it, possibly because it is so obvious, but YIVO probably has much material concerning ICOR. The YIVO archives has the papers of Kalmon Marmor, a leading Yiddish Communist, and these most likely contain some ICOR material. I also remember a very small but interesting collection of records of a committee of Jewish artists organized to send artworks to a projected museum in Birobidjan. There is also probably ICOR material in the "US Territorial Collection" and the Bund Archives, which is now at YIVO. The Tamiment Library at New York University specializes in labor and movements for social change and may also have ICOR material. Daniel Soyer 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Oct 1995 02:28:06 -0400 From: ao107@freenet.carleton.ca Subject: Khavruse/khevraye, aderabe More alte zakhn: I have some nits to pick. Eons ago, in vol. 5.125, Reb Zellig Bach suggested that we call Reb Noyekh our "Rosh Khavruse," as he considered "shames" to be inappropriate, and thought "khavruse" was an appropriate term for Mendele. Reb Noyekh refused to hear of it, and vetoed further discussion of the subject. Although I have more than enough haymishe politics to keep me busy, there are a few language details that I couldn't let go by: 1. In both Yeshivishese and Yiddish, a "khavruse" is not a 'learning society' or a study group. It literally means a friend, and it is used to refer to a study partner, or, by extension, to study which is done as a pair, with a lot of personal, direct give-and-take between *two* people. Almost always, one has a set place and time for learning with his khavruse, and that particular time/session can also be called a khavruse. (e.g.: "Ver iz daan khavrise? --Kh'ob tsvay: a khavrise mit Mendel fartuks in'm b'smedresh, in nokh a khavrise mit Khloyne nukh mitug baa mir in shtib.") (This last meaning of khavruse can also be called a "khavruse-shaft".) Calling a group of three who learn together a "khavruse" is sometimes also OK, depending on their style of learning; for a group of four it sounds strange already; "shier" is more appropriate, even if there's no particular lecturer. An open forum such as Mendele is certainly not a khavruse (even though "khavruse" has strong connotations of camaraderie and equality which are certainly appropriate here). (A rebbe and talmid who learn one-on-one are not usually called a khavruse, because of the rebbe-talmid relationship, unless they learn together on a relatively equal footing--otherwise it's tutoring, not a khavruse-shaft.) A more appropriate word would have been "khevraye" (from the same root), though it's much less common. It is used to refer to a larger group of people, often centred on a particular figure (both friends and students). (More specifically: the Zoyher uses it as a name for the circle of tanoim around R. Shimen bar Yoykhoy; it was subsequently used for the circles of the Arizal, the BalshemT'v, and certain prominent rebbes who had many great talmidim who were rebbes in their own right, such as the Mezritcher Maggid, the Khoyze from Lublin, the Pshiskher, and the Kotsker. Like "khavruse", it's originally Aramaic, but has definitely made its way into Yiddish: those who applied it to rebbes were Yiddish-speakers--there were no Aramaic-speakers around by then.) It also has similar connotations of camaraderie, and would be just saucy enough to be ironic (it's only used for the holiest of groups--the circles of m'kibulim and the best of the kh'sidim). Judging by past results (how would you say "problem of induction" in Yiddish?), Reb Noyekh won't hear of being a "Reysh Khevraye". Pity. 2. In the same posting, Reb Zellig (parenthetically) glossed "aderabe" as 'why not? by all means!' I know I'm being nit-picky, but I think that's not quite it. It's more like "farkert!"--not in response to a question, but a denial or rebuttal of an assertion or a suggestion. For example: --"Efsher ken ikh hobn a gelyzl tey?" --"Aderabe. Du host tsiker in milekh." sounds funny, though a response of --"Aderabe, nem deym gantsn tshaynik!" wouldn't be as bad, since it's negating the asker's suggested amount ("a gleyzl") and suggesting a different amount. But it's still a bit strange; a more common usage would be: --"Kh'mayn az 'rosh khavruse' iz a besere numen far Reb Noyekh vi 'shames'." --"Aderabe, s'iz nokh erger: 'shames' past khotsh ts'vos er tut, hagam es past nisht ts'vos mir haltn fun eym; ober 'rosh khavruse' past nisht ts'zayn arbet, in nokh mer, a khavruse ken nisht hobn kayn rosh." Antshuldikt(-ts) mir vus ikh bin aza nudnik--ikh ken mikh nisht ts'rik-halten vegn lomdishe klaynekayten. A gitn Shabes. Eliyahu Juni ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.145