Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.257 February 15, 1996 1) Bokser (Meyer-Leyb Wolf) 2) Bokser (Michael Shimshoni) 3) Bokser (Hershl Hartman) 4) The Yiddish canon (Meyer-Leyb Wolf) 5) Yale Strom in concert (Miki Safadi) 6) L.A. Yiddish Culture Club (Miki Safadi) 7) Composite tenses/moods (Meyer-Leyb Wolf) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 02:55:54 -0500 From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: Bokser My apologies to everyone, who like Hugh Denman, did not recognize the nowadays little-used word 'hartshorn'. It is one of the salts in smelling salts (which are also little-used nowadays). Meyer-Leyb Wolf 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Feb 96 10:49:39 +0200 From: mash@weizmann.weizmann.ac.il Subject: Talmudic bokser In Mendele Vol. 5.254, Hugh Denman states while discussing boksers (carobs) that: "the topos of the carob as suitable comestible for hermits residing in deserts is not confined to Christian literature. I believe there are midrashic counterparts". I know of one such reference in the Talmud, Brakhot 17b, where it says that although the whole world is nourished because of Hanina ben Dosa, he himself is satisfied by a "qav" (about two quarts) of carobs for a whole week. Michael Shimshoni 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 16:27:55 -0500 From: hershl@aol.com Subject: Bokser Many thanks to Meyer-Leyb Wolf for his explanation of the derivation of bokser. My question about the reason for the adoption of (now I know) a New High German term was not stated clearly enough. Let me try again: Bokser was eaten in Eastern Europe in a semi-ritual manner; i.e., specifically in observance of khamishe oser b'shvat (Shevat 15, "New Year for Trees") specifically because it grew in erets yisroyl, the Land of Israel. Given such connections, it is curious at least to me that its name in (I assume) biblical Hebrew would have been abandoned. Hershl Hartman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 02:55:54 -0500 From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: The Yiddish canon My apologies to those who took offense the absence of works by women in the working list for the Yiddish canon. I would be very surprised indeed if a real draft of the canon did have works by Kadie Molodowsky and Rokhl Korn (about Yente Serdatski I'm not so sure). In any case, the idea is to canonize works of literature, not writers. Additional apologies are also in order. Yankev Lewis' mention [5.255] of Glikl sent me to check the list -- I know that Glikl made it into the computer. I then realized that I have a copy of the Old List, rather than the New List which included Glikl and others. I will try to prepare a more useful version in the near future. Finally, the opening verses of 'Dos yikhes-brivl' by miryem ulinover perhaps hint at what the point of putting togther a Yiddish canon is. ven kh'hob fun libn shtetele fartroyert zikh gesheydt, hot mir der zeyde biz tsum taykh gegebn dos bagleyt; di frilingzun hot ufgeshaynt, der himl - zikh tsebloyt, der zeyde hot baym sheydveg mir a brivl ongetroyt. farloyrn hob ikh im, dem briv, un gey arum farklemt: a shpas - on yikhes-brivele tsu blaybn in der fremd! Meyer-Leyb Wolf 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 07:57:29 -0800 From: msafadi@ucla.edu Subject: Yale Strom in L.A. - klezmer konsert Kum gut farbrengn mit Yale Strom in a rede un klezmer konsert, dem 2tn mertz in dem Los Angeles Yiddisher Kultur Klub - 8339 West 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Telefon (310) 275-8455. Come spend a good time with Yale Strom in a talk and klezmer concert, March 2, 1996, at the Los Angeles Yiddish Culture Club - 8229 West 3rd St., Los Angeles CA 90048. Telephone (310) 275-8455. Miki Safadi 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 14 Feb 1996 07:57:29 -0800 From: msafadi@ucla.edu Subject: L.A. Yiddish Culture Club- a request Der Los Angeles Yiddisher Kultur Klub zukht Yidishe plakatn, bilder (posters) mit vos tsu farshenern undzer klub. Oyb ir kent a plakat shikn, zayt azoy gut un loz mikh vissn oder shik es tsu: The Los Angeles Yiddish Culture Club, 8339 West 3rd Street, Los Angeles, CA 90048 (tel. (310) 275-8455). P.S. Der konsert mit Yale Strom, dem 2tn mertz heybt zikh on 7:30pm, arayngang $3.00. The L.A. Yiddish Culture Club is looking for Yiddish posters, pictures with which to beautify our club. If you kan send a poster, be so good as to let me know or send it directly to The L.A. Yiddish Culture Club, 8339 West 3rd St., L.A., CA 90048 (tel. 310) 275-8455. P.S. The Yale Strom concert on March 2, 1996 will begin at 7:30pm, entrance $3.00. Miki Safadi 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 15 Feb 1996 02:55:52 -0500 From: wolfim@chelsea.ios.com Subject: Composite tenses/moods Thank you Khayem Bochner for the "zol geven" examples. Sholem Aleichem is indeed a frequent user, as was our totemic ancestor Mendele; I have these examples from 'Di Klyatshe': a shteyger, er zol geven araynkumen tsu mir un gebetn epes a zakh... es zol geven meglekh zayn, volt ikh ale gehaldzt, gekusht un veynendik zey mekhile gebetn! itst farshteystu, far vos iz bay mir aza besure; kholile-vekhas, di takse zol geven botl vern, vi etlekhe hobn es farlangt, volt ir - nisht derlebn zolt ir dos! - mit a mol poter gevorn fun a sakh tsores. It seems to me that this use of 'zol geven' was not as common in the literature of the twentieth century as it was in the nineteenth. By the way, what struck me as unusual was "ven ikh zol geven gevust" with the participle gevust rather than the infinitive geven. Meyer-Leyb Wolf ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.257