Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 5.305 April 16, 1996 1) "Tkhine leyoldes" (Leonard Prager) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 16 Apr 96 18:16:22 IST From: rhle302@uvm.haifa.ac.il Subject: "Tkhine leyoldes" In an earlier notice (vol 5, no. 293) on the _Tekhine Rav Peninin_ (Tel-Aviv: Sinai, n.d. ) I remarked how cunningly constructed many of the prayers were -- an impression which is not enforced by any one of the three separate discussions of _tkhines_ in the _Encyclopaedia Judaica_ (11:396; 11:398; 15:907). Meyer Waxnan and Mordecai Waxman write: "Often changed to fit the feminine temperament, Yiddish translations of the _tehinnot_ ... emphasize God as a loving father rather than as a stern judge: the merit of the matriarchs rather than that of the patriarchs; and defines rewards in terms of pious and virtuous children. The tone of the writing is romantic and sentimental, its style verbose and popular, and, in general, represents a folk literature which mirrored daily life in the home and the ghetto." (_EJ_ 11:356) The same authors also write: "The composition of _tkhines_ for every phase of life offered writers greater freedom of expression. Couched in personal and intimate language, the prayers reflect both piety and the heartfelt sentiments of Jewish women. While the first collections were composed by men... subsequent efforts were largely those of women." (_EJ_ 11:358) Abraham Meir Habermann adds: "_Tehinnah_, a _piyyut_ form which originated in the _tahanun_ prayer for the fasts of Monday and Thursday. The term was also transferred to _piyuttim_ for the _selichot_ days, and indeed both the construction and subject of the _tehinnah_ are similar to _selichot_. The _tehinnah_ is usually said quietly, its subject being the relationship between God and the people of Israel. It is sometimes constructed in rhymed verses, sometimes in rhymed rhetoric, or even unrhymed, in the style of a _bakkashah_. In addition to Hebrew _tehinnot_, there were Yiddish-German ones for women published from the beginning of the 18th century in Bohemia (Prague), Switzerland (Basle), Germany (Sulzbach, Fuerth, Roedelheim), and many towns of Russia and Poland."(_EJ_ 15:907) These brief remarks are almost all of what we find in the _EJ_ (ripe for a revised edition) on the -tkhine- genre. They may be apposite for the Hebrew _tehinnot_ and the early Yiddish _tkhines_ (which Habermann curiously terms "Yiddish-German"), but help a lot less in the case of a late blossoming such as _Rav peninim_. Habermann writes that "The _tehinnah_ is usually said quietly...." and the reader might think this is being said of Yiddish _tkhines_ as well. There are doubtless _tkhines_ which are said quietly, but many of the _tkhines_ in _Rav peninim_ explicitly call for the accompaniment of tears, e.g. "Tkhine shaarey demooys" ('Gates of Tears Prayer'): "Di tkhine zol men zog(e)n ... mit fil trer(e)n." The "Tkhine shaarey rakhamim" is recited with "groys geveyn" ('great weeping'). In the _Tkhine leerev reshkhoydesh_ (pp. 189-190), we read: "Reboyne-sheloylem, foter derbaremdiker, her oys dos gebet fun dayn dinst velkhe kumt yetst far dir for, un oyb kholile di toyern fun tfile zenen farshlosn, ober di toyern fun trern zenen dokh shtendik ofen, vi es shteyt geshribn shaarey demooys loy ninolu. Nem tsu baremhartsiker foter mayne heyse trern velkhe ikh fargis yetst far dir in dayn heylikn hoyz, lozn zey opvashn ale mayne zind velkhe ikh bin gegn dir bagangen." ('Almighty, merciful father, hear the plea of your servant who now comes before you, and if Heaven forbid the gates of prayer are closed, those of tears are always open, as it is written: "The gates of tears never close." Merciful father, accept the hot tears which I now shed before you in your holy house, let them wash away all the sins I have committed against you.') The _Tkhine leyoldes_ is explicitly recited by weeping women for a woman in labor; this weeping was surely audible. The Waxmans tell us that in Yiddish _tkhines_ "The tone of the writing is romantic and sentimental...." I am not sure what is meant by "romantic" here and I do not find much that is "sentimental" in the sense of exaggerated or inappropriate sentiment. It is surely significant that in the very midst of an emotional appeal in the _Tkhine leerev reshkhoydesh_ (suggesting the classical _deesis_, impassioned supplication of the gods or of men), an argument of authority is cited. This quotation is like classical _apomnemonysis_ (quoting an approved authority, in this case the Talmud -- the precise source has escaped me). Does this tell us the author of this _tkhine_ was a man? Not necessarily, since there were learned women, often scholars' daughters like Sore Bas-Tovim, who composed _tkhines_. There is as much logic as there is emotion in many of the prayers. Analogical reasoning, as in the _Tkhine leyoldes_, is common: God helped Abraham when he prayed that Elimelech's wife and servants should bear their children and _they_ were idol-worshipers. If God helped pagan wives, how much more qualified for help are Jewish wives. Intimacy is of course the hallmark of all _tkhines_ (God is normally addressed as _du_, .e.g. "zolstu" in _Tkhine leyoldes_) and we should thus not be taken aback by their forthrightness -- and rationality -- in one of the _tkhines_ God is asked to provide adequate supplies of food _before_ shortages set in and the children begin to go hungry. The praying woman does not only request God's help, she also lays claim to it by virtue of the theology of accumulated merits, saving this forceful argument for the close of her appeal. God is repeatedly reminded who He is, the suppliant thus exercising a certain power from within her powerlessness. Form is important in the Hebrew _tehinna_ and Habermann mentions it in passing, but we are told nothing of its place in the Yiddish _tkhine_. Even a cursory reading of the _Tkhine leyoldes_ reveals a rich assortment of figures and devices, especially figures of repetition, of balance (_mekatregim_ 'prosecutors' vs. _melitsim_ 'defenders'), and of repeated sounds. (There are, as I have already shown above, fancy Greek or Latin names for all these figures, tropes, etc.). We have much alliteration such as _geshvint un gring geborn_, _zolst farmakhn di mayler fun ale mekatregim_ (/f/ and /m/ sounds). We have frequent synonymy and rime, as in _trern un veynin_ and _undzere trern vos mir veynen un fargisn_, rime endings in _maysim toyvim_, synonymy alone in the fixed phrase _on tsar un on yesurim_. There are several allusions (e.g., _Khaves klole_). The entire _tkhine_ is one long sentence (classical _continuatio_?) joined by conjugations, mainly _un_ 'and' (cf. Der Nister in modern Yiddish literature.) It marches forward forcefully to a note of joy in its anticipation of a successful delivery. Though an act of female solidarity, the prayer is, however, for a male child! "Tkhine leyoldes" (pp. 428-9) A naye tkine far ayoldes vos geyt tsum kind, andere zol far ihr beten : Riboyne-sheloylem, mir zenen yetst gekumen far dir mit tsu brokhene hertser un mit fihl treren fargisen , fun vegen di isho (ploynis bas ploynis) vos zi darf yetst geboren ihr kind, du liber rakhmones'diger got, zolst af ihr rakhmones hoben zi zol geshvint un gring geboren on tsar un on yesurim, den der shlisul fun agevineren iz dokh in dayn hand , un dayne rakhmones zenen dokh groys af yeder bashefenish, hob rakhmones af di isho, un zolst zehen unzere treren vos mir veynen un fargisen fun ihretvegn , un azoy vi di toyeren fun treren zenen nit farshlosen , un azoy vi du host ongenumen di tfile fun avrom ovinu ven er hot gebeten far dem vayb un di dinsten fun elimeylekh zey zolen geboren zeyere kinder, un zey hoben gring geboren , vos zey zenen geven getsen diner, un mir zenen yetst gekumen far dir rakhum vekhanun beten du zolst rakhmones hoben af di yudishe froy vos zi dint tsu dir rakhum vekhanun, du zolst efenen ihr muter layb geshvint un gring on tsar un on yesurim, un azoy vi du host geretet ale frume vayber fun khave's klole azoy zolstu di isho oykh reten , un zi zol lang leben un zayn a muter tsu dem lebedigen kind, vos zi vet yetst geboren , zi zol ihm ufhodeven tsu toyre khupe un maysim toyvim, un ven khas vesholem zi hot epes gezindigt , zolstu on nemen ihr yetstige tshuve, du bizt dokh nohnt tsu yeder mentsh vos ruft tsu dir mit emes un mit zayn gantsen harts, un ven amentsh iz khas vesholem in der greste tsore biztu dokh zayn helfer, un in dem skhus fun ihre heylige elteren , un in dem skhus fun unzere mitsves un maysim toyvim, un in dem skhus fun ihre mitsves un maysim toyvim zolstu on nemen unzere treren un veynen un beten vos mir beten far ihretvegen , un zolst farmakhen di mayler fun ale mekatrigim vos zenen mekatreg af ihr , un zolst heysen kumen far dir ale gute melitsim fun ihretvegen , un es zol bald gehert veren in shtub simkhe vesosen mit dem nayem geborinem kind, omen: English translation: A new prayer for a woman in labor to be recited for her by others: God Almighty, we have now come before you with broken hearts and having shed many tears for this woman N.xxxxxx daughter of N.xxxxxx, who must now give birth to her child, you merciful God, have mercy on her that she may quickly and easily give birth without grief and pains, for the key of a woman in labor is after all in your hand, and your mercy towards every creature is great, have mercy on this woman, and may you see the tears which we are weeping and shedding for her sake, and just as the gates of tears are not closed, and just as you accepted the prayer of our patriarch Abraham when he prayed that his wife and the servants of Elimelelch give birth to their children, and they gave birth easily, though they were idolworshipers, and we have come before you, merciful and gracious one, to plead that you have mercy on this Jewish woman who serves you, merciful and gracious one, that you open her motherbody easily and swiftly, without grief and pains, and just as you save all pious wives from the curse of Eve, so may you also save this woman, and may she live long and be a mother to the live child which she will now bear, and may she rear him for Learning, Marriage and Good Deeds, and if she has, God forbid, sinned in some way, accept her repentance, for after all you are close to every person who calls to you truly and with all his heart, and when God forbid a person is in greatest need, you are his helper, and by virtue of the good deeds of her holy parents, and by virtue of our good deeds and by virtue of her good deeds, accept our tears and weeping and prayers that we are offering for her sake, and may you stop the mouths of all her critics who are critical of her, and may you summon all those who speak favorably of her, and may we soon hear sounds of joy and cheer in the room with the birth of the newborn child, amen: *** Postscript: I welcome comments and, especially, corrections of my romanization. Are the ungrammatical _dayne rakhmones zenen_ and _af di isho_ proof of an uneducated author? We have become so aware of gender-linked elements in language that we can hardly not look closely at the phrase _ploynis-bas-ploynis_. Could it indicate that the woman in labor is identified matrilineally or is the phrase merely an idiomatic way of saying "Mrs. So-and-So"? _bas-ploynis_ reminds one that metronymic surnames (family names deriving from the mother's first name) are uncommon in Europe except among Ashkenazic Jews (e.g., Bashevis, Beilin, Chanin, Rifkind, Sorkin). Leonard Prager ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 5.305