Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.074 October 2, 1996 1) The Forward (Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan) 2) The Forward (Walter Golman) 3) Lists of libraries and schools (Shalom Goldberg) 4) "Af" the correct romanization (Zellig Bach) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Oct 1996 12:13:55 -0400 From: shirshan@aol.com Subject: The Forward Association- let's bear witness It is with a pervasive, penetrating sadness that I read the input on Mendele about the transfer of sovereignty within the Forward Association, of the no-longer-covert hostility to the Forverts, of this testament to the chasmic/cosmic proportions of the generation gap. Like Miniver Cheevy, I bemoan today, and how computerized accountants reign, how in days gone by brave-hearted idealists and courageous poets brandished the swords formed by pens with di oysyelekh that ruled, when immigrant laborers with mazolyes oyf di hent always found sufficient, hard-earned coins to support and sustain anything they believed. Is it not their intensity and toil that created the legendary shoulders strong enough to carry the Forward Association of today? Is it not these same shoulders upon which the Association stands (if we do not lose our historical perspective) that boost the Association members high enough to think they see beyond the blue, nevermore in the red!, horizon? (Had accountants ruled the farvaltungs, in the golden age of Yiddish and of Yiddish education, not even one shule would have existed.) I bemoan that the fight for Yiddish in the land of the NY Times was assigned to youths with busted slingshots when tanks like Yosl Mlotek are ignored across the hall. I lament how the Forverts is ignored when it boasts the wonderful "In der Velt Fun Yidish" by the glorious Mloteks, and the ever-enlightening "Kapitlekh Yidish" by Dovid Katz from Oxford. I bemoan that in the Forward -'the station/paper that speaks your language'- the Philologos column is written by a Hebraist, when it should be supporting the Yidishists that exist in New York. Where is the sharp, narrow focus that penetrates? Why strive to become catholic in taste? Like Hershl Hartman, I recall the pride that a station was created with call letters that stood for the initials of Eugene Victor Debs. Like young Ruvn Millman (who breaths the old idealism), we should be stirred to anger, to action. Today, I read the very modern Fast Forward section (undoubtedly a shot to keep the paper out of the red) and cringe at the superficiality and narishkayt of some of the articles (i.e. a wife(?) who needs no children because she babies her husband instead, and they wear matching p.j.s). Doesn't that promote psychic health, and perpetuate Yiddishkeit! Isn't that a continuation of the genius of Ab Cahan! (Don't misinterpret - I will still support the Forward evermore.) But instead of these Kevorkianesque ideas, where is the creative energy that spills over in the pages of the Forverts? where are the Saposniks et al to breathe new life into radio programming? Are there no other poet-generals like Elie Wiesel to lead us? Have we even reached for the lantern to seek them out? And haven't we learned from Elie Wiesel to bear witness? To tell, to speak, to record how the Forward Hour floated through every open window on the air waves every Sunday morning permeating entire neighborhoods with its sweet sounds of Yiddish. How we were lovingly hushed by every relative,, every lantsman we visited, and it felt so yontefdik, until the beloved theme song heralded that the hour was completed? Only then were we tenderly offered the cookies covered with mon, or the egg cream. Who will tell how discussion, often heated, at family get-togethers revolved around the writings and programming of the Forverts. How Minkoff and Reisen and Opatashu and Bashevis were household words, not names to be searched out in-hard-to-come-by anthologies. And how often we were assembled in one room to sit and hear the articles or poetry or segments of novels read aloud. And how we coalesced and fused into a family, and felt like brothers and sisters to every Jew anywhere in the world, surrounded by all this Yiddishkeit, idealism and beauty? Who remembers, and will tell, when Yiddish was a religion? And was not yet a business. Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Oct 1996 15:46:07 -0400 (EDT) From: velvele@wam.umd.edu Subject: WEVD and Yiddish programs Since radio station WEVD came in for considerable criticism for (it was said) dropping Yiddish, I checked with people at the Workmen's Circle, and they obtained the following statement from the president of the Forward Association. I hope you find it publishable. Walter Golman Silver Spring, Maryland From: Karl Zukerman (fwd) Here is the official response of the Forward Association. If you want to "broadcast" it, we would encourage you to do so. Contrary to any malicious rumors on Mendele on September 24, WEVD will continue to broadcast Yiddish News daily, The Forward Hour and News Commentary in Yiddish every Sunday as it is at present. Harold Ostroff Forward Association 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 02 Oct 1996 12:35:58 +0000 From: shalomg@gate.net Subject: Lists of libraries and schools I am working on compiling two lists that will appear on the Internet very soon in their own site and I would be very grateful if you could please help in compiling as accurate and as a complete list as possible: A. Libraries that have Yiddish book collections (anything over 1,000 approx.). Can anyone please help in contributing the names of the libraries that they know of, either on campuses or public collections with volumes in Yiddish. Please don't hesitate to contribute only one name if that's all you may know. I may get duplicates, that's okay. I will "clean" the list and add to it those names that I already have if they are not provided by you. Whatever library you can think of is okay. B. Schools that offer Yiddish classes, undergraduate degree, graduate degree, post graduate work, or even continuing education. Hischools are okay too if there are any public schools that anyone may know of. I have a small list of the schools and I am certain that it is much greater than that. No geographic limitations please for either list. Your assistance and help is most valued and will be deeply appreciated. I also sure thast people pursing the study of Yiddish will also be very thankful for having such a great resource at their fingertips. A groys'n dank eich far di hilf. Shalom Goldberg 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Oct 1996 14:03:51 -0400 From: zellig@aol.com Subject: "Af" the correct romanization The correct standardized romanization of the preposition "oyf" (alef, vov, yud, lange-fey) is _af_, as evidenced in spoken Yiddish: afn pripetshik, afn tish, af snay [again], and in many other elocutions. "Af" is the pronunciation recommended for "oyf" by Uriel Weinreich in _College Yiddish_ and in the _Yiddish-English/English-Yiddish Dictionary_; also by Mordkhe Schaechter in _Yiddish Tsvey_. Authoritative examples: The Yiddish name of the quarterly _Oyfn Shvel_ is romanized on the masthead _Afn Shvel_; and the recently published book by David Goldberg is called _yidish af Yidish_ (Yale University Press). Warning: Do not generalize from oyf-af to other words with vov-yud (as in oyf). Pronounce oykh, boykh, yoykh, for example, as spelled. Zellig Bach Lakehurst, NJ ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.074