Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 6.090 November 4, 1996 1) Yiddish romanization (Zachary Baker) 2) A new www site (Michael and Bobbi Zylberman) 3) Stanford University Program In Jewish Studies (Dan Leeson) 4) Yiddish vegetarian writers (Shimke Levine) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 1 Nov 1996 12:36:16 -0500 (EST) From yivo1@metgate.metro.org Subject: Yiddish romanization For those who are interested in that perennial topic, the romanization (transliteration/transcription) of Yiddish, I would like to direct your attention to a major article on the subject, "Ambiguities in the Romanization of Yiddish," by Bella Hass Weinberg, which appears in the latest issue of Judaica Librarianship (vol. 9, no. 1-2, Spring 1994-Winter 1995; pp. 58-74). Dr. Weinberg is, among other things, a professor of library science at St. John's University, consulting librarian at YIVO (with which she has been associated, in various capacities, for 25 years), compiler of the extensive index to the English translation of Max Weinreich's History of the Yiddish Language, editor of Judaica Librarianship (the flagship journal of the Association of Jewish Libraries), and an acknowledged expert in romanization issues, particularly (but not exclusively) as they affect libraries and their readers. The abstract of her article follows: Romanization of Yiddish is one of the most complex activities in Hebraica cataloging, especially for publications that do not use Standard YIVO Orthography. The Library of Congress has adopted the YIVO table for vowels, but uses its own Hebrew table for consonants. LC's publication Hebraica Cataloging provides little guidance on Yiddish Romanization, and MARC [machine-readable cataloging] records contain many errors and inconsistencies in the application of the table. YIVO's linguistic reference works, notably Uriel Weinreich's Modern English-Yiddish, Yiddish-English Dictionary and the translation of Max Weinreich's History of the Yiddish Language, often contradict each other in the Romanization of Hebraisms, while LC's rules for Romanizing Hebraisms seem to have changed recently. Hebrew titles for Yiddish works are particularly problematic, as there are two possible pronunciations [i.e., Sephardic and Ashkenazic]. LC appears to be moving in the direction of providing two Romanized title entries in such cases. Several transliterated Yiddish dictionaries have been published in the past decade. Some use the YIVO system; others do not. The extent to which these tools can provide assistance to Hebraica catalogers is assessed. Zachary Baker 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 Nov 1996 21:41:11 +1000 From: mzylberm@ozemail.com.au Subject: A new www site Mendele subscribers should visit the new web site of the SKIF Youth Movement in Melbourne at : http//yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~lozz/skif/index.html It is an impressive Web site and particularly interesting for people to see what new generations think and say. There is also a transliterated page of Yiddish which will shortly be displayed using Yiddish characters. Michael and Bobbi Zylberman 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 Nov 1996 20:11:40 EST From: leeson@aspen.fhda.edu Subject: Stanford University Program In Jewish Studies An announcement about an upcoming pair of talks at Stanford University, Stanford, California On Tuesday, Nov. 19, 1996, 8 pm (Oak West Lounge, Tresidder Union), Dr. Joshua A. Fishman, Distinguished University Research Professor of Social Sciences, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yishiva University, will speak on the topic of "The Holiness of Yiddish" (in English). On the next day, at 4 pm (same location), his topic will be "Yiddish and English: An Odd Couple" (in Yiddish). This is the third annual lecture program in Yiddish studies given by Stanford University, and the turn out is always substantial. Two different lectures have been established as the norm, one in English and one in Yiddish. Should anyone want additional information, call 415-723-7589. And I (sob!) can't go to the second one. Oi!! Dan Leeson Los Altos, California 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 3 Nov 1996 16:49:22 -0500 From: shimke2@aol.com Subject: Yiddish vegetarian writers (Menke Katz) There is no point to repeating the entire message, since many others have already provided the information I had. But I would like to second the glowing words about Menke's wonderful personality. He was like a second (ideal) father to me, although once I moved down South we saw each other only on all too rare occasions. I still have a sense of longing each time I think of his loss. I can confirm that Menke was a vegetarian from a very early age. Some associations the question evokes in me: accompanying Menke to a diner near his home in Spring Glen, where he would always order the same thing, his most beloved dish -- a baked potato. As he sat with a friend in a diner, eating a baked potato and talking, his eyes sparkled with an intense warmth and life I have known from no one else. (I suspect that I might have experienced something similar from Wolf Yunin if I had known him when he was a bit younger and in better health.) Menke used to say "Di greste nesiye iz arum a tish!" He also used to say that a knife was meant for peeling fruit. He told me he bacame a vegetarian as a child. He also told stories of digging in frozen fields for potatoes during the famine of WW I, when his father was already in the States but the rest of the family was still in Lithuania. Read his "Ode to the Potato." Dovid, his son, told me that he himself had _never_ eaten meat. (Incidentally, in addition to his scholarly achievements, Dovid is a fine writer, under the pseudonym of Heershadovid Menkes.) I met a Yiddish-speaking vegetarian who was part of a Yiddishe Kultur leyen-krayz in San Francisco. He attributed his vegetarianism to Tolstoy's influence, and told me that many East European Jews were influenced by Tolstoy. I do not know how wide-spread that phenomenon really is. Stanley F. (Shimke) Levine ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 6.090