Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 19.011 September 11, 2009
1) The secular and the worldly in Yiddish literature and Yiddish life (Howard Berger) 2) The secular and the worldly in Yiddish literature and Yiddish life (Larry Rosenwald) 3) bankes (Dina Lvias) 4) bankes (Elvira Groezinger) 5) bankes (Herb Lewis) 6) Isaac Babel in Yiddish (Gerry Kane) 7) Lilke Majzner (Hershl Hartman) 8) gogl (Martin Jacobs) 9) (bale-)boss (Jacob van der Wijk) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2009 Subject: The secular and the worldly in Yiddish literature and Yiddish life This is in reply to Z. D. Smith's very interesting query of Aug. 23 as to the corpus of literature of non-observant, free-thinking, secular Yiddish speakers and readers. It seems to me that such a corpus may, and I repeat may, be accessed by referring to book reviews in the plethora of communist, or otherwise left-leaning, free-thinking Yiddish-language publications that appeared in the U. S. in the first four decades of the 20th century. If such a Yiddish-language corpus existed, that would be the venue where it would be recorded and reviewed. Would it not? I, too, am curious about a body of work that reflects a truly secular lifestyle, and would greatly appreciate and welcome Z.D. Smith's research into this field. Howard Berger 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2009 Subject: The secular and the worldly in Yiddish literature and Yiddish life Re Z. D. Smith's totally fascinating reflections on the secular and the worldly, and addressing only a small part of those reflections, I'd note how disorienting it was for me to read the beginning chapters (and some other chapters as well) of Sholem Ash's "East River." The first chapter concerns, if not kortnshpiln and bronfn, then at least the wholly un-rabbinic, un-yeshivebokherdik topic of pigeon flying . Ash's novel in general seems to me among other things an attempt to figure out how to use Yiddish to depict secular and non-Jewish aspects of the American world - not just the pigeon-flying but also Franklin Roosevelt and a Catholic confession booth. Best, Larry Rosenwald 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 25, 2009 Subject: bankes "Banki," in Russian, is the plural of "banka" meaning "jar/tin can/pot." It also applies to "cups" in the medical/health context of "applying cupping-glasses" to a person suffering from, e.g., bronchitis. The Yiddish saying "S'hilft vi a toytn bankes" is a skeptical assessment of this old wives' remedy!! It is the equivalent, more or less, of "spitting in the air." (The French say "appliquer un cautre sur une jambe de bois," i.e. "a poultice on a wooden leg") There is no other possible etymological origin for the Yiddish "bankes" in my opinion !! Dina Lvias [Moderator's note: The Mendele archives are a wonderful and underutilized resource. "Bankes" has received much attention from Mendele readers in the past. For more information, see Mendele volumes 3, 6, and 15 in the Mendele Archives at http://mendele.commons.yale.edu/] 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 25, 2009 Subject: bankes Bankes (or Polish banki, German Schroepfkoepfe) are cupping glasses used in popular medicine against fever. They are heated and then adhered to the patient's back. Best wishes, Elvira Groezinger 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 30, 2009 Subject: bankes This was used by my Bubba in the saying, "Es helft vi a toytn, bankes." That is, the remedy helped as little as cupping would for someone already dead. I thought of Grandma's wisdom often in fifty years of medical practice. Herb Lewis 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 25, 2009 Subject: Isaac Babel in Yiddish Were any of Isaac Babel's stories translated into Yiddish in the Soviet Union or in the West? If they were, were they in the form of occasional stories in Yiddish literary magazines or were they collections published in book form? If there were Yiddish translations, does any Mendele leyener know whether they are available? Gerry Kane 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 15, 2009 Subject: Lilke Majzner As the shloyshim (marking the 30th day after her death) approaches, the website of the Museum of Family History has posted a video of Lilke Majzner's inimitable oratory upon receiving the highest award from the International Association of Yiddish Clubs in 2008. The English translation of her thoughtful and fiery remarks appears below the video screen. Lilke was long-time president of the L.A. Yiddish Culture Club, a member of the Arbeter Ring/Workmen's Circle both in Europe and here and a teacher in its shuln, a survivor of the Bundist (General Jewish Workers' Alliance of Russia, Lithuania and Poland) underground in Lodz and several concentration and death camps, including Auschwitz. She was the initiator and moving force behind the coalition of L.A. Secular Jewish organizations which, for the past decade, has sponsored annual commemorations of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and of the executed Soviet Yiddish writers. She wrote beautifully in Yiddish for several publications and it was my honor to translate many of her works. Hershl Hartman 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: August 24, 2009 Subject: Gogl Dr. Paul Glasser, like Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Taube, also informed me that the word should be "nogl" but I am afraid I had difficulty believing this since I did not see what the length of one's fingernails had to do with looking either Jewish or non-Jewish; we certainly don't consider it as such today. But I stand corrected: autres temps, autres moeurs. Thank you, Hershl. Martin Jacobs 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: September 7, 2009 Subject: (bale-)boss I would like to refer those who were speculating about the oves of "boss" to a new publication by prominent Dutch etymologist Nicoline van der Sijs entitled "Yankees, cookies en dollars: de invloed van het Nederlands op Noord-Amerikaanse talen" (Amsterdam University Press, ISBN 978 90 8964 10 4). Jacob van der Wijk ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 19.011 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, direct your mail as follows: Material for Mendele Personal Notices & Announcements, i.e. announcements of events, commercial publications, etc., always in plain text (no HTML or the like) to: [email protected] (in the subject line write Mendele Personal) Material for postings to Mendele Yiddish literature and language, i.e. inquiries and comments of a non-commercial or publicity nature: [email protected] IMPORTANT: Please include your full name as you would like it to appear in your posting. No posting will appear without its author's name. Submissions to regular Mendele should not include personal email addresses, as responses will be posted for all to read. 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