endele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 19.020 February 15, 2010 1) Introducing www.YiddishPoetry.org (Andrew Firestone) 2) khisorn/shvartser ( Elye Palevsky) 3) Song lyrics sought (Yoyl Sartorius) 4) Bobover purim-shpil (Jeffrey Shandler) 5) Vincent Homolka's comments on "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the life and legacy of Jacob Gordin" (Beth Kaplan) 6) shul (Maurice Wolfthal) 7) gefilte fish (Perets Mett) 8) Yiddish aphorism (A.L. Rickman) 9) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 6, 2010 Subject: Introducing www.YiddishPoetry.org With contributions from translators and poetry performers worldwide, and with support from several Melbourne institutions - the Australian Centre for the study of Jewish Civilizations (ACJC) at Monash University, the Pnina Zylberman Fund, and the Kadimah National Library - we are pleased to announce that the two existing websites, for the poets Yisroel Shtern and Yossel Birstein, have been incorporated into www.YiddishPoetry.org,together with /two new sections/: 1. a multilingual translation site with Yiddish readings, of the Yiddish poetry of Poland between the two world wars. So far, poems by four poets are on offer: Simkhe Dan, Maurycy Szymel, Miriam Ulinover, Aaron Zeitlin. 2. a section for contemporary Yiddish poetry. So far works by Yitzhok Niborski and Sholem Berger can be found here. Comments and enquiries are invited by the Editor, Andrew Firestone, Melbourne. ====================================================== Khosheve fraynt, Mir meldn aykh, az oyf dem veb-zaytl www.YiddishPoetry.org http://www.yiddishpoetry.org, kent ir gefinen a naye opteylung. An antalogye fun der yidisher poezye fun tsvishn beyde velt-melkhomes in poyln, ibergezetst oyf english un frantsoyzish. Oyb ayer kompyuter iz ayngeshtelt tsu hern, kent ir glaykhtsaytik leyenen un hern dos geleyente durkh oysgeshulte leyener. Der program vert untergeshtitst durkh dem "Monash" universitet, Yidishe Natsionale Bibliotek bay der "Kadimah" un dem "Pnina Zylberman Fond" in Melbourne. A sakh arbet vert arayngeleygt durkh genite iberzetser un leyener iber der gantser velt. Mir dervartn oprufn un komentarn. Redaktor, Andrew Firestone 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 24, 2010 Subject: khisorn/shvartser "Khisorn" means flaw or, more broadly, downside. There's an expression: a khisorn di kale iz tsu sheyn ( the flaw is the bride is too lovely). It is said when someone always finds flaw no matter how fine the object at hand. In my Vilner/American born native Yiddish, "neger" was the appropriate noun, despite its similarity in sound to the word nigger before the supplanting of Negro by black and Afro-American. The use of the word "der shvartser/di shvartse"- for domestic helpers, also, "di krstin" as in, "di krstin kumt haynt ramen," in my opinion, reflects a social and economic divide without pointed prejudice and may have the institution of "shabes goy" as a sub-structure. In addition, Yiddish frequently uses the locution of referring to a person by an ascriptive identity in absence of a name and in a neutral manner while at the same time reflecting a perception of an "us" and "them" world, e.g. yener yid/goy kumt afn yarid yor ayn yor oys = That man ( Jew/gentile) comes to the fair year after year. Elye Palevsky 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 7, 2010 Subject: song lyrics sought Mayn bobe hot mikh gelernt dos lid vos iz geshribn untn. Ken emetser dos lid? Ikh vil visn di rikhtike verter un mer geshikhte vegn dem lid: Ikh bin nit mekane Laytishe glikn, Abi tsu hobn Vos tsu pikn? A sheynem dank, Yoyl Sartorius 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 11, 2010 Subject: Bobover purim-shpil I'd appreciate any information from Mendelistn about where/when this year's Bobover Pruim-shpil will take place. Many thanks, Jeffrey Shandler 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 26, 2010 Subject: Vincent Homolka's comments on "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the life and legacy of Jacob Gordin" Many thanks to Vincent Homolka for responding to a query about Jacob Gordin's Elisha ben Avuya by quoting from my book "Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: the life and legacy of Jacob Gordin," and for remarking that the book is "a labor of love." I need to clarify something, however. Homolka then advises the reader to treat my book with "a degree of caution" in light of my disclaimer about accountability and accuracy, which states, "There are periods of Gordin's life about which very little is known. In order to create a vivid account I have, based on research and reading, extrapolated my version of the truth." The disclaimer is unclear, I now see. It is the Russian period of Gordin's life about which very little was known when I researched and wrote the book, and so where I chose to deduce and extrapolate. We know, for example, that Gordin had 2 sisters but almost nothing about them. Based on family information, Russian-Jewish life at the time and their letters to him stored at YIVO, I made some deductions about his upbringing and the lives of his sisters. The disclaimer was to make clear that, for certain aspects of Gordin's Russian period, my interpretation was a personal one. A great deal is known about Gordin's life in America. In those sections, such as that quoted by Homolka about Gordin's play Elisha, I told the story as any biographer would, using information from newspaper clippings, first hand accounts, and period documents. I labored with love, yes, but mostly with reference books. Yours sincerely, Beth Kaplan 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 24, 2010 Subject: shul Can anyone shed some light on the origin of the use of the Yiddish word "shul" or the Italian "sculoa" to mean a synagogue? a sheynem dank! Maurice Wolfthal 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 1, 2010 Subject: gefilte fish Does anyone know why the form "gefilte fish" exists only in the plural and not in the singular? Perets Mett 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: January 24, 2010 Subject: Yiddish aphorism I"m looking for a translation of a Yiddish aphorism. It was quoted to me as "Shtam gram, makh mir a letnik." I have my own theories about this but I want to find out what other people think. Sincerely, A.L.Rickman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 19.020 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. 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