Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 19.021 March 12, 2010 1) kabstonim (Lawrence A. Coben) 2) Leonard Wolf (Michael Everson) 3) Yiddish writers and suicide (Amy Kaufman) 4) Dvoyre foygls lid "fun der benkshaft" (Mio Sibylle Hamann) 5) Finfer-turem, Finfer-shlos (Lena Watson) 6) Pesach Burstein's "Yessir, Zi's mayn kale" (Perele Shifer) 7) "zibeter sheliekh" (Nadia Dehan) 8) gefilte fish (Pearl Hoberman) 9) "gram shtram" (Leonard Fox) 10) Hasidic speech (Zelda Kahan Newman) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 10, 2010 Subject: "kbtsnim" (kabtsonim) in Kasovich autobiography I would appreciate help in understanding the following passage from page 74 in the autobiography of Israel Kasovich, Zekhtsig yohr leben: erinerungen eygene un algemayn idishe. Nyu Yor: M. N. Mayzel, 1924. "Zaslav iz a kleyn shtetele mit etlekhe tsendlik yidishe kabtsonim" What is the meaning of kabtsonim? [Editor's note: it means 'paupers.'] It seems an odd word to describe the Jewish inhabitants of Zaslav, unless he is calling attention to their occupation or to some other characteristic. (Born in 1858 or 1859, Kasovich wrote his autobiography c. 1923. He was a member of an Am Olam group that emigrated to America c. 1882 to be farmers, but the venture failed, and he returned to Russia after three months. He was an active Zionist who raised money for Jewish agricultural workers, and he was a delegate to the 1902 Minsk Zionist conference. He briefly became a farmer in Connecticut in 1907, and was then associate editor of The Jewish Farmer.) The entire Yiddish book can be found on line at http://www.archive.org/stream/nybc200464#page/n6/mode/2up) Thanks. Lawrence A. Coben 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 10, 2010 Subject: Leonard Wolf I wonder if anyone knows whether Leonard Wolf, translator of "Vini-der-Pu," can be contacted. (He was in his late seventies when he translated Vini, I believe, so alas one must ask the question....) Michael Everson 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 14, 2010 Subject: Yiddish writers and suicide Dear friends, In his book "The Writer as Migrant," Ha Jin asserts that Isaac Bashevis Singer "often thought of committing suicide because of the demise of Yiddish." I have not been able to find anything to support this assertion, and I was wondering if any of you could point me to any sources that might mention this about Singer. I would also be interested in any leads to the subject of suicidal thoughts due to the demise of Yiddish in any other Yiddish writers. Thank you in advance, Amy Kaufman 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: March 1, 2010 Subject: Dvoyre foygls lid 'fun der benkshaft' Tsum badoyern hob ikh nor zeyer a shlekhte kopie funem lid fun dvoyre foygl "fun der benkshaft": efsher ken emetser dos lid un ken mir zogn, vi es heyst in di azoy markirte platsn [...] oder veys, vu ikh ken gefinen dem tekst (efsher in internets?): Haynt hob ikh gekoyft gele karshn vos shmekn vaserik, vi di benkshaft. di karshn vern keyn mol nisht alt. di karshn zenen zekhtsn un zibetsn yor alt. haynt bin ikh glaykh tsu a geler karsh un fil vider dem etvos pustn tam fun arumblondzen in nakhtike shtotgasn tsuzamen mit gele lamterns. yedn ovnt zol epes geshen in der velt. epes zol kumen fun azoy un azoy fil [...?] vos azoy fil mentshn geyen oys in a tog. ober vi faryorn un far tsvey yor un far dray iz vider gornisht nisht geshen. nor ikh hob far[...?] dem [...] tam fun der benkshaft. A hartsikn dank far an entfer un grusn fun Mio Sibylle Hamann 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 28, 2010 Subject: Finfer-turem, Finfer-shlos Dear experts on the Golem of Prague, In Leivick's "Di Geule Komedie," I have come across a Finfer-turem as the location of the Golem's and Messiah ben David's final confrontation with the Maharal. A couple of pages later, there's a mention of Finfer-shlos. To the best of my knowledge, the drama unfolded in the Old New Synagogue in Prague, but I have been unable to find any reference to Finfer, be it a tower or a caste. Is it an actual name or just a reference to the tower's shape, i.e. pentagonal? I haven't had the zkhus of visiting the Old New Synagogue, but as far as I can see in pictures, it has no pentagonal spires or towers. Or is it a tower of a castle (Prague Castle perhaps)? Many thanks in advance, Lena Watson 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 15, 2010 Subject: Pesach Burstein's "Yessir, Zi's mayn kale" Does anyone know who holds the copyright for "Yessir, Zi's mayn kale" by Pesach Burstein? How can I find out if this is in the public domain? I would like to use it in an animation that I am working on. Thanks so much. Perele Shifer 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 27, 2010 Subject: "zibeter sheliekh" khosheve fraynd, tsi veys emetser vos meynt der oysdruk "zibeter sheliekh" vos Opatoshu redt vegn dem in "di poylishe velder" (z' 199 fun dem farlag Novak, NY 1947). Tsi iz es an aluzye tsu a spetsifishn tekst? a dank foroys, Nadia Dehan 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 22, 2010 Subject: gefilte fish Peretz Mett asks about why "gefilte fish" exists only in the plural. This reply is speculation only, not authoritative, so take your pick of the explanations. 1. "gefilte fish" refers to the balls of chopped fish as served, therefore plural. 2. gefilte fish is traditionally made of several kinds of fish: carp, whitefish, buffall, perhaps others, depending on which European country the cook stems from, all chopped together with the other ingredients and often wrapped in pieces of fish skin. 3. I don't believe "fish" in Yiddish, as in English, actually has a singular or plural. What "gefilte fish" doesn't mean is "a stuffed fish." Pearl Hoberman 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 16, 2010 Subject: "gram shtram" A.L. Rickman inquired about the translation of a Yiddish aphorism, which he quotes as "Shtam gram, makh mir a letnik." The actual saying is "Gram shtram, makh mir a letnik." My mother and grandmother often used this saying in the context of responding to something ridiculous, absurd, or nonsensical. Doing a bit of research on the internet, I found that the expression was quoted by the author (M. Weissberg?) of "Sprichwoerter galizischer Juden" [Proverbs of Galician Jews], part III, published in "Am Ur-Quell: Monatschrift fuer Volkskunde," vol. 2, 1891, p. 131 (no. 36). In accordance with German spelling, he writes it as "Gram Stram mach mir a Letnik," and comments in a footnote: "Dieses Sprichwort wird angewendet, wenn jemand unlogische Schlussfolgerungen zieht; ein bekannter Witzbold uebersetzte folgendermassen dieses Sprichwort: Reim, Sabbathmuetze mach mir ein Oberkleid!" [This proverb is used when someone draws illogical conclusions; a well known joker translates this proverb as follows: "Rhyme, Sabbath-cap make me an outer garment!"] I would take issue with the "well known joker," who may have confused the word "shtram" with "shtraiml." "Letnik" is a word that means "summer clothing," not "outer garment." The saying is included in Niborski and Vaisbort's "Dictionnaire Yiddish-Franais," glossed as "quel mli-mlo" (What a hodgepodge/jumble/mess/muddle), which is obviously not a real translation. "Gram-shtram" is defined by these authors as "vers de mirliton" [doggerel]. So, Mr. Rickman, this is a case where the saying is perhaps as nonsensical as the statement for which it is a response! Leonard Fox 10)---------------------------------------------------- Date: February 16, 2010 Subject: Hasidic speech On www.talkbank.org, one can now access recordings of 2 Hasidic young men's narratives. To get to these recordings: 1) click on CABANK 2) Under DATABASE click on "playback without downloading". 3) in the next window, on the left hand side, you'll see a batch of languages listed alphabetically. Yiddish is at the bottom of the list. These are recordings of young men I met at Chulent, the weekly meeting held in the Millinery Synagogue on Thursday nights. Zelda Kahan Newman ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 19.021 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, requests to which responses should be sent exclusively to the request's author, etc., always in plain text (no HTML or the like) to: [email protected] (IMPORTANT: 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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