Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ____________________________________________________
Contents of Vol. 23.012 November 24, 2013 1) "Vot ken you makh? Es iz amerike!" (Maurice Wolfthal) 2) "Vi halt men bay zey" (Moyshe Taube) 3) vakans (Seth Weisberg) 4) International Course in Yiddish Language and Literature at Beit Ben Yehuda February 16-28, 2014 (Vera Szabo) 5) YIVO-YEDIES blog (Roberta Newman) 6) "married beneath her" (Eliezer Greisdorf) 7) "Bintl Briv" (Mikhoyel Basherives) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 29 Subject: "Vot ken you makh? Es iz amerike!" On the CD Dave Tarras Yiddish-American Music, this satirical song by Secunda and Lebedeff expresses the shock of an immigrant at the world turned upside-down that he finds here. He exclaims in Yinglish, "Vot ken you makh?" instead of "Vot ken you tu?" which would be a closer approximation of the Yiddish, "Vos ken men tun?" Can someone explain that choice of verb? Maurice Wolfthal 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 21 Subject: "Vi halt men bay zey" A few remarks: 1. The *shoyn *is essential to the meaning of the structure, which expresses a wish. 2. The fact [that] it begins with the interrogative *vi *"how," does not necessarily make it a question, any more than English "How I wish you were here!" 3. The intonation of the sequence is not of a question, but of an exclamative, with the peak being on the verb *halt.* Moyshe Taube 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 5 Subject: vakans Sholem aleykhem, I apologize first for not knowing so well the right orthography for transliterating Yiddish. I have a family letter written in Yiddish by a relative from France in 1949. She was a Holocaust survivor from the Bialystock region of Poland. In the letter she writes "Mir hobn gevolt forn af vakans keyn yisroel, leyder hot undz es nisht gelungen, veyl undzere poylishe peser zaynen oysgegangen, un der poylisher konsulat hat zey nisht gevolt benayen." My question is about the use of "vakans." I am assuming it means vacation as in the French word "vacance." I have only seen "vakatsye" for vacation. Is using vakans this way common or accepted Yiddish? Is it a dark humor way to highlight that the Polish authorities are getting in the way of her husband and her making it to Israel? Does it mean something else altogether? Seth Weisberg Los Angeles 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: November 17 Subject: International Course in Yiddish Language and Literature at Beit Ben Yehuda February 16-28, 2014 *International Course in Yiddish Language and Literature at Beit Ben YehudaFebruary 16-28, 2014* http://www.beit-ben-yehuda.org/yiddish-course/ Following the success of our previous courses we are glad to offer a Yiddish language and literature course again in 2014 as part of our upcoming cultural and educational program. The course comprises 10 days of intensive Yiddish language study at three levels, beginners, medium and advanced, as well as a variety of workshops, lectures, concerts, guided tours and other Yiddish cultural events. Our Yiddish course was developed in cooperation with Beth Shalom Aleichem of Tel Aviv and Yung Yiddish. We are all looking forward to hosting you in Beit Ben Yehuda in Jerusalem for our Yiddish language course where you will enjoy world-class language instruction by highly experienced professional teachers and gain insight into the language, literature, music and culture of Jews of Eastern European origin. Each class will be limited to 15 students. We would be glad to provide accommodation for participants in our guesthouse. Please contact us for further information and a detailed schedule of the course program. *Prices: * Option 1: Course + accommodation in double room: 669 EUR per person Option 2: Course + accommodation in single room: 861 EUR per person Option 3: Course + accommodation in triple room: 597 EUR per person Option 4: Course without accommodation: 375 EUR per person *Breakfast available for an additional 25 NIS per day. *Scholarships of 50% to 100% of the tuition fee available for students *Discounted price available for those wishing to participate in the intensive language course only, without the cultural program *Included: * 40 hours of language instruction + 16 hours guided exercises Guided tour of Jerusalem Two concerts Guest lectures by Yiddish experts from different universities Afternoon and evening cultural program Coffee and Refreshments W-LAN *Further information and registration:* Tel: 00-972-2-6730124 Fax: 00-972-2-6717540 [email protected] www.beit-ben-yehuda.org Vera Szabo 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 28 Subject: YIVO-YEDIES blog In June, YIVO launched a new blog, YEDIES: News from YIVO, at www.yivo.org/blog/. The new YEDIES features: *Interviews with authors and book excerpts. Recent interviewees have included Antony Polonsky about his 3-volume series, The Jews in Poland and Russia; Jay Berkovitz on Yiddish and sex in the 18th-century Pinkas of Metz; and Katka Reszke on the resurgence of Jewish identity in Poland. *Yiddish content by Itsik Gottesman, including an article on how the music and texts of the songs of a 19th century badkhn, wedding entertainer, have been "reunited" in the YIVO archives (sound recording included). *Di nyu-yorkerin, a monthly column by Sarah Ponichtera on what's hot and Yiddish in New York and beyond. *From the Pages of Yedies: a look back at YIVO and Jewish history through the pages of Yedies, which has been publishing since 1925. *Podcasts of YIVO's radio show on WEVD from the 1960s-70s. New posts are added to YEDIES every week. Roberta Newman 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 23 Subject: "married beneath her" Zayn vayb/ir man shtamt fun a niderikern yikhes oder fun a hekhern yikhes. Eliezer Greisdorf 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: October 18 Subject: Bintl Briv Does anyone have copies of any of the letters in the original Yiddish of "A Bintl Briv"? The archivist at the Forverts says they have none of the original letters in their archives is unaware of any published collection of the letters in Yiddish. Thank you, Mikhoyel Basherives ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 23.012 Please do not use the "reply" key when writing to Mendele. Instead, direct your mail as follows: 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. They must also include the author's name as you would like it to appear. 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