_The Mendele Review_: Yiddish Literature and Language (A Companion to _MENDELE_) ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 01.028 21 December 1997 1) Yiddish Matters: From the Editor (Leonard Prager) 2) Review of _Massorot_ IX-X-XI (1997) (Meyer Wolf) ) 3) "geven iz dos geven oyfn verk tse..." (Tsvi Kanar) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 December 1997 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Yiddish Matters The present issue (vol. 01.028), concludes the first volume of _The Mendele Review_. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have helped make _Mendele_'s literary supplement a reality: the many contributors, the romanizers -- Leah Krikun, Lucas Bruyn, Itsik Goldenberg, our former shames Noyekh Miller, and our present shames Iosif Vaisman. 1. In this issue a. One aim of _The Mendele Review_ (see _TMR_ 01.001) is to survey publications in the field of Jewish languages which illuminate Yiddish studies. Meyer Wolf's review of a recent triple number of _Massorot_ is a welcome step in this direction. b. Tsvi Kanar's "geven iz dos oyfn verk tse, inem gehenem oyf dr'erd" is an excerpt from _ikh un Lemekh_ [tel-oviv, "yisroel-bukh," 1994, zz' 12-17], his somewhat fictionalized volume of Shoa episodes. The author, today a professional mime, spent three years of his youth in concentration camps. 2. In future issues In the course of 1998 _The Mendele Review_ will hold its second symposium, the subject this time being Y.-L. Perets' classic tale "Bontshe Shvayg," the romanized text of which will also be provided. One or more issues will be devoted to important anniversaries, including the 30th anniversary of the publication of Uriel Weinreich's _Modern English-Yiddish Yiddish-English Dictionary_ (see _TMR_ vol.01.022-023) and the 100th anniversary of the birth (and 25th anniversary of the death) of Arn Tseytlin [Aaron Zeitlin] (1898-1973) (see _TMR_ vol. 01.014). Tsvi Kanar's long short-story "Opgegebn broyt" (from the volume of the same name) will be given in installments in successive issues in the early months of the new year. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 December, 1997 From: Meyer Wolf Subject: Review of _Massorot_ IX-X-XI (1997) _Massorot, Studies in Language Traditions and Jewish Languages_, Vol. IX-X-XI: Gideon Goldenberg Festschrift, Jerusalem 1997 [in Hebrew with English abstracts]. by Meyer Wolf Every number of _Massorot_ contains relevant articles for those interested in the character of Yiddish and its similarities to or differences from other Jewish languages. This volume brings us two papers of especial interest. The first, Chava Turnianski's "The Relation Between The Hebrew and Yiddish Versions of a Bilingual Sabbath-Song" (_Ashlikh yagon va-anaha_) [pp. 421-441] provides a detailed study of one of the zmirot in a sixteenth-century edition of the Bentsherl, the booklet of Grace after Meals, Sabbath and Holiday poems, which continues to find a place in many Jewish homes in a variety of forms and versions. In addition to the study of a single poem (from which, the author warns us, we cannot generalize), we are also provided with a provisory sketch of bilingual Ashkenazic poetry. In her discussion of the two versions of "Ashlikh yagon va-anakha," Prof. Turnianski finds that the poet expended greater skills in the Hebrew version, with its poetic forms, allusions and resonances, than in the Yiddish one. The Yiddish version derives from German folk poetry, which constitutes the basis of Yiddish poetry in the Old Yiddish period. This is evident from the opening couplet of the poem which Prof. Turnianski analyzes: Hebrew: ashlikh yagon v'anakha b'tsaltsel renen vesimkha 'I will cast away sorrow and lament with resounding singing of song and joy' Yiddish: ikh vil mayn troyern gor der lon mit ziser shtim ayn shaln hon. 'I will entirely abandon my sorrow with melodious voice, resoundingly sing' Though poetically expressed, the Yiddish here lacks the reverberations of the Hebrew. _yagon v'anakha_ are paired daily in the shmone-esre [Yiddish: shimenesre], and are individually familiar from eykha [Y. eykhe], slikhot [Y. slikhes] and holiday piyyut [Y. piet]; _renen_ is an innovation found in piyyut; _tsaltsel_ a common poetic synonym for 'sing'. The second paper which deals directly with Yiddish is Moshe Taube's "Echo-construction in Yiddish," [pp. 397-420]. Prof. Taube's study of a Yiddish syntactic figure is, as is his usual practice, abundantly illustrated with examples drawn from a wide range of Yiddish literature. A few of them immediately identify the construction for readers: kh'zol nisht redn, zol ikh nisht? kh'hob gekokht leber, hob ikh gekokht. er hot dokh mikh shier gekoylet on a meser hot er dokh mikh. Those familiar with Sholem Aleichem's "Dos tepl" will recognize this as one of his main devices for revealing the character of the narrator and for obscuring the tragedy underlying the comedy of the monologue. The paper exposes the syntactic details of the device and investigates its narrative functions. The details of usage and the comparison with similar Yiddish syntactic devices provides a rounded picture of the Yiddish echo-construction. As an added bonus, a brief appendix sketches the use of the echo-construction in Modern Hebrew literature and hints at a similar device in Arabic dialects. I might also add that readers can see how the device is translated into yet other languages by looking into one of the references Prof. Taube cites: Theodore Gutmans, "Sholem Aleichem in the Stock Languages: Notes on Translation of 'Dos tepl' into Ukrainian, German, Hebrew, English and Russian," _For Max Weinreich on his Seventieth Birthday_, The Hague - Paris, 1964, pp. 499-477 [in Yiddish]. There are many papers in this rich volume of _Massorot_ of more indirect interest to students of Yiddish. Although nothing is known of contributions from Judeo-Provencale to Yiddish (even whether there are any), the transcription of the Bayonne makhzor, subject of Moshe Bar-Asher's "The _Mahzor_ of the Bayonne Community (Southwestern France) -- French Transcription," [pp. 3-19], contains a number of details which may shed light on the contributions of other Romance languages. For instance, ayin is consistently transcribed as gn (= ny) at the beginning of a syllable; as (ng) at the end of a syllable. An example: _yada'ti_ is transcribed [yadangti]. This usage is reminiscent of forms such as _mantse_ (for _mayse_) and _yankev_ in Yiddish. One of the features which Geoffrey Kahn discusses in "The Historical Depth of Two Features of the 'Sephardi' Reading Traditions," [pp. 91-99] is the Sephardi pronunciation of sof as /t/. Apparently it is neither really old nor did it originate in medieval Sepharad but rather in Arabic-speaking areas where the hardening of final /th/ influenced the local Hebrew reading tradition. David M. Bunis's "The Use of Hebrew and Aramaic Elements in the Creation of Satire Among Judezmo Speakers," [pp. 319-333] immediately brings to mind Sholem Aleichem's Hebrew and Aramaic pseudo-psukim. Prof. Bunis describes the general conscription of Hebrew and Aramaic for humorous use in Judezmo, for which parallels in Yiddish are not hard to find. Ora (Rodrigue) Schwarzwald in "Expressions from the Haggadah in the Language of the Sephardic Jews," [pp. 545-555] traces the origin of many Hebrew-Aramaic elements in Judezmo to passages in the Haggada. In many cases, the same elements have found their way into Yiddish, e.g. _make_, _leshono habo'o birusholayim_. Others have at best a marginal place: _bney-khorin_, _kamo loku ba'etsba_. Yet others have been borrowed with differing senses: _khad-gadye_ in Yiddish is 'jail'; in Judezmo 'the masses'. 3)--------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 21 December 1997 From: Leah Krikun Subject: "geven iz dos oyfn verk tse, inem gehenem oyf dr'erd" [oystsug fun _ikh un Lemekh_] (Tsvi Kanar) tsvi kanar "geven iz dos oyfn verk tse, inem gehenem oyf dr'erd," _ikh un Lemekh_. tel-oviv: farlag "yisroel-bukh", 1994, zz' 12-17. geven iz dos oyfn verk tse, inem gehenem oyf drerd. in harbst 1943 zenen mir dort ongekumen mitn krakever transport fun plashuav(1). shoyn baym arayngang in lager hot zikh Lemekh gevorfn in di oygn. mir hobn nisht farshtanen vi azoy iz dos meglekh? er iz dokh nor vos mit undz ongekumen un shoyn oykh do oyle legdoyle gevorn? dem emes gezogt hobn mir im shoyn gut gekent fun frier, funem yulag 1. ober do oyfn verk tse hot er zikh gehat derhoybn tsu aza gefalnkeyt vos zeltn emetser iz tsu dem dergangen. getrogn hot er vi ale odemener(2) (politsiantn) a tunkeln mundir mit hoykhe ofitsir-shtivl, un a kaylekhdik hitl mit a geln mogn-doved fun fornt. in der leng un in der breyt iz zayn mundir geven farshmirt mit breyte gele pasn, vi bay ale gefangene. in der hant hot er tomed gehat greyt a ledernem kantshik tsu "haltn ordenung." "kurves! vilde khayes!" flegt er oyf undz shrayen in di frimorgns bay di "apeln" farn aroysmarsh in di fabrikn arayn tsu der arbet, un derbay farforn iber di kep mit zayn brenendikn kantshik. az s'iz im nimes gevorn der kantshik flegt er zikh banutsn mit zayn palke. leheypekh tsu di andere o. d.-mener, vos zenen maynstns geven hoykhe shtandike yatn, iz Lemekh geven a kleynvuksiker, mit a por breyte pleytses un krume koshlevate fis, vos hobn zikh nokh mer krum ongezen in zayne hoykhe ofitsir-shtivl. far Lemekhn hobn ale getsitert, shir vi far a dayt|sh. "nokh a mazl, vos zey gibn im nisht keyn gever in hant," -- hobn di gefangene gezogt. vi andersh iz ober geven zayn tsviling-bruder berl, oder pan bernard, vi ale hobn im gerufn. oykh er iz geven a politsiant, kh'volt gezogt tsu gut far a politsiant, ober s'iz nisht geven tsu farglaykhn. berlen hobn ale lib gehat s'lebn un dos iz geven a zeltnhayt lib tsu hobn a politsiant. afile in zayn opveznheyt hobn im ale gerufn pan bernard, un zikh gevundert oyf dem kolosaln untershid fun di tsvey tsviling-brider. yedn frimorgn baym aroysgang tsu der arbet flegn im ale bagrisn mit a breytn "gutn-morgn, panye bernard." pan bernard vos iz geshtanen baym toyer fun lager un getseylt di aroysmarshirndike reyen hot oyf yeder bagrisung tsurikgegrist mit a nokh breytern "gutn morgn." nisht eynmol flegt er zikh tsulib dem toye zayn un gemuzt nokh amol onhoybn tsu tseyln di reyen oyf nay. afile di zelbe mentshn vos hobn mit a minut frier arayngekhapt mitn kantshik ibern kop fun Lemekhn, hobn mit a minut shpeter, vi oyf tselokhes bagrist zayn bruder. s'hot oysgezen vi der "gut morgn" volt arayngebrakht a shtikl mentshlekhkayt inem lager-lebn. keyn mol hot men nisht gezen di tsvey brider tsuzamen. in onhoyb hobn a a sakh nisht gevust az zey zenen brider, un nokh a tsviling dertsu. khotsh fizish zenen zey miklompersht [kloymersht] geven endlekh eyner tsum tsveytn, hobn zey dokh farshidn oysgezen. di heykh un dos geshtel iz bay zey geven der zelber. kleyn, breytpleytsik mit tsvey di zelbe krume fis. oyb bay Lemekhn hobn di fis oysgezen nokh mer farkrimt in zayne hoykhe shtivl, hobn zey bay berlen gor oysgezen kheynevdik farrundikt, vi bay a kavalerist vos rayt a sakh oyf ferd. bay Lemekhn, lemoshl, hobn aroysgeglotst tsvey groyse farneplte roye oygn fun zayn langn ferdishn gezikht, beys er hot gelakht, un gelakht hot er zeltn, hobn zikh bavizn lange shtarke tseyn, mamesh vi bay an oger. dakegn bay berlen afile ven zayne groyse oygn hobn keile aroysgeglotst, hobn zey dafke oysgezen far|kholemt, un zayn ferdish-lange ponem hot bay im gor gehat a mentshlekhe tsure. haklal, tsvey bney-odem fun di zelbe tate-mame, mit der zelber guter dertsiyung vi di mentshn fun zayn shtot hobn eydes gezogt, di zelbe tsores mitgemakht, un dokh aza kolosoler untersheyd. geven a tsayt ven ale hobn gemeynt az Lemekh is gevorn a bal-tshuve, oder arop fun zinen. un efsher -- beyde tsuzamen? vayl tsu vern a bal-tshuve inem verk tse hot men b|emes gedarft zayn a meshugener. plutsling hot Lemekh oyfgehert tsu vildeven. anshtot ibertsuforn mitn kantshik iber di kep, hot er gor ongehoybn a tsufridener tsu klapn mitn kantshik iber zayne eygene shtivl. s'hot oysgezen vi a dibek iz fun im aroys. m'hot geredt farsheydns. teyl hobn gezogt, az berl, zayn bruder, zol hobn oyf im mashpie geven, geredt tsum gevisn, dermont zeyer gute mishpokhe, tate-mame, un b|klal... andere hobn gezogt az Lemekh iz farlibt.... geshtamt hobn zey fun slome(3), a shtetl in meylekh-elyens giter(4) -- vi di betlers vos hobn gevandert iber poyln hobn gerufn di gegnt, tsulib dem "tsharnozhyem," di shvartse frukhtike erd. zeyer foter avrem byelitski iz geven a holts-soykher, a gvir, gehat an eygenem tartak un transportirt holts azh het vayt fun di byalovyeske velder. in meylekh-elyens giter(4) iz er geven der grester holts-tsushteler tsu boyen hayzer un mebl. zayn kvalitet fun holts hot geshemt in der gantser gegnt. ven di dayt|shn hobn farnumen poyln hobn zey glaykh arayngezetst a komisar, vos hot farvaltet mitn tartak, un vos hot itst tsugeshtelt holts b|iker far dem dayt|shishn militer. dokh hot der komisar dem yid glaykh nisht aroysgevorfn funem gesheft, vi di andere komisarn hobn es geton. leheypekh, der dayt|shisher komisar vos hot geshtamt fun bayern un gehert tsu dem eltern dor, hot zikh shtreng gehaltn bay zayn traditsye fun "lebn un lebn lasen." er, der komisar, iz take geven a guter meyvn oyf holts, nisht veyniker, un efsher nokh beser vi avrem byelitski, ober keyn soykher iz er nisht geven. er hot mer gehaltn fun a kufle bir vi fun firn gesheftn. azoy, az der yid hot vayter gefirt zayne gesheftn un der dayt|sh hot bloyz untergeshribn dos vos der yid hot im untergerukt untertsushraybn. ersht nokh tsvey yor tsayt in yanuar 1942 hot der dayt|sh mit amol bakumen seykhl. tsurikkumendik fun zayne vaynakht-vakansn in zayn heymland, iz er arayn inem tartak un bafoyln dem yid zikh optsutrogn. mit dem hot zikh nokh nisht farendikt, farkert, mit dem hot zikh ersht ongehoybn.... mit itlekhe teg shpeter iz di dayt|she zhandarmerye arayn tsu di byelitskis un adurkhgefirt a revizye. nokh a sakh nishtern, tsehakn vent mit podleges, un tsevarfn dos gantse hoyz, hobn zey gefunen a futerenem mink-shal fun der froy byelitski, vos far dem iz gekumen toyt-shtrof. nokh mit a tsayt frier, ven oyfn mizrekh-front hobn de dayt|shn arayngekhapt an emesn tsiter fun den rusishn vinter, hobn di yidn fun meylekh-elyens giter(4), un b|klal funem gantsn general guvernament gemuzt obgebn ale zeyere futers. far nisht opgebn a futer, meg dos zayn dos klentste shtikl futerl, iz gekumen toyt-shtrof. m'hot take demolt a sakh yidn dershosn, kdey tsu vorenen az me zol alts opgebn. itst, ven zey hobn gefunen aza metsie vi a mink-shal bay dem raykhn yid, hobn zey gefodert az eyder zey geyn im dershisn zol er zey opgebn dos gold un di dolarn vos er halt oysbahaltn. di zhandarmen hobn arayngenumen di froy byelitski mit zeyere dray kinder -- Lemekhn, berlen un zeyer draytsn yorik tokhterl -- un ongehoybn far zeyere oygn tsu derlangen makes-retsekh dem foter. byelitski hot shver geblutikt, ober keyn gold mit dolarn hot er, zet oys, nisht farmogt. un efsher hot er yo farmogt, ober mit dem hot er zikh gekont nokh mer bagrobn, vayl fremde valute, oder gold, iz geven treyfe vi bay a frumen yid khazer. az dos hot nisht geholfn hobn di zhandarmen ongehoybn derlangen klep di tsvey zin, un der froy un tokhter. der foter hot zikh gebetn bay di zhandarmen az zey zoln im dershisn un tsu ru lozn di froy mit di kinder. in shtot hot zikh gemakht a behole. mentshn zenen gelofn tsum yudnrat az me zol epes ton, ven nisht vet men dort oyskoyln di gantse mishpokhe. byelitzkis tsvey brider mit di dray shvesters un shvogers hobn zikh gebetn bay dem prezes funem yudnrat, az er zol zikh derbaremen un rufn vos shneler nokh hilf gelbordn, ven nisht vet zayn tsu shpet. gelbord iz geven a "makher" bay di dayt|shn. ale hot er gekent, funem krayzlayter in makev(5) biz di gestapo in kroke(6), vu er iz geven a stabiler arayngeyer. farshteyt zikh az er iz geven oysgekokht mit ale zhandarmen tsuzamen, un pan brat mit yedn eynem bazunder. er hot keyn yidn-shtern nisht getrogn. in der tsayt ven di yidn zenen gezesn ayngeshlosn in di getos un nisht getort farlozn di shtet un shtetlekh, hot gelbord zikh fray bavoygn nisht bloyz in "meylekh-elyens" giter(4), nor oykh ibern gantsn generalguvernament. er iz geven a hoykher shtandiker man mit a por shpitsike oygn vos hobn gekukt oyf der velt halb farmruzhet mit an eybikn khshad. in zayn shvartser lederner kurtke un ofitsir-shtivl hot er oysgezen mer dayt|sh vi a sakh dayt|shn. s'hot im bloyz oysgefelt a haknkrayts oyfn orem un dos tsien mit der hant in der hoykh, kedey er zol zayn eyner fun zey. m'hot afile geredt az er trogt bay zikh a revolver. ale hobn far im getsitert, afile der prezes funem yudnrat, khotsh er hot zikh mit im banutst, punkt vi stam yidn hobn zikh mit im banutst beshas tsore, ven men hot gedarft hobn hilf. farshteyt zikh -- far gut batsolt gelt. gelbord flegt taynen, khotsh zeltn ven er flegt zikh far emetsn farentfern, az er helft yidn. oft mol iz dos shver geven optsuleykenen, khotsh ale hobn gevust az er iz poshet a moser, a "shpitsler"(7). vi nor gelbord hot zikh bavizn in byelitskis hoyz azoy glaykh hobn di zhandarmen oyfgehert dos shlogn. er iz bald mit zey avek in a noenter shenk arayn, oyf untertsuhandlen. nokh a kurtser tsayt hot gelbord ibergelozt di zhandarmen in der shenk, un gekumen onzogn di gute psure, az biz a sho tsayt muz er far zeyert vegn hobn 35,000 zlotes, un di zakh vet vern opgevisht. di tsore iz ober geven, hot men shpeter dertseylt, az gelbord hot untergeshtelt di gantse afere kedey aroystsupresn gelt fun dem raykhn avrem byelitski. vi lang der yid hot gehat iber zikh a dayt|shishn komisar, iz er geven, azoy tsu zogn, protektirt fun azelkhe aferes. ober vi bald der komisar hot im aroysgevorfn funem gesheft iz er geblibn oyf hefker vi ale yidn. oyf Lemekhn un berlen hot di gantse afere ibergelozt a shvern ayndruk. beyde hobn gemuzt geyn yedn tog tsu tsvangarbet hinter der shtot bay aglomeratsye, vi ale yidn fun zekhtsn biz zekhtsik, hobn demolt gemuzt arbetn. dokh hobn nisht ale gearbet. zundlekh fun farmeglekhe heymen hobn zikh oysgekoyft far gelt inem yudnrat. avrem byelitski hot ober nisht gehaltn fun azelkhe makheraykes. khotsh er hot zikh gekont oyf dem derloybn, hot er b|shum-oyfn nisht gevolt zayn keyn oysnam un geshikt zayne zin tsu der arbet mit alem tsu glaykh. heores fun lp 1) plashuav = ??? 2) odemener "ordnungsdinst" = "di ofitsyele dayt|shishe batseykhenung far der yidisher politsey," Nakhmen blumental, _verter un vertlekh fun der khurbm-tkufe_, z. 19. 3) slome = ??? 4) meylekh-elyens giter. azoy shteyt geshribn in tekst; dos vertl "meylekh-evyens giter" batseykhnt 'a svive fun oreme shtetlekh in lubliner rayon'. di tsvey vertlekh zenen heypekhdike: meylekh-elyen