_The Mendele Review_: Yiddish Literature and Language (A Companion to _MENDELE_) ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 02.032 10 December 1998 1) Yiddish Matters: From the Editor (Leonard Prager) 2) Transmutation of a Folksong (Ariela Krasny) [Part I] 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 December 1998 From: Leonard Prager Subject: Yiddish Matters a. Vol. 2, issues 32 and 33 contain an essay by Ariela Krasny, whose work has appeared in earlier editions of _The Mendele Review_. Dr. Krasny's interests embrace a number of subjects within the fields of Jewish folklore (e.g. lullabies) and Jewish popular culture (e.g. the batkhn) and include their relationship with Yiddish literature. Writing from the perspective of an ideal normative Judaism with its clear division of gender roles, she traces the transmutation of a widespread Yiddish lullaby motif into central elements in the verse of a major Yiddish poet, H. Leyvik [Leivik]. The maleness of the child addressed in the lullaby is both a textual and a sociological-cultural given. b. Eliezer Niborski of Lyon, France has identified the original of one of Helene Khatskeles' translations listed in _The Mendele Review_ vol. 02.031: Hector Malot, _Sans famille_ [Yiddish: Hektor Malo, _On a heym_]. 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: 10 December 1998 From: Ariela Krasny Subject: Transmutation of a Folksong FROM CRADLE TO SACRIFICE On the Transmutation of a Song by Ariela Krasny [translated from Hebrew by Refael Alroy] *** Abstract This paper shows the metamorphosis of a folksong into the Shoa poems of H. Leyvik [Leivick]. "Under the Baby's Cradle" is a prototype of Jewish lullabies which symbolizes the spiritual-cultural world of the Jewish believer. On one hand it crystallizes a yearning for a utopic salvation ("ge'ula"), and on the other hand it anxiously expresses hope for continued Jewish existence. The ideas in the lullaby are questioned in the Shoa poems on two levels: the philosophical level which refers to loss of faith in God, and the individual level which reflects loss of the parents' harmonious world. The lullaby conflicts with Leyvik's poems, yet lullaby and poems carry on a wide-reaching dialogue between them. ---------------- Part One: TMR vol 2. 032 A. The Subject B. "Under the Baby's Cradle"-- Conceptual and Poetic Assumptions B1. Circles and Layers B2. Components of Content B2.1. Non-Actual Reality -- B2.1.1. -- B2.1.2. B2.2. Actual Reality -- B2.2.1. B2.2.2. Time and Location B2.2.2.1. Past B2.2.2.2. Present B2.2.2.3. Future B2.2.2.4. Locations B2.2.3. The Function of Verbs B3. Components of Form B4. Musical Components C. Questions Discussed in this Study D. From Lullaby to Shoa Poems D1. Shattering the Kid's Dream D1a. "mayn viglid" ('My Lullaby') D1b. "unter der geler late" ('Under the Yellow Patch') -------- Part Two: TMR vol 2. 033 D2. Sacrifice of the Kid D2a. "dos tsigele" ('The kid') D2a. "dos tsigele" ('The kid') D2b. "khad-gadye" E. "From under the cradle" to the sacrifice -- fate or mission F. "ovnt lid" Endnotes References ------------------------- A. The Subject The Yiddish lullaby "Untern kinds vigele" ('Under the Baby's Cradle') is one of the best known Yiddish songs. Its 65 versions in Yiddish, as well as numerous Hebrew ones(1), indicates how thoroughly rooted the song is among Jews:(2) unter dem kinds vigele shteyt a vayse tsigele, di tsigele iz geforn handlen rozhinkes mit mandlen; rozhinkes mit mandlen iz zeyer zis, mayn kind vet zayn gezunt un frish. gezunt iz di beste skhoyre, mayn kind vet lernen toyre; toyre vet er lernen, sforem vet er shraybn; a guter un a frumer vet er im yirtse hashem blaybn. ('Under the baby's cradle There stands a white kid, The kid has gone away to trade In raisins and almonds; Raisins and almonds are sweet indeed, My child will be hale and alert. Health is the best of goods, My child will study Torah; Torah will he study, Books will he write; Good and pious will he, God-willing, ever remain.')(3) The influence of the song has not been limited to its many versions and translations. Its motifs were borrowed by Hebrew and Yiddish authors, and incorporated in their works in a variety of genres.(4) In a considerable number of Shoa songs, not only motifs from the lullaby but also its poetic elements have been adopted.(5) "Under the Baby's Cradle" may be seen as a prototype of Jewish lullabies that symbolize the believing Jew's spiritual and cultural world and reflects his yearning for utopian "ge'ula" ('redemption') on the one hand, and concern for Jewish survival on the other. The transmutation of this popular lullaby into Shoa poems will be illustrated in the following poems by H. Leyvik [Leivik](6): "Ovnt lid," ('Evening Song'), _Ale verk fun H. Leyvik_, vol. 1, New York, 1940, pp. 458-59; "Unter der geler late," ('Under the Yellow Patch'), ibid., p 641; "Dos tsigele," ('The Kid'), ibid., p 607; "Khad-gadye," {'A Kid'), _A blat oyf an eplboym_, Buenos Aires, 1955, p. 82; "Mayn viglid," ('My Lullaby'), _Ale verk fun H. Leyvik_, ibid., pp 430-33; "Akeyde," ('Sacrifice'), _In Treblinke bin ikh nit geven_, vol. 1, New York, 1945, pp. 6-8. B. "Under the Baby's Cradle" -- Conceptual and Poetic Assumptions In this study I assume that the father, yearning for a better world, one of "raisins and almonds," goes off in search of this paradise.(7) He symbolizes the eternal dreamer in search of "ge'ula" ('redemption'), never despairing, ever believing that "af al pi sheyitmameyha bo yavo" ('even though He is delayed, He will come'). In contrast to the father, the mother is rooted in the here and now -- to bringing up her children to study Torah and behave properly. She believes that education will advance her children as individuals, who will also constitute a link in the ancient chain of the Jewish people. This people's continued existence depends on them and on their education. Her basic obligation as an educator is thus stressed. She must assure that the culture and character of the people through Torah study be kept alive. She is concerned for the continuance of spiritual life and for the preservation of the people's uniqueness: Torah will he study, Books will he write; Good and pious will he, God-willing, ever remain. The father and the mother complement each other and jointly symbolize the viability of their Jewish world. B1. Circles and Layers Jewish existence is expressed by way of three concentric and interdependent circles. The innermost circle represents the personal dimension -- the education of the child and his molding towards life as an adult; the intermediate circle represents the national dimension -- preparation of the child as a member of his people, as one link in the chain that guarantees the lasting spiritual and physical existence of the Jewish people; the outermost circle represents the spiritual-permanent dimension, expressed by the father's yearning for "ge'ula" ('redemption'), the dimension that nourishes the nation's existence and its spiritual-cultural future. The family relationships -- father-mother-son -- reflect the three circles of Jewish existence: the mother is of one mind with the father, with his having gone off to trade in "raisins and almonds." She is partner to his yearning for them, but knows that her role differs from his. She brings up the next generation, and so her place is in the home. Role assignation between the couple within this family is clearly defined -- each knows his or her place and what he or she must contribute towards the preservation of the eternal values essential to Jewish existence. The dynamics of the circles, moving within each other, imbue the song with an atmosphere of wholeness and harmony, an atmosphere that crystallizes out of components of content and form: B2. Components of Content B2.1. Non-Actual Reality: B2.1.1. The little tale of the kid introduces a legendary element into the song, one known in Jewish sources. The Torah has numerous similes for flocks.(8) In the song under review the kid probably symbolizes the Jewish people, the Eternal Wanderer, the father. The kid carries with it a long trail of legendary connotations, and these lend the song a charmed air, which is not alterd by suggestions of harsh reality. B2.1.2. In Yiddish "rozhinkes mit mandlen" ('raisins and almonds') is symbolic, standing for things good and sweet that do not belong to the field of commerce ('the kid has gone away to trade') but rather to a spiritual yearning for an essence beyond this world. And "raisins and almonds" possibly point to the vine and the fig tree, elements of the idyllic biblical picture of "each under his vine and under his fig tree." The connotative range of "raisins and almonds" imparts to the song an otherworldly aura. B2.2. Actual Reality: B2.2.1. Bringing a child up according to a distinct set of values ("my child will study Torah") also contributes to the overall harmony, since the integration of the individual in the traditional spiritual web is an ongoing and fixed process that assures lasting Jewish existence. B2.2.2. Time and Location B2.2.2.1. Past: The kid's gone away to trade In raisins and almonds; The kid has gone away and the purpose of its voyage is altogether clear: to trade in far-away places; yet the timing of the voyage is not specific. When did it go? Nor is the destination. Where did it go? Moreover, the fact that the father does not appear as the song's subject, but is substituted by the kid, hints at its symbolic nature. B2.2.2.2. Present: Under the baby's cradle There stands a white kid; The kid's position under the child's cradle is fixed, continuous and authoritative, and although the father may have gone away, his teachings, his values and his spiritual authority remain in force. His image fills the home and influences the events there. The father's teachings are thus anchored in a world of unchanging time. B2.2.2.3. Future: The future focuses in the song on the upbringing of the next generation. Although the mother is speaking of the future of her own son, she does not at all address him personally, as is the rule in a lullaby. This points up the song's symbolic nature -- the child as symbol of the Jewish people's future:(9) Torah will he study, Books will he write; Good and pious will he, God-willing, ever remain. B2.2.2.4. Locations: Although it is understood from the song that the father has gone to trade in distant places, and that the mother is staying home to tend her children, no clue as to specific locations is given. The one and only defined location in the song is one far removed from reality -- the kid's position under the cradle. The realistic elements have been obscured in the song, so as to emphasize its symbolism. The action takes place now. This stasis induces the feeling that nothing changes in the world of this lullaby. B2.2.3. The Function of Verbs The verbs in the song, too, contribute to its non-realistic mood, either due to their static nature ("there stands a snow-white kid") or to their generality ('went off to trade; he will write books'). B3. Components of Form The song is constructed as a concatenated sequence in one long stanza, with no break or deviation. Its rhyming couplets are each linked by content to the following line. This continuity creates an atmosphere of calm and security. The progression from one theme to the next is clear-cut and orderly. The song's first couplet constitutes a kind of motto introducing the "credo" of the singer's persona. The second couplet sums up the father's Weltanschauung and his way of achieving it. The fourth couplet presents the mother's view of the father's path. In the last six lines the mother consecrates the son as a member of his family and his people. The division of the song is balanced: the first five lines relate to the father and his world; the last five to the child's future, based on the father's ways and on his world-view; the five intermediate lines present the mother as the mediator between the worlds of the father and the son. Raisins and almonds are sweet indeed, My child will be hale and alert; Health is the best of goods(10) B4. Musical Components The song's musical components intensify the feeling of roundness. The rhythm is monotonous and unruffled, without sudden changes or deviations. The recurring "le" sound contributes to the creation of a typical lullaby rhythm -- slow-paced, rocking, suggestive of steadiness and security, and complementing the song's air of wholeness and harmony. The song incorporates a two-dimensional conception, a horizontal and a vertical one. The horizontal conception is the realistic one, relating to the here and now. It is not necessarily rooted in details of reality -- the mother tends her family and brings up her children, and the father trades in far-away places to earn his livelihood. The vertical, the historical-philosophical conception, sees the realistic events of the Jewish inheritance as links that, once integrated into the chain, are no longer bound to specific time and place. This two-dimensional conception affects the two levels of the song. On the realistic level there is the lullaby in which the mother pours out her heart as she tells of the father's travels to earn a livelihood, leaving her alone with her child.(11) Yet she is not caught up in the treadmill of painful reality and does not dwell on her day-to-day troubles. Understanding her situation, aware of her role in assuring the future greatness of the child(12), she accepts her lot. The spiritual-essential level that expresses the yearning for the realization of the dream of "ge'ula" becomes the principal substance of the song. Even the child's Torah study and his upbringing towards "derkherets" ('decorum') become part of this substance, and turn into symbolic rungs on the ladder leading to the exalted purpose of the dream of "ge'ula." C. Questions Discussed in this Study The ideational system of "Under the Baby's Cradle" is examined in Shoa poems by means of querying and probing, expressed on two levels: the philosophical one, relating to the loss of belief, and the personal one, reflecting the loss of the harmonious world of the parent's home. The discussion of the chosen poems and their comparison with the prototype song will center on the changes in the singing persona's attitude towards the conceptual system of our prototypic lullaby, and on the poetic manner by which the system is presented. D. From Lullaby to Shoa Poems Lullabies, and "Under the Baby's Cradle" in particular, have become an immensely popular genre among Shoa poems, both those written in camps and ghettoes under Nazi occupation by well-known and anonymous poets, as well as those written by poets who did not personally experience the Shoa. Analysis of these poems reveals that many of their authors knew the text of the lullaby under discussion.(13) The song inspired Hebrew and Yiddish Shoa poets, and they dwell on it again and again with nostalgia and longing for that world in which the Jewish mother, full of hope, sang to her child in the cradle. The song symbolizes the deep-rooted, warm Jewish home. In seeking solace in the song, the Shoa poets express their pain over the loss of the mother's world -- a world of Torah and "derkherets" ('decorum') -- and loss of the father's world -- a world of yearning for "ge'ula" and of the firm belief that "af al pi sheyitmameha bo yavo" ('even though He is delayed, He will come'). These poets seek solace in this world at a time when their expectations and hopes have been shattered; and they long for a touch of warmth and love, so bountiful in that lost world. This perhaps explains the prevalence in their poems of a contrastive ambience. They lament the loss of their Eden, and yet their poems do not express despair; occasionally they even give off a spark of life. One of the major Shoa poets, H. Leyvik has been so influenced by "Under the Baby's Cradle," that the lullaby serves him doubly: as 1) lullaby whose elements, though borrowed from "Under the Baby's Cradle," aim not at embroidering the kid's legendary world, but at refuting and destroying it and as 2) lullaby that borrows the motif of the kid from the song, adding to it the tale of the kid from the Haggadah, thus turning the baby's cradle into a scene of sacrifice. D1. Shattering the Kid's Dream The poems in this section aim at shattering the traditionalist Jewish world-view, nurtured on the belief in a better future, in the "ge'ula" that will indeed come, notwithstanding the reality of hardship. The dominant mood of these poems is starkly pessimistic, accompanied by a sense of impotence, of loss and of acquiescence in one's fate. D1a. "Mayn viglid" ('My Lullaby') In the lullaby "Mayn viglid" ('My Lullaby'), the singer's persona examines his childhood via the patterns of "Under the Baby's Cradle." In the poem the poet's credo is juxtaposed with that of the father in the prototype song:(14) yeder zingt zayn viglid biz in sof arayn; zing ikh oykh mayn viglid -- shlof, neshome mayn. ('Everyone sings his own lullaby Till the very end; I, too, sing my lullaby -- Sleep, my soul.') The life-song of the singer's persona is contrasted with the song of the child in "Under the Baby's Cradle." The persona's father and mother differ from those of the prototype song. In "My Lullaby" questions are asked that express doubt concerning what is said in "Under the Baby's Cradle," and painful and courageous answers are given. "My Lullaby" interprets the beliefs and opinions of the prototype song. The father of this singer's persona also has dreams; he, too, is a wayfarer, although he did not get very far: tate is a vandler iber vegn vist, rozhinkes mit mandlen zukht er oyfn mist. rozhinkes gefinen iz im nit bashert, mit gerirtn zinen falt er tsu der erd. ('Father is a wanderer Along desolate roads, Raisins and almonds He looks for in the rubbish. Finding raisins Is not granted him, With distressed senses He drops to the ground.') The reflection of the prototype song in "My Lullaby" finds expression in various ways. The legendary mood prevailing in "Under the Baby's Cradle" is absent in "My Lullaby." In its stead reality is bared. The two fathers of the two songs both wander, but the location of the father's wanderings in "My Lullaby" is defined. There is also a difference in the characterization of the figures. In the poem under review the father is not a romantic and idealistic figure. He has not gone to faraway places to purchase sweets and trade in exotic merchandise. He does not symbolize a kid, and he lacks a legendary aura. He is an anti-hero, wandering along uncharted byways, exposed to hostile powers, "A father thrown into the thorns." The Jew from "Under the Baby's Cradle" who floats in an ideal world and is nurtured by a charmed dream of a flowering country of raisins and almonds, is cast into the wilderness, into the bitter reality of "My Lullaby": Raisins and almonds He looks for in the rubbish. In "Under the Baby's Cradle" there is no mention of whether the father was successful in his raisins and almond trade, since it is not the success of his trading in distant lands, but rather the yearning for "ge'ula" which matters, and it is the eternal wandering of the Jew that expresses this yearning. By contrast, in "My Lullaby" the father's wanderings express a totally different reality: Finding raisins Is not granted him, With distressed senses He drops to the ground. The two mothers, too, differ. Like the father in "My Lullaby," who deals with the mire of reality, bereft of distant dreams, so also the mother is engaged in everyday pettiness -- both are involved in the struggle of existence, and their entire dream centers on their survival from one day to the next: mame hot a kreml oyfn altn mark, beygl, broyt un zeml shlept zi oyf ir kark. ('Mother has a grocery In the old market, Bagels, bread and rolls She lugs around her neck.') They do not engage in questions concerning the conservation of the Jewish inheritance and the unbroken link of generations, but are immersed all day long in basic existential struggles. It goes without saying that the son received messages different from those transmitted to the child of "Under the Baby's Cradle," and he then transmits to his son the truths about the bitter and barren reality -- that of a world without raisins and almonds: yoyresh funem vandler harts dayns gib a ris; rozhinkes mit madlen zaynen mer nit zis. ('Wanderer's inheritor, Rip your heart asunder; Raisins and almonds Are no longer sweet.') D1b. "Unter der geler late" ('Under the yellow patch') "Under the Yellow Patch", an antithesis of the popular lullaby, is set to shatter the generations-old idea of the believing Jew that beyond the harsh everyday reality a better world awaits him. It is shattered by the very stuff from which the idea has been molded in "Under the Baby's Cradle." This quasi-confrontation of the two songs notwithstanding, a dialog takes place between them. The song's first stanza immediately arouses expectations due to its first line, in which the words "the baby's cradle" are replaced by "the yellow patch": unter der geler late makh dayne oygn tsu -- in dakho iz dayn tate, shlof, mayn kind, lyu-lyu. ('Under the yellow patch Shut your eyes tight -- Your father is in Dachau, Sleep, my child, lyu-lyu.') This stanza seems to reply provocatively to questions raised in "Under the Baby's Cradle." There the father goes far away, and no one asks where he is going, since only the purpose of his travels is important. In this father's world, a world of simple belief, no questions are asked. Everybody is confident that the father goes about his business wisely, that he will succeed in his travels, achieve his aim and return with the long-awaited goods. No questions are asked and no answers are expected. Everything was done that had to be done and the Almighty will help. In Leyvik's poem questions are asked, even if the answers are foregone conclusions or, on the other hand, even if the purpose of the father's travels is totally obscure: in dakho wos tut er? un vu is dakho vu? ('What does he do in Dachau? And where is Dachau, where?') These are rhetorical questions that the song's persona asks, not so as to receive an answer, since it is clear to everybody what the father was doing in Dachau, and where it was. The questions are asked to make certain that those irrational occurrences indeed happened, since who would believe that such hell can exist on earth. The mother of "Under the Baby's Cradle" knows, as does the mother of "Under the Yellow Patch," that there are things beyond human understanding, and that one must accept events as they are. She, too, brings up her children in the same spirit as does the mother of "Under the Baby's Cradle;" she, too, knows that the children are the people's future: der tate iz a yid a guter, zay a guter yid oykh du. ('Father is a Jew, a good one, You be a good Jew too.') But here ends the similarity between the two mothers: the mother of "Under the Yellow Patch" does not live in the reality of the mother of "Under the Baby's Cradle" -- in a world of simple believers, but in a reality of a daily battle for survival, and therefore her legacy to her son is a very harsh one: amol iz di late mit ekn, amol iz di late rund. amol iz royt di late, un merer mol iz zi gel. ('Sometimes the patch has corners, Sometimes the patch is round. Sometimes the patch is red But more often it is yellow.') This mother acquiesces in the Jew's fate and believes it cannot be altered. These lines reflect a particular view of the Jew's condition: the shape and shade of the patch keep changing, but the patch itself endures as long as the Jew does. In this poem, then, the dream of "raisins and almonds" is thrust aside. eybiker dayn tate, azoy vi di eybike ru, azoy vi di gele late -- shlof, mayn kind, lyu-lyu. ('Your father is as eternal As eternal rest, As the yellow patch -- Sleep, my child, lyu-lyu.') The poem has the typical elements of a lullaby. However, the feminist note -- the father seen as forsaking mother and her children -- does not appear. The mother relates to the spiritual and national aspect of her role and puts aside her personal problems. She nurtures the impossible dream of the father's return: er git di tir an efn, er kumt in shtub arayn, dayn hengbetl tsu trefn far vos zol shver im zayn? ('He thrusts the door open, And steps into the room, To come upon your cradle Why should it be hard for him?') For a brief moment the commonplace scene of the father returning from work and opening the door of his home creates the illusion of an idyll, of hope that such a situation is still possible. The illusory picture admits a momentary ray of hope, a fantastical dream which quickly shifts to a no less fantastical scene of death. The father is represented surrealistically rocking himself to death: er nemt zikh vign, vign un vigt zikh ayn aleyn; der tate ligt, blaybt lign, darf men shoyn in dakho nit geyn. ('He sets himself a-rocking And rocks himself to sleep; The father lies, stays lying, No need now to go to Dachau.') The father here symbolizes the Jew condemned to perdition as opposed to the father who believes in "ge'ula." [continued in TMR vol. 2.033] ______________________________________________________ End of _The Mendele Review_ 02.032 Leonard Prager, editor Subscribers to _Mendele_ (see below) automatically receive _The Mendele Review_. Send "to subscribe" or change-of-status messages to: listproc@lists.yale.edu a. For a temporary stop: set mendele mail postpone b. To resume delivery: set mendele mail ack c. To subscribe: sub mendele first_name last_name d. 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