Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 10.042 January 16, 2001 1) Yosef Kerler (Gershon Winer) 2) review of a Hassidic Holocaust memoir (Steven Jacobson) 3) The Faded Faddist (Lucas Bruyn) 4) Yiddish story for Onkelos (Noyekh Miller et al.) 5) Yiddish braille (Vivian Aldridge) 6) "lebn vi got in frankraykh (in ades)" (Bob Rothstein) 7) 2001 YIVO/Columbia Yiddish Summer Program (Yankl Salant) 8) Post-Doc in Duesseldorf (1) (Marion Aptroot) 9) Post-Doc in Duesseldorf (2) (Marion Aptroot) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 04:27:35 -0500 (EST) From: Nechama & Gershon Winer Subject: Yosef Kerler Yosef Kerler, Yiddish poet, passed away in Jerusalem on Sunday December 3, at the age of 82. He was the first of the group of Soviet Yiddish authors to arrive in Israel in 1971, after a five year internment in a Russian camp, and a six year struggle to make aliyah. A record turnout for the public reception on his arrival, which took place at the Hillel House in Jerusalem, organized with the help of the American Jewish Committee, prompted a few Yiddish oriented American academicians in Jerusalem, to organize the Yiddish Culture Association which has continued functioning to the present day. Kerler, the author of about a dozen works, mostly poetry, was the founder and editor of the Yiddish literary annual YERUSHALAYMER ALMANACH with uninterrupted publication for a quarter of a century. Dov Sadan acclaimed him as "the first Yiddish author behind the iron curtain who had the courage" to give expression to his pain, anger and protest in the face of Communist repressive terror against those seeking to fulfill their Zionist dream of living in Israel. "Because of this, the Jewish People and the Jewish Land will never forget him". Aaron Zeitlin wrote: "Yosef Kerler in his poetry and struggle and national yearning has become the tribune for Zion-longing Soviet Jewry." He is survived by his wife and son, Dr. Dov Ber Kerler, of the Yiddish program at Oxford University. Gershon Winer 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 21:15:12 -0500 (EST) From: JACOBSON STEVEN A Subject: review of a Hassidic Holocaust memoir (Steven Jacobson) I would like to call the attention of those interested in Hasidic Yiddish books to "Farshpetigt di Shif", published in 1999, which is the Holocaust memoir of one Moshe Yehushe Tsanger, written down and edited by his grandsons, David Elimelech Tsanger and Benjamin Ze'ev Fleisher. The memoir is not so different from other Holocaust narratives, being the story of a Jew who survived all seven circles of Nazi hell including deportations, ghettos, selections, labor camps of various degrees of severity, extermination camps, slave labor, and death marches. And then: liberation, displaced person camps, and finally immigration to Canada (to join his parents as he had planned before the Nazi invasion interrupted things). Other Holocaust memoirs -- at least the ones I have read -- are not written by such (extremely) observant Jews. Remarkable is the almost unbelievable lengths to which he and his companions went in order to obtain such items as tefilin, shofars, Hanukah lights, etc. and to use them even in the Buna work camp attached to Auschwitz, where detection would surely have meant death. The book has photos of Nazi atrocities, most of which one has seen elsewhere, but in one picture the Jew being tormented by having his beard and peyes rudely pulled off is identified by name -- something not usually included with that particular photo. There are also "before and after" photos of survivors in D.P. camps and years later the same individuals, very different in appearance, at Hasidic gatherings. There are numerous maps of ghettos, concentration camp geography, etc., with labels in Yiddish, also photographic and xerographic reproductions of quite a few documents of various sorts (from after liberation) including many personal letters in Yiddish, telegrams, notices from Yiddish newspapers, and even an opposition handbill, in Yiddish but written with Latin characters, protesting the alleged fanaticism of the Hasidim in the D.P. camp. Apparently "frum" and "free" didn't get along well there and then either! The orthography of the book is not YIVO standard, but rather that which one sees in Hasidic Yiddish newspapers, that is, with a liberal sprinkling of "shtumer" alefs, and Germanic heys and ayens, and often with gimels in place of kufs (as in the title of the book) -- still, all in all, not hard for a "modern secular" reader to handle. However some of the correspondence letters are transcribed (instead of, or in addition to, being photographically reproduced) using the particular orthography in which they were originally written, and those are not so easy to read. The text of the book is full of Hebraisms, including full lines of what I guess can be called honorifics, of the type that one sees in Hasidic newspapers. I simply gave up trying to figure them all out after a short while, and just got what I could out of the book without understanding everything. Amazing to me is that there is Holocaust poetry, in Yiddish, apparently by Mr. Tsanger himself included in insets accompanying the narrative. I had no idea that poetry of this sort written by Hasidim existed, though maybe that's only because I am woefully ignorant of extent of literary creativity in that community. It's not great poetry, in my humble opinion, certainly not Abraram Sutzkever, but Holocaust poetry it is nevertheless. It's in rhyming couplets, a fact which is explained when we are told that Mr. Tsanger served as a badkhen in the D.P. camp since he seemed to have a flair for such things. As he states, "then I discovered that, 'although one cannot dance at two weddings', one can however rhyme even at three..." (pg. 288). The forward to the book expresses the hope that this book should be an "important contribution to Haredi war-literature", suggesting that there are indeed other such books, but this is the first specifically Holocaust memoir by a Hasidic survivor that I've seen in Yiddish (or English), and it is really a fine book in a number of respects. I am very impressed by all the work that has gone into putting it together. As for obtaining a copy, as with other Hasidic Yiddish books there is no ISBN number and no Library of Congress number, but the publisher ("Ohel Torah") gives the phone number 718-388-5080, so I suppose copies might be obtained by telephoning. Steven Jacobson 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Nov 2000 08:14:24 -0500 (EST) From: troia@wxs.nl Subject: The Faded Faddist I entered this 'khevre' of Yiddishist over three years ago (see Mendele, Vol. 7.016, Claus Buryn, "The Fated Faddist"). Since then I have participated in discussions on the Mendele list, contributed to the Mendele Review and done some work for the Jewish Gen. Yizkor project. Though I have made some progress with the Yiddish language since I took my first lessons in Riga in 1996, I have decided that time has come to leave the field of Yiddish and explore other pastures. Such is the attitude of the faddist. Since I once introduced myself, I want to say good bye now. Before doing so, I will give you some general impressions from my stay in your midst. The field off Yiddish appears to be dominated by old fashioned structural linguists who besides having an academic interest show little heart for the intrinsic values of the Yiddish language: it's vitality, it's being cosmopolitan, it's humor. Though there is a growing interest worldwide in the Yiddish language, this revival has not resulted in an impulse to teachers of Yiddish to revise their methodology. Especially the teachers that belong to the academic coterie appear to have no inkling of modern approaches in teaching. They continue producing 19th century style textbooks and teaching materials and are completely impervious to any criticism. The field is moreover predominantly the domain of American Jews, who share the shortsightedness of their fellow Americans with regard to other cultures. While the main value of Yiddish is it's being a world language, spoken on all continents, the voices of Yiddish speakers outside the United Stated are seldom heard and the interest of non-American speakers of the language are generally ignored. The Mendele list does have subscribers from all over the world, but this is hardly reflected by the contributions to the list or the concerns expressed on it. I put it to you that this is not in the first place due to the laziness or disinterest of overseas contributors, but to the fact that the Mendele list is blatantly American to most non-Americans. It's insensitivity to and disinterest in problems and needs of Yiddishist in other parts of the world, especially the former Soviet Union, puts off people instead of inviting them to a common forum. The possibilities of the Internet are poorly exploited. Having said these hard words, I want to thank all those kindhearted people who offered me their friendship and support during the past three years. I ask those I insulted by not adhering to American standards of pollitical correctness to forgive me. I leave the field of Yiddish an enriched person. Mazl and brokhe to Yiddish. Lucas Bruyn. 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 02 Dec 2000 20:21:08 -0500 From: N Miller Subject: Another Yiddish story for Onkelos A modern Yiddish version of Yoyne Rozenfeld's "vos hot pasirt mitn altn?" is now available at http://www2.trincoll.edu/~mendele/onkelos.htm. An English translation of this story, as with the others in Onkelos, is to be found in Howe and Greenberg's _A Treasury of Yiddish Stories_, Penguin. Noyekh Miller Leonard Prager Mirl Schonhaut-Hirshan 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 15:03:52 -0500 (EST) From: Vivian Aldridge Subject: Yiddish braille As some of you may remember, I have been trying to find a Yiddish braille code for some time. After making contact with and receiving literature on Hebrew braille from the Central Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Handicapped in Israel, I decided to try to develop my own home-grown system into a serious proposal (based on the Hebrew braille code). I hope to be able to define a braille code in cooperation with the Central Library in the near future. The reason for my posting to Mendele is twofold: 1. I should like to ask one last time whether anyone knows of any established Yiddish braille alphabet, of producers of Yiddish braille or individual publications or documents in Yiddish braille. There's no point in re-inventing something that's up and going. 2. My knowledge of Yiddish is limited and my knowledge of Hebrew extremely rudimentary (hardly more than word recognition). I am very much hoping that other people can help me in my thinking. As an example, I propose that a vocalic vov is always written as melupm-vov or kholem-yud, which appears to me to conform with the practice in Hebrew braille. But have I mastered the complications that this entails? I have tried to formulate ten points for discussion. Maybe there are many, many more. The proposal in its present state, together with examples and the points for discussion, can be found on my web site. Most of it is at present in PDF format (because I shied away from tackling the questions of mixing Latin, Hebrew-Yiddish and braille fonts in HTML). The address is: www.braille.ch/yidbrl-e.htm Comments, suggestions and corrections are extremely welcome. Vivian Aldridge, Basel, Switzerland 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 22:37:19 -0500 (EST) From: "Robert A. Rothstein" Subject: "lebn vi got in frankraykh (in ades)" [TMR 4.018] Three footnotes to Leonard Prager's discussion of "er lebt vi got in frankraykh" in the latest issue of _The Mendele Review_ (4.018): 1. The 1957 edition of Georg Buechmann's _Gefluegelte Worte_ mentions the possibility that the German expression "wie Gott in Frankreich leben" is attributable to Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519), who is quoted to similar effect in Julius Wilhelm Zincgref's _Der teutschen Scharpfsinnige kluge Sprch, Apophthegmata genannt_ (Leipzig, 1693). 2. In its entry on "ades/odes" the _Groyser verterbukh..._ explains "lebn vit got in ades" as follows: "in voyltog [tam: in ades tshepet men nit dem reboyne-shel-oylem, me bet bay im gornisht, me lozt im tsu ru; paralel tsu: lebn vi got in pariz]" 3. LP mentions another proverb, "tsen mayl fun odes brent dos ge[he]nem," which also has the variants "tsen mayl arum odes..." and "tsen mayl hinter odes..." In his book _The Jews of Odessa: A Cultural History, 1794-1881_, Steven J. Zipperstein connects the proverb with comments by Moshe Tsvi, the rebe of Savran (a town some 120 miles northwest of Odessa), in reaction to a 1826 proposal to establish a Jewish school in Odessa with instruction in secular subjects: "This is what God showed me: A great fire and a valley of hell will blaze around the periphery of Odessa for seven parsa'ot, and beneath the feet of the wicked it will burn all day, a like Korach and his flock they will be lost" (p. 48). (A parso, or Persian mile, was approximately 4500 meters.) Bob Rothstein 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 13:23:18 -0500 (EST) From: Yankl Salant Subject: 2001 YIVO/COLUMBIA YIDDISH SUMMER PROGRAM Applications are now being accepted for the Uriel Weinreich Program in Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture, which will take place on the Columbia University campus from June 25 to August 3,2001.The program, jointly sponsored by the Max Weinreich Center of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and Columbia University, is a six-week, non-matriculating, three-credit college course offered on four levels: elementary, intermediate I, intermediate II and advanced. The program proper will be preceded by an optional two-week review session for intermediate and advanced students beginning on June 12. Elementary students with no reading or writing knowledge of the Yiddish alphabet are required to attend a one-day reading and writing workshop on Sunday, June 24. People worldwide have discovered the importance of Yiddish as a key to understanding a significant component of the Jewish heritage. Every summer since 1968, several dozen people from diverse backgrounds, professional pursuits and places as far-ranging as Argentina, Australia, Chile, China, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Slovakia make their way to New York City to study Yiddish in the world's first and most acclaimed, college-level Yiddish-language program. Many summer program students have gone on to become fellows of the Max Weinreich Center, an accredited institute for advanced study of East European and American Jewish history and culture. Others have entered graduate programs in Jewish studies offered by major universities throughout North America, Europe and Israel. The program has thus served as an essential stepping stone in the careers of such prominent scholars in the field of Yiddish as Janet Hadda, Irena Klepfisz, Michael Stanislawski and Steve Zipperstein. Participants in the program not only learn the fundamentals of Yiddish grammar and read Yiddish literary classics, but also explore the riches of East European and American Jewish culture through lectures in Yiddish and English, Yiddish films, Yiddish conversation groups and a variety of workshops in translation, theater, folksong and traditional dance. As a means of expanding the opportunities for verbal practice and creating a feeling of camaraderie, out-of-towners are given the option of staying in single rooms in Yidish-hoyz, a Yiddish dormitory suite on campus. Excursions to Jewish points of interest in and outside of New York City add depth and immediacy to subjects covered in the classroom. Dr.Rheins, YIVO's Executive Director, has called the program "an intensive, intellectually stimulating experience, whose rewards remain throughout one's lifetime." For an application including information on housing and partial scholarships, call, fax or write to Yankl Salant, Director of Yiddish Language Programs, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011, (212) 294-6138, fax (212) 292-1892, e-mail . Information can also be accessed via the internet at the following URL: ; follow the link at the bottom of the page for "Courses". The deadline for receipt of scholarship materials is March 21. Yankl Salant 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 04:20:44 -0500 (EST) From: Marion Aptroot Subject: Post-Doc in Duesseldorf (1) The Program in Yiddish Culture, Language and Literature at the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf and the Menasseh ben Israel Institute for Jewish Social and Cultural Studies (an academic cooperation of the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam) are conducting a research program on 'Yiddish in the Netherlands: an expression of Ashkenazic culture.' For one of the research projects within the framework of this program, 'A comparative study of Jewish communal life in the Netherlands as reflected in the Yiddish minute-books of communities outside Amsterdam.' the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will provide means for the full-time position of postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Humanities of the Heinrich Heine University of Duesseldorf. The candidate will be engaged in research resulting in a monograph. The proposed research project will analyze and discuss the Yiddish minute-books (Pinkasim) of Jewish communities outside Amsterdam. Composed between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries, the minute-books will enable us to understand the multifaceted nature of Jewish cultural life within the boundaries of small communities in the Dutch provinces, their relations with each other and with Jewish communities across the border between the Republic and the German states, as well as the dialogue between the Jewish and the non-Jewish communities within the specific region. The complexity of the source materials and the comparative approach require the involvement of a scholar who is an experienced researcher of archival material in Ashkenazic Hebrew script, who is acquainted with the various methodological approaches prevailing in the field of Jewish studies and who is knowledgeable in the specialized field of modern Western European Jewish history. Duration: 2 years with a possible renewal for another year. The application should be accompanied by a CV, a list of publications (if any), and letters of recommendation. Send your application to: Prof. Marion Aptroot, Abteilung fuer Jiddische Kultur, Sprache und Literatur, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstr. 1, 40225 Duesseldorf; Tel. + 49 (0)211 811 3228; Fax + 49 (0)211 811 2027 e-mail: ; Menasseh ben Israel Institute, Dr. Emile G.L. Schrijver, PO Box 16737, 1001 RE Amsterdam; tel.: + 31 (0)20 626 9945/+ 31 (0)6 5052 7570; fax: + 31 (0)20 624 1721; e-mail: . Prof. Aptroot and Dr. Schrijver can also provide further information. Project supervisors: Prof. Marion J. Aptroot (Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf); Prof. Irene E. Zwiep (Universiteit van Amsterdam); tel.: + 31 (0)20 525 2353; e-mail: . Marion Aptroot 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 04:21:37 -0500 (EST) From: Marion Aptroot Subject: Post-Doc in Duesseldorf (2) The Program in Yiddish Culture, Language and Literature at the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf and the Menasseh ben Israel Institute for Jewish Social and Cultural Studies (an academic cooperation of the University of Amsterdam, the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam and the Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam) are conducting a research program on 'Yiddish in the Netherlands: an expression of Ashkenazic culture.' For one of the research projects within the framework of this program, 'A repertory of Yiddish manuscripts from the Northern Netherlands.' the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft will provide means for the full-time position of postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Humanities of the Heinrich Heine University of Duesseldorf. The candidate will be engaged in research resulting in a monograph. The project aims at a worldwide bibliographical and textual repertory of Yiddish manuscripts from the Northern Netherlands. A detailed study of available Yiddish manuscripts of this scope has never been undertaken and will have to be based on careful inspection in situ of as many manuscripts as reasonably possible. A first survey of manuscripts to be studied, estimated not to exceed 200 volumes, will become available in the course of the year 2001. The nature of the project requires the involvement of an experienced researcher who has a good command of Hebrew and Yiddish language and literature and who is capable of collecting and describing manuscript material independently. The researcher should furthermore be acquainted with the specific problems of Hebrew paleography, codicology and booklore of the post-medieval period. Duration: 2 years with a possible renewal for another year. The application should be accompanied by a CV, a list of publications (if any), and letters of recommendation. Send your application to: Prof. Marion Aptroot, Abteilung fuer Jiddische Kultur, Sprache und Literatur, Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet Duesseldorf, Universitaetsstr. 1, 40225 Duesseldorf; Tel. + 49 (0)211 811 3228; Fax + 49 (0)211 811 2027 e-mail: ; Menasseh ben Israel Institute, Dr. Emile G.L. Schrijver, PO Box 16737, 1001 RE Amsterdam; tel.: + 31 (0)20 626 9945/+ 31 (0)6 5052 7570; fax: + 31 (0)20 624 1721; e-mail: . Prof. Aptroot and Dr. Schrijver can also provide further information. Project supervisors: Prof. Marion J. Aptroot (Heinrich-Heine-Universitaet, Duesseldorf); Prof. Irene E. Zwiep (Universiteit van Amsterdam); tel.: + 31 (0)20 525 2353; e-mail: . Marion Aptroot ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 10.042 Address for the postings to Mendele: mendele@lists.yale.edu Address for the list commands: listproc@lists.yale.edu Mendele on the Web: http://mendele.commons.yale.edu http://ibiblio.org/yiddish/mendele.html