מענדעלע

To Jack Feldman:

The Russian-Ukrainian-Yiddish mathematical dictionary

| AUTHOR: Instytut ievreiskoi proletarskoi kultury (Akademiia nauk | Ukrainskoi RSR) | TITLE: Matematishe terminologye. | PLACE: Kiyev, |PUBLISHER: Melukhe-farlag far di Natsyonale Minderhaytn in USRR, | YEAR: 1935 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 119 p. 23 cm. | NOTES: At head of title: Institut far Yidisher Proletarisher Kultur ba | der Ukraynisher Visnshaftlekher Akademye, Filologishe Sektsye. | Added t.p.: Matematychna terminolohiia. | The terms are in Russian, Ukrainian and Yiddish. | SUBJECT: Mathematics -- Dictionaries -- Polyglot.

is still available at the UC Berkeley library. Call QA5 .A51.

Iosif Vaisman

To Ben Alpers:

Issachar Ryback (1897-1935), Jewish artist and book illustrator, b. in Lithuania, d. in Paris.

Book in question:

| AUTHOR: Ryback, Issachar, 1897-1935. | TITLE: Sur les champs juifs de l'Ukraine / | TITLE: Oyf di Idishe felder fun Ukreyne : bilder. | PLACE: Paris : |PUBLISHER: A. Simon, | YEAR: 1926 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 15 p. : plates ; 38 cm. | NOTES: "Il a ete tire de cet ouvrage cinquante exemplaires sur papier | Holande B.F.K., numerotes de 1 a 60. Trois cents exemplaires sur | papier Japon, numerotes de 51 a 350."



Other books:

| AUTHOR: Ryback, Issachar, 1897-1935. | TITLE: J. Ryback / | PLACE: Paris : |PUBLISHER: Ed. de l'Amitie Francaise, | YEAR: 1934 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: [55] p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

| TITLE: Yissakhar Ber Ribak : | zayn lebn un shafn / | PLACE: Pariz : |PUBLISHER: Komitet tsu fareybikn dem ondenk fun Yissakhar-Ber Ribak, | YEAR: 1937 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 93 p., [32] leaves of plates : ill. (1 col.), ports. ; 34 cm. | NOTES: Legends in French.

| AUTHOR: Smolar, Boris, 1897| TITLE: Kindervelt | PLACE: Varshe : |PUBLISHER: Kinderfraynd, | YEAR: 1938 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 16 p. : ill. ; 18 cm. | SERIES: Kinder fraynd: Bibliotek beys ; 3

| AUTHOR: Margolin, Miriam, 1896-1968. | TITLE: Mayselekh far kleyninke kinderlekh | PLACE: [New York? : |PUBLISHER: s.n., | YEAR: 1922 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 12 p. : ill. ; 21 x 27

| AUTHOR: Margolin, Miriam, 1896-1968. | TITLE: Little stories for little children / | PLACE: Mt. Kisco, NY : |PUBLISHER: Moyer Bell Ltd., | YEAR: 1986 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: [32] p. : ill. ; 21 x 27 cm. | NOTES: English and Yiddish. | Translation of: Mayselekh far kleynike kinderlekh, with original | Yiddish.

| AUTHOR: Kvitko, Leib, 1890-1952. | TITLE: In vald | PLACE: Berlin : |PUBLISHER: Shveln, | YEAR: 1930 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 15 p. : ill. ; 23 x 30 cm.

| AUTHOR: Choron, Rose, 1917| TITLE: Family stories : | travels beyond the shtetel / | PLACE: Malibu, CA : |PUBLISHER: Joseph Simon/Pangloss Press, | YEAR: 1988 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 125 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

| AUTHOR: Kvitko, Leib, 1890-1952. | TITLE: Foyglen / | PLACE: [Yerushalayim] : |PUBLISHER: Universitah ha-Ivrit bi-Yerushalayim, ha-Makhon le-madae ha| Yahadut, ha-Hug le-Yidish, | YEAR: 1983 1922 | PUB TYPE: Book | FORMAT: 15 p. : ill. ; 24 x 35 cm. | SERIES: [Sofre Yidish be-Verit-ha-Moatsot] | Reprint. Originally published: Berlin : Farlag "Shveln", 1922.



Iosif Vaisman

Re: final n>m

I am a physics major who has been dabbling with languages since about birth, having been raised in a yinglish speaking house with many [puertorrican] spanish [spanglish] speaking babysitters and family friends. Anyways...about the final -n becoming -m, I think it is probably due to some kind of post-bilabial assimilation of the syllabicated nasal "-n". This exact same phenomenon is found in the speech of most Germans, as in the word "haben" usually pronounced "habm", and by some simply "haamm" [say two m's there...] This at least is my analysis of their pronunciation, as best I can approximate it via ascii. As far as m before t becoming n, I think that is quite a common occurence in every language...even in english, where, especially within words, a nasal preceding [especially] a stop [whether voiced or not], assimilates to that stop. [In english, I believe it is particularly common for the following stop to disappear if the stop is voiced.] Enough of my conjecture.

Tomer Bendovid Shiloach

I've been asked by several people about the price of Yablokoff's autobiography, _Der Payatz_. The price of the book is 24.95 plus 2.50 for handling and shipping. Bartleby Press 1-800-448-1076.

Harold Black

I recently received a packet of brochures, a letter, and a membership card requesting that I join the American Society for Yad Vashem. Since the letter was written by a Mr. Ben Lerman, I returned the application and membership card explaining why I felt that I could not join this organization at this time, and I enclosed my translation of Dovid Braun's letter on the subject of Yiddish at Yad Vashem which appeared in Oyfn Shvel, No.297, P.19, Jan-March, 1995. I think all Mendelniks should be made aware of this remarkable letter which I would like to post here and now. (Dovid has graciously not only agreed to my posting of his letter, but he has also supplied me with background material and a transliteration of his Yiddish version.)

First, some background. A number of issues ago, _Afn Shvel_ printed a letter by historian Dr. Adina Cimet de Singer as an editorial. In this letter, Dr. Singer, a native speaker of Yiddish from Mexico and mother of two young girls whom she is raising in Yiddish, expressed her outrage over the fact that,upon a recent family visit to Yad Vashem, her family could not go on a guided tour of the grounds conducted in Yiddish because such did not exist, nor was there any willingness to provide it or to realize the value of such a service if it were made available. (Guided tours were available in a whole host of other languages, including English, French, German, Hebrew, etc.) A subsequent issue presented a letter in response by an anonymous writer who stated that the "Language War" (i.e. between Hebrew and Yiddish) was over, and one dare not rock the boat, i.e. the issue should not even be brought up. Dr. Singer's reply was printed thereafter, to which Braun's letter is a further reply. Herewith, Braun's text:

With regard to Dr. Adina Cimet de Singer's summons [_Afn Shvel_ No.291, pp.1-2; No. 295, pp. 19-20] not to exclude Yiddish from Yad Vashem, allow me to add the following to her rebuttal to the anonymous critic: The very existence of Yad Vashem is based on ideology, philosophy, ethics, symbolism, morality -- that is to say, "non-practical things". No one was forced to erect a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust for "practical" reasons, let alone a whole institute dedicated to them. This was purely an act of the spirit.

As such, the question is then: how is Yad Vashem fulfilling its spiritual duty if it denies a certain segment of Jewry access to the Holocaust, namely, Yiddish-speaking Jews?

Of course one might argue that all contemporary speakers of Yiddish know some other language anyhow, so one may ignore Yiddish. Then a further question arises: how is Yad Vashem fulfilling its spiritual duty when it discriminates (even if "only" symbolically) against the language of those murdered (whose memory it is Yad Vashem's goal to preserve) and against their heirs -- us?

Herewith is Braun's original Yiddish text:

In shaykhes mit Dr. Adina Tsimet Zingers ruf [_Afn shvel_ 291: 1-2; 295:19-20] nit oystsushlisn yidish fun Yad-vashem, derloybt mir tsu derleygn ot vos tsu ir opentfer dem anonimen kritiker:

Di etsem eksistents fun Yad-vashem iz bazirt af idealogye, filosofye, etik, simbolik, moral -- s'heyst: "nit keyn praktishe zakhn". Keyner iz nit geven geneyt tsulib "prakishe" taymim uftsushteln an ondenk di korbones fun khurbm -- shoyn opgeredt fun a gantsn institut. Dos iz hoyle rukhnies. Un vi bald az rukhnies, fregt zikh: vi azoy derfilt der yad-vashem zayn gaystike ufgabe, az er farshtelt dem tsutrit tsum khurbm far a teyl yidn, dehayne: yidish-reydndike?

Ay, ale yidish-reydndike yidn kenen ba hayntikn tog an ander loshn say vi, meg men bekheyn ignorirn yidish? Fregt zikh vayter: vi azoy zhe derfilt der yad-vashem zayn gaystike ufgabe, az er diskriminirt (afile ven "nor" simbolish) kegn dem loshn fun di umgekumene (vemens ondenk s'iz dokh zayn tsil uftsuhitn) un kegn zeyere yorshim -- undz?

I also indicated to Mr. Lerman that I would consider joining the society if it would take steps to correct this mistake in a proper and suitable manner. If any Mendelniks would like to add their voice to Dovid's and mine, they can write to the chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem, Mr. Eli Zborowski, 48 W. 37th St. - 9th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018.

Morrie Feller Phoenix, Arizona