מענדעלע

My grandmother used to refer to Moyshe Kapoyer (which she pronounced "Kapeye"), Yente Telebende, and Chaye Tsipe, in the sense of "Tom, Dick, and Harry" -- lovable "average folk." If someone said something pretentious, she might have responded, "Tell it to Chaye Tsipe," which meant, "That won't mean much to an ordinary down-to-earth person."

I have learned (as Joe Kurland says in Vol 6.211) that Moyshe was a cartoon character in the Forverts. I believe Yente had her own column. I have never heard any reference to Chaye Tsipe, though -- has anyone else heard of her?

Ellen Cassedy Bethesda, MD

Moyshe Kapoyer was briefly discussed in Mendele three years ago (vols 3.265 and 3.271). There is also an old record:

Sam Katsen and Joe Feldman, Moyshe Kapoyer, Columbia Records E3562; 1920 (1 sound disc : 78 rpm, mono. ; 10 in.)

Iosif Vaisman

Liebe Denner, who seeks women fiction writers (6.211), will discover "Found Treasures" (Second Story Press, Toronto, 1994 - edited by Frieda Forman) to be a rewarding experience. The first of its kind, this anthology is an extraordinary collection of prose, that showcases women's writing, previously available only in Yiddish.

It features 18 writers, among them Rachel Korn, Esther Singer Kreitman, Kadya Molodowsky, Malka Lee, Fradel Shtok, and opens a window on the fabric of women's lives and feelings in the shtetls and cities of Eastern Europe.

Irena Klepfisz, an important poet, thinker and lecturer, created the introduction which is a jewel, intense and brilliant, and gives an overview of the history of mame-loshn; her penetrating words are alone worth the price of the book.

I reviewed it for Mendele last summer (my husband tells me it is vol 6.045) and tried to motivate our khevre to buy the book and help support the work on volume 11. Happily, this work is now well underway.

Buying the book is like chicken soup. It still "couldn't hurt."

Marjorie Schonhaut Hirshan Boynton Beach, Florida

Suggestion: Sarah Reizen, sister of Avrum Reizen. She wrote short stories. I don't know if she wrote anything longer.

Anita Weiner

Ellen Cassedy is looking for Found Treasures: Stories by Yiddish Women Writers, edited by Frieda Forman, Ethel Raicus, Sarah Silberstein Swartz and Margie Wolfe (Second Story Press, Toronto, 1994). This paperbound book is available from the National Yiddish Book Center, from Arbeter Ring's bookstore and in feminist and Jewish bookstores. It contains stories by Esther Singer Kreitman, Celia Dropkin, Rachel Korn and Kadia Molodovsky, as well as lesser known authors.

The story behind this anthology is an interesting one. According to one of the editors who gave a workshop at Di Froyn, in New York in October, 1995,the book grew out of a Yiddish reading group composed of intergenerational women with various degrees of proficiency in Yiddish. Because some of the women were still developing their Yiddish reading skills, the group decided to read only short stories which could be read out loud at the group's sessions before general discussion, rather than having the group read the materials in advance. All group members took turns reading aloud. It was asserted that the less proficient readers benefitted with both their comprehension and pronounciation in hearing the women who were native Yiddish speakers and receiving their corrections and help. It soon became obvious to the women that they were reading works which were largely overlooked, and certainly not translated into English with any frequency. One of the members being a publisher, it was natural for the group to decide not only to read and discuss the stories they found, but to translate them for publication.

At the workshop, it was asserted that the stories included were chosen either for literary merit or because they were representative of a particular Jewish woman's experience.

Susan Lerner