מענדעלע

Rajzel Zychlinsky, a Yiddish poet and active participant in the Yiddish literary life for almost three quarters of the last century, passed away on June 13 in Concord, California. One of the last representatives of the pleiad, whose formative years coincided with the highest peak period in Yiddish culture iz avek in eybikayt.

Rajzel Zychlinsky was born in Gombin, Poland on July 27, 1910. Her first book, "Lider" was published in 1936 (Varshe: Pen-bikher), with an introduction by Itzik Manger. "Der regn zingt" (Varshe: Bibliotek fun Yidishn Pen Klub, 1939) her second volume of poetry, appeared just weeks before the occupation of Warsaw by Hitler's troops, and most copies were destroyed. Soon thereafter she fled to Russian-occupied eastern Poland where she married Isaac Kanter. Her husband found work with the Russian army, and the couple moved to central Russia. Their families remained behind and perished in the Holocaust. Their son, Marek, was born in the Soviet Union in 1943.

After the war the couple and their son returned to Poland, and then moved to France. In Poland Zychlinsky published a book "Tsu loytere bregn" (Lodzsh: Yidish-Bukh, 1948). In 1951 the family emigrated to the United States. Rajzel Zychlinsky settled in New York in 1952 and published several more volumes of poetry, including "Shvaygndike tirn" (Nyu York: Zychlinska, 1962), "Harbstike skvern" (Nyu York: Tsiko, 1969), "Di November-zun" (Nyu York: Zychlinska, 1977).

One of the first English translations of Zychlinsky's poems was published by Leonard Opalov ("Five Yiddish poets: Gross, Greenberg, Sutzkever, Zichlinsky, Glantz". Chicago: Midwest Poetry Chapbooks, 1962). Translations of her poems appeared in many anthologies, including Howe and Greenberg's "A treasury of Yiddish poetry" (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969) and Aaron Kramer's "A Century of Yiddish Poetry" (New York: Cornwall Books, 1989).

A selection of Zychlinsky's poems in German translation "Vogelbrot: Gedichte Aus Fuenf Jahrzehnten" was published in 1981. A larger collection of poems have been translated into German by Karina Kranhold and Siegfried Heinrichs "Gottes blinde Augen: ausgewaehlte Gedichte" (Chemnitz: Oberbaum, 1997).

A book of English translations (mostly by Barnett Zumoff) was published in 1997 ("God Hid His Face", Santa Rosa, CA: Word & Quill Press)

In 1975 Rajzel Zychlinsky was awarded the Manger Prize. Her last book, "Naye lider", was published in 1993 (Tel-Aviv: Yisroel-bukh).

Iosif Vaisman

I think Mikhle [11.004] may be related to Makhle; the latter was the long-suffering companion of Mirele Efros, always yelling "Pameylakh!" (played by Mollie Picon?) That's just a guess. Gor kheynevdik! I can't begin to hazard a guess regarding the spelling. Zay-zhe mir gezunt un shtark.

Rick Gildemeister

Mikhle is certainly a woman's name in Yiddish and my guess, based on its spelling, is that it is a diminutive of Michal, but one which in Yiddish at least, has long supplanted the original. I have never found "Michal" anywhere outside Israel, where it is quite common. In answer to your concrete question, Mikhle is spelled mem yud khaf lamed he. I suppose if it were a "feminization" of Michoel, there would be an alef present, which there isn't, but this is just rank speculation.

Regards,

Mechl Asheri

Regarding your observation on the name "Zisl" being used by men as well as women I can only say the following:

Rabbi Simkhe Zissel Broide, to whom you referred, even if not by his full name, is the only example I know of of the use of that name by a man. It would be easy to say that his name could well have been Simkhe-Zisl?s or perhaps even Simkhe-Zisl, the second name being that of his mother, but unfortunately I have seen him referred to as Rav Zissel, which more or less puts paid to that notion. It is possible that that his second name was the one more commonly heard as Zishe (which could, I suppose, be Zishel in the diminutive, although I confess never to having heard it). The reasoning behind this is that Rav Simkhe Zissel was very much a Litvak and it is conceivable that his name was thus pronounced in that part of the world. Of course this is only a guess, and not a very good one, in light of the fact that the name Zussel, also pronounced Zissel is definitely a man?s name, whose "Hebrew" equivalent is Shnieur and the fact that the only example I can bring to mind right now is that of Rav Simkhe Zissel Broide does not mean by any stretch of the imagination that it is a hapax legomenon. The most reasonable etymology here is that Both Zussel and Zissel as men?s names are in all probability both diminutives of Zusskind (or Zisskind) which, by no coincidence, also has Shnieur as its equivalent.

As I am sure you know, the woman's name Zissel/Zissele are both diminutives of Zissa and the original is found far less frequently in common use than the two diminutives, although I have a granddaughter named Zissa who is always called Zissy at home by everyone but me: I call her Zissel. Her best?s friend?s name, however is Zissele, prost un poshet.

Zissel as a woman's name is peculiar to Ashkenazim, as I am sure you know. What I discovered is that Sephardic women have an equivalent name, "Metuka". The Yiddish woman?s name "Toltza" is very probably a straight equivalent, being derived from Dulce or Dulcia.

In the end, it is speculation, but may very well be so close to the truth as makes no difference. I really do believe that Zissel as a man's name derives from Zisskind as does Zussel from Zusskind. Zussel, of which Zissel is simply a variant, is as far as I know, never found among women.

Regards,

Mechl Asheri

Alexander Beider, in his forthcoming book "A Dictionary of Ashkenazic Given Names," writes:

Frumet Related to the Middle High German words vro muot, good cheer (Salfeld 1898:394). This name appeared in the Middle Ages in the Rhineland either after its creation by Jews from the Judeo-German equivalent of this expression, or it was borrowed from Christians who used it before the 12th century (Fromuot in Foerstemann 1900:520). [The] Christian [name] Vromud(is) is also known in the 12th-13th centuries (HDV 2:100). There is no evidence about its use by Christians during the following centuries. Brought by Rhenish Jews to southern Germany and Slavic countries. If in the area of MEY, the phonetic variant of the base form existed (Frimet), in that of NEY and SEY no base form survived. In these regions, hypocoristic forms Frume (NEY) and Frime (SEY) dominated. Their common use was due to the folk etymology interpretation of this name as corresponding to the Yiddish adjective meaning "pious" (cf. frume in NEY and frime in SEY).

Zachary Baker

I believe khaver Goldstein has it just right [11.006:6]. I think it is "vouched" rather than "pledged" in this context, where the rabbi is vouching for the name of the butchers (presumably for their diligence in observing the rules of kosher shekhita).

Regards Yankev Berger

In response to Barry Goldstein, my fellow Onkelos transcriber, Steven Jacobson in his book: "A Guide to the More Common Hebraic Words in Yiddish" also has the following: -orev zayn-, -to guarantee. But I wonder if the meaning would be more like: -to be responsible for-. I get this feeling from the Hebrew phrase: -Kol Yisrael areyvim zeh lozeh-, which I take to mean something like: -all children of Israel are responsible for each other-.

Morrie Feller

The word is orevn (a verb), spelled ayen, reysh, veys - in Southern Y pronounced urevn. Georevt/geurevt is the past participle - 'vouched'. I don't think it is Bergelson's neologism.

Zayt mir gezint in shtark,

Mordkhe Schaechter

Barry Goldstein wrote [11.006]:

loyt ot dem neyem psak hot alishes fus nit getort kumen in boine arayn, un rekhenen hobn zikh di katsovim badarft nit mit im nor mit zeyer eygenem nomen, far velkhn der rov hot zikh geervt.

Not geervt, but ge-orevt The word is loshn-koydesh 'orev' = a guarantor, so is spelt (even according to YIVO rules , I should think) precisley as you have written (possibly the veyz should have a rofe)

Weinreich does have "erv zayn (far)" (ayin, reysh, veys) -vouch or answer (for), guarantee, underwrite (as does Harkavy), which is close in meaning: "for whom the rabbi vouched (pledged himself)".

Pace the translator, the passage means: but with/to their own name, for which the Rov vouched.

Perets Mett