Mendele: Yiddish literature and language ______________________________________________________ Contents of Vol. 07.108 November 26, 1997 1) More Joe&Paul, and a lullaby (Jack Feldman) 2) Davenen-a new dimension (David Herskovic) 3) Moshe Stendel (Siegfried Risse) 4) _Vi kumt di kats ibern vaser?_ (Leonard Prager) 5) dawwenen (Claus Buryn) 6) Eugene Debs (Joel Rubin) 7) Eugene V. Debs (Al Grand) 8) Radio Station WEVD (Aron Mandl) 9) Eugene Debs speeches? (Shana Lipsker) 1)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 21:57:04 -0700 From: feldman@math.berkeley.edu (jacob feldman) Subject: More Joe&Paul, and a lullaby. 1. Here's the version of Joe&Paul which I know in my bones. It's not very different from the three which have already appeared in Mendele. "Joe&Paul, s'a fargenign! Joe&Paul, m'ken a bagn krign, A suit, a koit, a gaberdine, Brengt arayn dain kleinem zin." There were obscene continuations available, known to the bad kids with whom I associated at mitlshul. 2. In a quite different vein: there is lullaby which I find beautiful and moving, but of which I know only fragments. I wish I could find the rest. I'll write the tune under the words, as if it were in the key of C minor. "Amul iz geven --- a kenig; G C C C Eflat C C Bflat Der kenig hot gehat --- a veingurtn; Bfl Efl Efl Efl F G F F Bfl Bfl In veingurtn iz geven --- a ???????; Bfl Efl Efl Efl Efl D C B C G Bayushke, bayu." C G Efl D C Then a refrain, in which the melody changes a little. A later verse (perhaps the very next) begins: "Der kenig iz --- geshtorben", and so on. Does any of you recognize this? Jack Feldman 2)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 10:36:21 +0000 From: David Herskovic Subject: Davenen-a new dimension It seems the davnening bug has caught up with me but with an as yet unknown variant. How about davenen stemming from the aramaic word 'boye'? The word means request or inquiry and is used in the sense of prayers in a few places. See Issaiah 21:12 'im TIVOYIN b'oyi' and also the 'Tiskabeyl' piece of the full Kadish 'Tiskabeyl tseloyshoyn ivoishoyn'. David Herskovic 3)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 17:05:30 +0100 From: Siegfried Risse Subject: Moshe Stendel I am working on the Yiddish translation of the psalms by Moshe Stendel (or Stendal). His Sefer tehillim was given to print by Roesel Fischel in 1586. Secondary literature known to me: A transcription by Johann Christoph Wagenseil: Mose Rabbi Stendels nach Juedisch-Teutscher Red-Art vorlaengst in Reimen gebrachte Psalmen Davids, Leipzig 1705. And short references in: Wilhelm STAERK und Albert LEITZMANN: Die Juedisch-Deutschen Bibeluebersetzungen von den Anfaengen bis zum Ausgang des 18. Jahrhunderts. Frankfurt a. M. 1923, 207-213. Meyer WAXMAN: A History of Jewish Literature. New York u.a. 1960, II 630f. Israel ZINBERG: A History of Jewish Literature. Cincinnati u.a. 1975, 242. Helmut DINSE und Sol LIPTZIN: Einfuehrung in die jiddische Literatur. Stuttgart 1978, 39. Jean BAUMGARTEN: introduction la literature yiddish ancienne. Paris 1993, 83. Who knows of any other publication on Moshe Stendel or his translation or Roesel Fischel? Siegfried Risse 4)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 10:01:41 +0200 From: Leonard Prager Subject: _Vi kumt di kats ibern vaser?_ The Magnes Press, as I perhaps did not make sufficiently clear, is the distributor and not the publisher of this book. Their correct fax number is 972-2-5633370. I will forward details regarding price and ordering as soon as I learn them. I thank Dovid Braun for pointing to two errors in the review: change _a kats_ to _di kats_ (3x) -- first mention is correct; change _a lokh mit_ to _a lokh fun_. As I had imagined, the extraneous negative in the given translation of "lozn zikh shpayen in der kashe" was due to the translator's instinctive rendition of the usually negative form of the idiom, namely "zikh _nit_ lozn shpayen in der kashe." Leonard Prager 5)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 23:54:07 +0000 From: Troia Subject: dawwenen I was very pleased to see the ancestry of the 'turkey' definitely settled, but lost track of the 'davenen' issue, especially since someone in the know told us that all linguistic problems of this kind will be solved within the next decade. Shame! Has the following explanation been presented yet ?: From: H. Beem, Resten van een taal, She-eriet, ISBN 90-71727-21-1. [The following is a quote in Dutch, not an attempt to revolutionise the YIVO spelling] "dawwenen - bidden, speciaal oostjidd. voor westjidd. oren z.a.; van mhd. doenen, zingen; (z. Mordecai Kosower in: For Max Weireich on his seventieth birthday, Mouton 1964) De gemeente oorde, de chazzen doente; vgl, ndl. deun [melody, tune]." Sounds like a good one to me. If you knew that one already, how about Skrt. V. dhav (with long 'a') > dhavana - sbst. running. If it means 'to run through your prayers' we only have to find out how it arrived in Yiddish. Claus Buryn. 6)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 01:09:17 GMT From: jmrubin@ix.netcom.com (Joel Rubin) Subject: Eugene Debs When I was in New York, I certainly remember WEVD signing on as the "Eugene V. Debs Memorial Station". On a list of radio stations active in 1928, http://members.aol.com/jeff560/1928am.html WEVD is listed on 1220 kHz in Woodhaven (Queens), NY, owned by the "Debs Memorial Radio Fund, Inc." Another reference to "EVD" being an acronym for "Eugene V. Debs" can be found on the web page: http://www.metropolismag.com/sept97/voice/voice.html which is a story primarily about WNYC. Of course, one can't take what one finds on the 'web as emes--the web is full of pyramid schemes, quack medicine, et alia. But I see no reason to doubt these references. Joel Rubin 7)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 20:47:09 -0500 (EST) From: Savoyid@aol.com Subject: Eugene V. Debs Let me be among those who will respond to Ron Robboy (Vol 07.107) to assure him that radio station WEVD (New York City) did indeed take its call letters from the initials of Eugene V. Debs. Al Grand 8)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 22:41:33 -0500 (EST) From: Aronio@aol.com Subject: Radio Station WEVD I am by no means a radio scholar, but I have also heard that WEVD comes from Eugene V. Debs. Unfortunately, WEVD is no longer exclusively a Yiddish radio station. It does have, however, several hours of Yiddish programming weekly, including a daily news report (nayes baricht), and several hours on Sunday morning in Yiddish as well. Also, could you please inform me of the correct spelling of the Hebrew/Yiddish woman's name pronouced: Yetta A shaynem dank. Aron Mandl 9)---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 21:01:00 -0800 From: Raymond Berger Subject: Eugene Debs speeches? Does anyone have any recollections, archives, etc. of the speeches Eugene Debs gave to the jewish people in the early 1900's? Especially at the Thalia Theatre in Chicago... Thank you, Shana Lipsker ______________________________________________________ End of Mendele Vol. 07.108 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://sunsite.unc.edu/yiddish/mendele.html