“Lekoved yontef, lekoved Shabes” Performed by Zinaida Lyovina and Dasya Khrapunskaya

Commentary by Dmitri Slepovitch

Nina Stepanskaya (1954–2007) and I recorded Lekoved yontef, lekoved Shabes (“שבת לכבֿד , טאָב-יום לכבֿוד “, In Honor of the Holiday, In Honor of Shabes) in Pinsk in June, 2005 from two sisters, Zinaida Lyovina (b.1928) and Dasya Khrapunskaya (b. 1931), both born in Turov, Zhytkavichy region (rayon), Gomel oblast, 169 km east of Pinsk. Lekoved yontef, lekoved Shabes is a variant of Gabe, vos vil der rebbe, which has been featured previously in the Yiddish Song of the Week.

The father of the sisters (they were four siblings) became their first source for learning the Yiddish songs. Not to a lesser extent he became a source of their inspiration as they created their own songs, translated several Russian songs into Yiddish and composed new verses for popular Yiddish songs. Zinaida and Dasya told us that the father would never take them with him to the synagogue, but he sang at home, infusing the Passover seder and other home ceremonies with the delicious taste of rare and beautiful Jewish songs.

One of their father’s songs is Lekoved yontef, lekoved Shabes (In Honor of the Holiday, In Honor of Shabes). It is a quite typical dialog song between a rebbe (Hasidic sect leader) and a gabe (gabbai, synagogue assistant) known in several melodic versions (e.g., the one in the Hazamir choir repertoire published in Copenhagen in 1937).

The rhythmical structure of this song brings together a free time recitative in the verse and the clear 6/8 time in the refrain. The given type is inherent to a vast corpus of Yiddish songs, primarily those representing either a dialog (as in this case) or a monologue in first person.

A remarkable feature of this performance (not only of this song, but also of many others that we heard from the two sisters) is that Dasya and Zinaida tend to sing in harmony, most typically in third, sometimes meeting in unison. The reason for that rather non-typical manner of Ashkenazi Jewish vocal performance lies – not surprisingly – in the Belarusian cultural milieu. The two sisters, as some of our other interviewees in Belarus, explained to us that they “felt like singing in harmony because it was customary among their Belarusian friends and they often used to sing with them (before the WWII) in such way.”

Singing in harmony is one of a few amazing regional markers in Yiddish music performance known from both recent recordings and Beregovsky’s and Maggid’s collections, that all give a clear perspective on a given regional style and, in a wider sense, represent a regional soundscape as adapted by and mirrored in a local Jewish tradition.

The following video of Zinaida Lyovina’s and Dasya Khrapunskaya’s remarkable performance of “Lekoved yontef, lekoved Shabes” is featured in Dmitri Slepovitch’s new program, “Traveling the Yiddishland,” produced for the Folksbiene National Yiddish Theater. The show integrates video taken from Slepovitch’s and Nina Stepanskaya’s field research in Belarus with live performances of the music arranged by Slepovitch for his ensemble.

Gabe! ­– Vos vil der rebe?
Der rebe vil ­­– me zol im derlangen.
Vos? – Latkes mit shmalts,
Az der rebe mit der rebetsn
Zol zayn a gezunt in haldz.
 
Gabbay! – What does the rebbe wish?
When the rebbe wishes, he should be offered something.
What? – Latkes with goose fat,
So that the rebbe and his wife
Should have healthy throats.
 
Chorus:

Lekoved yontef,
Bim-bam-bam-bam
Lekoved Shabes,
Bim-bam-bam-bam
Lekoved yontef,
Bim-bam-bam-bam,
Lekoved Shabes, bim-bam. 

In honor of the holiday,
Bim-bam-bam-bam
In honor of Sabbath,
Bim-bam-bam-bam.
In honor of the holiday,
Bim-bam-bam-bam
In honor of Sabbath, bim-bam.

Gabe! ­– Vos vil der rebe?
Der rebe vil ­­– me zol im derlangen.
Vos? – A telerl mit yoykh,
Az der rebe mit der rebetsn
Zol zayn a gezunt in boykh. 

Gabbay! ­– What does the rebbe wish?
When the rebbe wishes, he should be offered something.
What? ­– A plateful of chicken soup,
So that the rebbe and his wife
Should have healthy stomachs.
 
Chorus
 
Gabe! ­– Vos vil der rebe?
Der rebe vil ­­– me zol im derlangen.
Vos? – A telerl mit fish,
Az der rebe mit der rebetsn
Zol zayn a gezunt in di fis. 

Gabbay! ­– What does the rebbe wish?
When the rebbe wishes, he should be offered something.
What? ­– A plateful of fish,
So that the rebbe and his wife
Should have healthy feet.

 Chorus

“Ikh vel nit ganvenen” Performed by Sterna Gorodetskaya

Commentary by Dmitri ‘Zisl’ Slepovitch

I recorded Ikh vel nit ganvenen (I Will Not Steal) in Mogilev, Belarus, from Sterna Gorodetskaya, born in 1946 into the only Jewish family that got reunited after the war in the village of Komintern, a Mogilev suburb. 

Photograph of Sterna Gorodetskaya by Dmitri Slepovitch

Sterna is also the aunt of Yuri Gorodetsky, a noticeable young opera singer who was for while involved performing Yiddish songs and cantorial pieces in Minsk, taking part in Jewish cultural revivalist movement there.

It was amazing to hear this song from a person of Sterna’s generation. She sang the song to me in memory of her mother, and that was the first time she performed it since she was a child.

To realize why it is so unique in that context, it is important to mention that unlike Moldova or Ukraine where the Jewish tradition was preserved to a considerable extent throughout the Soviet times, Belarus saw a much more powerful wave of assimilation, including the loss of the Yiddish language, in the post-war time. Most of the songs sung to us in the course of our fieldwork had been hidden in people’s memory for decades.

The song per se adds to a number of other “thief’s songs.” Chaim Kotylanski included two similar songs in his book, “Folks-Gezangen as Interpreted by Chaim Kotylanski,” Los Angeles, 1944. The lyrics of one, Nisht ganvenen nor nemen, resemble Sterna Gorodetskaya’s version in the chorus (compare: “Kholile nisht ganvenen, nor nemen, nor nemen”), though it employs a dance-like or march-like melody set in a major key. The other song, Kh’vel shoyn mer nisht ganvenen, is closer melodically to Sterna’s, as both are set in the natural minor.  In “Pearls of Yiddish Song” published by Chana and Yosl Mlotek there is yet another variant of ‘Kh’vel shoyn mer nit ganvenen.

My trip to Mogilev in January 2008 was the first one to follow the untimely death of Nina Stepanskaya (1954—2007), my professor and colleague with whom I collaborated over a decade on the Litvak music culture research in Belarus. Like Sterna Gorodetskaya who sang this song in memory of her mother, I would like this posting to be a tribute to and a small sign of appreciation of Nina’s invaluable input into Jewish music studies.

Ikh vel gegayen in krom keyfn irisn
Un az ikh hob dikh lib, iz ver darf dos visn?
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, ikh vel aleyn nemen,
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, nemen aleyn.

I will go to the store to buy some candies,
And whilst I love you, who should know about that?
I will not steal, I will only take.
Oh I will not steal, I’ll only take.

Ikh vel gegayen in mark keyfn bar(u)n,
Un az ikh hob dikh lib, iz vemen darf dos arn?
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, ikh vel aleyn nemen,
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, nemen aleyn.

I will go to the market to buy some pears,
And while I love you, whom should it bother?
I will not steal, I will only take.
Oh I will not steal, I’ll only take.

Ikh af a shif un du af a lodke,
Un ikh mit a tsveytn un du in chakhotke.
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, ikh vel aleyn nemen,
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, nemen aleyn.

I’m on a ship and you’re on a boat,
I’m with a buddy and you have consumption.
I will not steal, I will only take.
Oh I will not steal, I’ll only take.

Ganvenen, ganvenen, zol dos nit zayn iker,
Un nemen a bisele mashke un take nit zayn shiker.
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, ikh vel aleyn nemen,
Oy ikh val nit ganvenen, nemen aleyn.

Stealing oh stealing should not be the principle,
As it should be to have brandy and not to get drunk.
I will not steal, I will only take.
Oh I will not steal, I’ll only take.

“Tunkl brent a fayer” Performed by Jacob Gorelik

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

For more on Jacob (Yankev) Gorelik see the previous post on “A baysphil.” He sang Tunkl brent a fayer (“A Fire Burns Dimly”) in his apartment in the “Chelsea hayzer” (Penn south), on 7th avenue and 25th street in Manhattan, circa 1985.  This song about an “agune,” a women who was abandoned by their husband, is part of a genre of agune-songs in Yiddish. Chaim Grade’s Yiddish novel The Agunah (translated in English with that title) depicts the complexity of dealing with the agune, and the rabbinic disagreements over when to declare the woman free to remarry.

I believe one hears the influence of the great singer Sidor Belarsky in Gorelik’s singing, even when he sings his mother’s songs from his hometown. I have included the spoken introduction below because it was typical of how Gorelik would frame a song he was about to perform for a larger audience. It’s interesting how he implies that by attending the Yiddish theater, the immigrant was thereby just a short hop from meeting new women and abandoning the wife in the old country.

The scanned music and words are from the songbook Songs of Generations compiled by Chana and Yosl Mlotek. Gorelik had, apparently, sent Tunkl brent a fayer to the Mloteks  who ran a column “Readers remember” in the Yiddish Forward newspaper. Chana Mlotek continued to write the column  after Yosl Mlotek’s death in 2000.

A song of an “agune,” an abandoned woman, that I heard from my mother, may she rest in peace.

There was a time, the emigration, the great emigration at the beginning of the 20th century and earlier, and many wandered out to America. Towns were emptied out. Many women remained with children. They didn’t hear anything from their husbands. Some were faithful and sent over their most recent earnings to their wives; shared it with their wives and children.

Others forgot. In the “Golden Land” they forgot about their old home. They wanted a little joy and happiness and started to go to the theater; met other women and forgot that they had “an old home,” a wife and child. And such women were called “agune” – “she was connected” as long as the husband did not free her. And songs were composed on this on the spot.

I had heard such a song among the folk, and another one I heard from my mother, may she rest in peace. She had a golden voice when she sang. In general my mother sang minor-keyed (sad) songs.

“A Pastekhl” Performed by Hirsh Reles

Notes by Dmitri Slepovitch

A Pastekhl (A Shepherd), is known from several cantorial recordings, including that of Zinoviy Shulman, and was sung by Hirsh (Grigoriy L’vovich) Reles in his family’s version. Hirsh Reles (1913 – 2004) happened to be the last Belarusian Yiddish author of the older generation. He was born into a rabbi’s family Chashniki, Vitebsk oblast. Reles started his career as a Yiddish literature teacher at a Jewish school. After Jewish schools had been shut down by Stalin, Reles started teaching Russian literature, but he never stopped writing in Yiddish. Having had been raised in a traditional Jewish environment, Hirsh Reles remembered quite a lot of songs and life facts from the pre-war time till his very last days in Minsk.

Hirsh Reles

This recording made in 1997 was the beginning of my systemic research of Jewish music in Belarus. Several years later Dr. Nina Stepanskaya, Z”L, and I recorded two video interviews with Hirsh Reles, which I hope will be published some time soon.

The song, though being sung mainly on behalf of a narrator, also involves a dialog between the shepherd and G-d. Like in many other Yiddish and, specifically, cantorial songs, the theatric element is represented here as well. Although not a ballad, this song clearly shows a story-like plot, tending to correspond with many niggunim’s texts and therefore it might be considered as somewhat a musical midrash.

Musically, the song demonstrates one of very typical structures often seen in Yiddish songs as well as cantorial compositions. It has three verses, each beginning with a non-metrical part followed a metrically organized chorus (pizmon). Having had been inspired by this recording of Reles’s singing, I later recorded this song with Minsker Kapelye for the Tutejsi (Di Ortike/The Locals) album, adding my own rap rhymes to the folk ones.

Editor’s Note: Anyone doing research on Yiddish song, particularly discographic information on LPs,  should be aware of the Robert and Molly Freedman Jewish Sounds Archive. For instance, if you wanted to research who else had recorded this week’s song contribution, you could browse by the first line “Iz geven a mol a pastekhl” and find numerous recordings of the song.  Then you could go to the Judaic Sound Archives of Florida Atlantic University and see if they have any recordings on line of the song that you could listen to (I searched a little by title and couldn’t find it, but searching by singer after finding the names in Freedman’s website, in this case, would be easier). More Yiddish song resources on-line in future posts. – Itzik Gottesman, Editor 

Iz geven amol a pastekhl, a pastekhl,
Iz ba im forlorn gegangen a shefele, a shefele.
Geyt er, zet er: fort a fur mit shteyndelekh, mit shteyndelekh.
Hot er gemeynt a’(z) dos iz fun shefele di beyndelekh, di beyndelekh.
Zogt er: “Adeyni! Adeyni! Oy Adeyni!
Tshi nye bachyu ty, tshi nye vidzyeu ty ovtsy moi?”
Makh er, “Nyet.”
Byeda-byedu, ovtsy nishto!
A yak zhe ya damoy pridu?
A yak zhe ya damoy pridu?

Once upon a time there lived a shepherd.
It happened once that he lost a sheep.
Off he went and saw a wagon with stones.
It seemed to him they were his sheep’s bones.
He says, “My Lord, my Lord, my Lord!
Have you seen, have caught sight of my sheep?”
God says, “No!”
“Woe is me! My sheep is gone.
How shall I come back home?”

Geyt er, zet er: fort a fur mit dernelekh, mit dernelekh.
Hot er gemeynt a’ dos iz fun shefele di hernelekh, di hernelekh.
Zogt er: “Adeyni! Adeyni! Oy Adeyni!
Tshi nye bachyu ty, tshi nye vidzyeu ty ovtsy moi?”
Makh er, “Nyet.”
Byeda-byedu, ovtsy nishto!
A yak zhe ya damoy pridu?
A yak zhe ya damoy pridu?

Off he went and saw a wagon with turf.
It seemed to him these were his sheep’s horns.
He says, “My Lord, my Lord, my Lord!
Have you seen, have caught sight of my sheep?”
God says, “No!”
“Woe is me! My sheep is gone.
How shall I come back home?”

Geyt er, zet er: fort a fur mit niselekh, mit niselekh,
Hot er gemeynt a’ dos iz fun di shefele di fiselekh, di fiselekh.
Zogt er: “Adeyni! Adeyni! Oy Adeyni!
Tshi nye bachyu ty, tshi nye vidzyeu ty ovtsy moi?”
Makh er, “Nyet.”
Byeda-byedu, ovtsy nishto!
A yak zhe ya damoy pridu?

Off he went and saw a wagon with nuts.
It seemed to him these were his sheep’s hoofs.
He says, “My Lord, my Lord, my Lord!
Have you seen, have caught sight of my sheep?”
God says, “No!”
“Woe is me! My sheep is gone.
How shall I come back home?”

Yiddish text below from “Anthology  of Yiddish Folksongs”, Volume 3, Vinkovetzky, Kovner, and Leichter, Jerusalem, 1985, pages 132 – 135.

 

 

“Got hot bashafn himl mit erd” performed by Hoda Yudovin-Zavelev

Notes by Dmitri Slepovitch

”Got hot bashafn himl mit erd”  (God Has Created Heaven And Earth) was recorded by Dmitri Slepovitch and the late Nina Stepanskaya from Hoda Yudovin-Zavelev (b. 1925 in Beshenkovichi, Vitebsk oblast) in Vitebsk, Belarus, December 2001.

This song is an example of a Yiddish cumulative tale. It first starts as a typical moralizing parareligious rhyme, but it finishes with describing a bride and a groom lying on a pillow. A song that begins with the same words is found in Ruth Rubin’s collection, defined as a ballad of Adam and Eve (Ruth Rubin, Voices of a People, University of Illinois Press, 2000, p.497). However, musically the song collected by Rubin is different from this one.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos iz in der erd? –
A sheyner, fayner vortsl (x2)
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got

God created heaven and earth.
What was in the earth?
A beautiful, fine root;
The root from the earth.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos i’ fun dem vortsl?
A sheyne, fayne beymdl (x2)
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Der erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.
What came out of the root?
A beautiful, fine tree
The tree from the root..
The root from Heaven and earth…
The earth from God

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos iz fun dem beymdl? –
A sheyne, fayne tsveyndl (x2)
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.,…
What came from the tree?
A beautiful, fine twig.
The twig from the tree..etc.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos i’ af dem tsveyndl? –
A sheyne fayne feygl (x2)
Di feygl af der tsveyndl,
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.,…
What came from the twig?
A beautiful, fine bird.
The bird from the twig..etc.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos iz fun der feygl? –
A sheyne, fayne feder (x2)
Di feder fun der feygl,
Di feygl afn tsveyndl,
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.,…
What emerged from the bird?
A beautiful, fine feather.
The feather from the bird..etc.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos iz fun der feder? –
A sheyne, fayne kishn (x2)
Di kishn fun der feder,
Di feder fun der feygl,
Di feygl afn tsveyndl,
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.,…
What came from the feather?
A beautiful, fine pillow.
The pillow from the feather..etc.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos i’ af der kishn? –
A sheyne, fayne kale (x2)
Di kale af der kishn,
Di kishn fun der feder,
Di feder fun der feygl,
Di feygl afn tsveyndl,
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.

God created heaven and earth.,…
What came from the pillow?
A beautiful, fine bride.
The bride on the pillow..etc.

Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)
Vos iz bay der kale? –
A sheyner, fayner khosn (x2)
Der khosn ba’ der kale,
Di kale afn kishn,
Di kishn fun der feder,
Di feder fun der feygl,
Di feygl afn tsveyndl,
Di tsveyndl fun dem beymdl,
Di beymdl fun dem vortsl,
Der vortsl fun der erd,
Di erd fun Got.
Got hot bashafn himl mit erd (x2)

God created heaven and earth.,…
What emerged from the bride?
A beautiful, fine groom.
The groom with the bride,
The bride on the pillow,
The pillow from the feather…etc.

„A bayshpil‟ sung by Jacob Gorelik

Notes by Itzik Gottesman

Jacob (Yankev) Gorelik was born in Schedrin (Shchadryn, Scadryn) Belarus, and came to the US in the 1920s. This performance was recorded at a concert in New York City on November 10th, 1990, organized by Center for Traditional Music and Dance, then called the Ethnic Folk Arts Center. This event was part of The Yiddish Folksong Project which had similar aims to the current An-sky Folkore Research Project. Other singers performing that evening were Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and Paula Teitelbaum. We eventually hope to post some of their performances from that concert as well. Gorelik died in Miami in the late 1990s.

Sketch of Jacob Gorelik by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman

Jacob Gorelik performed for all the sectors of the Yiddish world – left, center and right – and never mixed politics with art. He had written down the words for the songs he performed in a small notebook which was bursting at the seams after he kept stuffing little notes inside it, so he used rubber bands to keep it together. You can see a clip of him singing with his book in a documentary on Jews in Miami Beach made in the 80s or 90s by Joel Saxe called „The Yiddish Folksingers of Miami.”

The song „A bayshpil‟ (An Example) is a version of „Der alter foter‟ (the old father) by Elyokum Zunser, probably the most famous and popular badkhn of his time (1836-1913). I have scanned the original version of this song in Yiddish as it appears in his collected works, Elyokum Zunzers verk edited by Mordkhe Schaechter, YIVO, NY 1964. p. 242-243, first published in Zunser‘s collection Hamenagin, 1873.

One quick episode from Zunser‘s autobiography which was unforgettable when I read it: his wife fell asleep in a horse and wagon with their baby on her lap in the woods during winter. When she woke up, she realized the baby fell off the wagon and when they went to retrieve it, wolves were in the middle of devouring it.

Zunser‘s songs, in my opinion, aren‘t particularly catchy or melodic, but he was a badkhn/wedding performer who emphasized the ethics of Jewish life, rather than the entertainment value of his work. Gorelik learned this song from his mother in Schedrin and his clear tenor expresses the message beautifully.

A bayshpil ken ikh aykh mentshn gebn,
dem sof fun mir batrakht atsind.
Es iz beser af der velt nit tsu lebn,
eyder onkumen tsu a kind.

An example, i can give you people,
the end of me, please consider.
It is better not to live in this world,
than to depend on your child.

ikh hob ongelebt yorn
mit koved un mit gelt,
gehandlt un geforn,
gefirt gants sheyn mayn velt.

I lived out my years,
in honor and with wealth,
did business and traveled,
and led a beautiful world.

Fardint gor sheyn mayn gildn,
mit kredit, mit erlekhkayt.
gelozt kinder bildn,
zey zoln vern layt.

I earned a pretty penny,
with credit, with honesty.
I gave my children an education,
they should become decent people.

Mayn gvirishaft, mayn gantse kraft.
Tsu mayne kinder ver ikh on;
haynt iz far mir, farshpart di tir
Ikh hob zikh nit vu ahintsuton.

My fortitude, my whole strength,
I lost it all for my children.
Today the door is locked for me.
I don‘t have anywhere to go.

Far kinder hob ikh mayn haldz geshnitn
gevorn gro un oysgedart.
Brider, got zol aykh bahitn,
aza elter vi ikh hob zikh dervart.

For my children, I cut my throat,
became gray and thin.
Brother, may God protect you,
from such elderly years as i had waiting for me.

Ay, ikh hob ertseygn [dialect form of „ertsoygn‟],
mayn kind, mayn bkhor aleyn,
hob ikh tsefoylt di oygn
fun trern, fun geveyn.

O, I raised
my child, my eldest son by myself,
and thereby ruined by eyes,
with tears, with laments.

Rubls iz geshvumen
un kreftn vert men on,
eyder zey bakumen,
in moyl dem ershtn tson,

Rubles were swimming [are spent?],
and one loses one‘s strength,
before they get,
their first tooth in their mouth.

Di pokelekh, di mozelekh,
der tate shtelt zayn lebn ayn in kon.
Haynt traybt men mikh, aroys fun kikh,
ikh hob zikh nit vu ahintsuton.

The pocks, the measles;
the father risks his life.
Today, I am driven out of the kitchen,
I don‘t have anywhere to go.