“Mir zenen zikh klezmorimlekh” Performed by Zvika Blusztejn

Mir zenen zikh klezmorimlekh / We are little musicans
Sung by Zvika Blusztejn, submitted by Eddy Portnoy

Zvika Blusztejn

Mir zenen zikh klezmoremlekh
mit hertselekh vos filn.
Khotsh navenad un oremlekh
Nor halt men in eyn shpiln

We are little klezmorim
with hearts that feel.
Though homeless and poor
we keep on playing

Un ven der soyne, akh un akh
Tif in hartsn tut a shtokh
A zemerl vos darf men nokh
der veytok undz tsu shtiln?

And when the enemy, woe and woe,
stabs us in our hearts
what more do you need than a tune
to quiet the pain?

Ven arum undz brent a fayer
un di faynt undz tuen vey,
ersht dos lebn, s’iz un tayer
shpilt men oyf tsu lokhes zey.

When around us a fire burns
and the enemy hurts us,
Then our life which we hold dear.
we play to spite them. 

A zemerl, a lidele,
Fun trern un fun freyd.
Oyf tats un bas un fidele
Oyf paykele, oyf fleyt.

A tune, a melody
of tears and of joy.
On cymbal, on bass and fiddle.
Oy, tshiribiri, tshiribiri bim bom….

Ay, ay, ay, ay

Commentary by Eddy Portnoy, Academic advisor and director of exhibitions at the YIVO Institute

The singer of this song, Zvika Blusztejn, was born in Brussels in the early 1930s to migrants from Poland. During World War II, he was given a false identity and hidden in a school in the Belgian countryside, where he survived the war. His parents, however, were both sent to Auschwitz in 1942, where they were murdered. He returned to Brussels after the war and discovered he had an uncle who survived. His uncle wanted him to be able to read and write Yiddish, so he sent him to a secular “Sunday School” and also arranged for private Yiddish lessons at home given by a teacher from the Sunday School. He learned this song as part of his lessons. Because Belgium did not have citizenship by birth, Zvika was not permitted to remain there. He became involved with the Borokhov section of the Left Labor Zionists in Brussels and left for Israel in 1950 where he lives today.

Special thanks for this post to Zvika Blusztstejn, Eddy Portnoy and Eliezer Niborski

מיר זענען זיך קלעזמאָרימלעך
געזונגען פֿון צבֿיקה בלושטיין
מיר זענען זיך קלעזמאָרימלעך
.מיט הערצעלעך וואָס פֿילן

כאָטש נע־ונד און אָרעמלעך
.נאָר האַלט מען אין איין שפּילן
,און ווען דער  שׂונא, אַך און אַך
.טיף אין האַרצן טוט אַ שטאָך

אַ זמרל, וואָס דאַרף מען נאָך
?דער ווייטיק אונדז צו שטילן
ווען אַרום אונדז ברענט אַ פֿײַער
,און די פֿײַנט אונדז טוען וויי

ערשט דאָס לעבן, ס’איז אונדז טײַער
.שפּילט מען אויף צו להכעיס זיי
אַ זמרל, אַ לידעלע
פֿון טרערן און פֿון פֿרייד

,אויף טאַץ און באַס און פֿידעלע
.אויף פּײַקעלע, אויף פֿלייט
אוי, טשירי, טשירי בים באָם
אײַ, אײַ, אײַ

PS  – AUTHOR AND ORIGINAL TEXT FOUND!  In the poetry book for children put together by Yeshaye Zandberg titled “Hant-in-hant”,  Brussels, 1945, we have found the author of the song – “P. Blank” and the complete text. Attached are the pages from the book that contain the original text and the pages just of the song. Thanks to Zvika Blusztejn we now have the melody.

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“Yosef, Yosef iz a voyler ying” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Yosef, Yosef iz a voyler ying / Joseph, Joseph is a Swell Guy
A fragment of a Purim play sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn, NY 1954

Purim shpil, United Orthodox Synagogues,
Houston, TX

Yosef, Yosef iz a voyler ying.
Er meyg dokh trugn dem keysers ring.
Yosef, Yosef iz voyler parshoyn.
Se kimt im untsitin di kroyn. 

Joseph, Joseph is a swell guy
He should wear the emperor’s ring. 
Joseph, Joseph is a swell fellow.
He deserves to wear the crown. 

.יוסף, יוסף איז אַ וווילער יונג
.ער מעג דאָך טראָגן דעם קייסערס רינג
,יוסף, יוסף איז אַ וווילער פּאַרשוין
.קומט אים אָנצוטון די קרוין

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

In her small town of Zvinyetshke in the Bukovina region, Purim “shpiler” would go from house to house performing a short skit – either about the story of Purim, or about David and Goliath among others. But the most popular theme of the Purim play was the Biblical story of the selling of Joseph  known as “Mekhires yoysef” מכירת יוסף  In this blog we have earlier printed a longer song from the same play, sung by Lifshe at this link:

“Pitifers vab” – A Purim Play Song Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Purim plays were full of anachronisms, often to comic effect. Itzik Manger’s “Purim shpil” would be a more recent well-known example. In “Yosef, Yosef” calling the Pharaoh an “emperor”, a “keyser”, might have been a touch of humor.  

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¨Ekh volt mekh gern erkindikt¨ Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

איך וואָלט מיך גערן ערקונדיקט / Ekh volt mekh gern erkindikt / I would like to find out
A lament of a childless woman sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW]

photo: LSW with her son Mordkhe Schaechter, Chernovitz, 1930s. 

To be a childless Jewish woman – an עקרה (akore) – in the shtetl was a tragedy. In this moving song we hear her lament, comparing herself to a tree that cannot bear fruit and therefore withers away. Very few Yiddish akore songs have been collected. LSW was recorded by Leybl Kahn in 1954, NY. This recording first appeared on the cassette “Az di furst avek: A Yiddish Folksinger from the Bukovina”, Global Village Music, 1986.

Ekh volt mekh gern erkindikt
Vus ikh ho azoyne groyse zind.
Vus ikh hob mekh azoy farzindikt.
Ekh bin farsholtn fin a kind.

I would like to know
what great sins have I? 
How have I so sinned,
to be cursed with no children? 

Der numen “mame” iz a groys vinder, 
Voyl iz der mame ven zi azoyns hert. 
Ekh bin farsholtn fin kinder.
“Mame” tsi hern bin ikh gur nisht vert.

The name “mother” is a great wonder.
Blessed is the other who hears this word,
I am cursed with no children.
I am not worthy to hear “mother”. 

Vus far a vert hot der boym
un peyres in un tsvagn. 
Er ligt ba dr’erd d in vert getsert
Im iz nebekh tsi baklugn.

What good is a tree
with no fruit and with no branches?
It lays on the ground and withers away.
It is only to be pitied. 

איך וואָלט מיך גערן ערקינדיקט
איך וואָלט מיך גערן ערקינדיקט
.וואָס איך האָב אַזוינע גרויסע זינד
.וואָס איך האָב מיך אַזוי פֿאַרזינדיקט
.איך בין פֿאַרשאָלטן פֿון אַ קינד

.דער נאָמען „מאַמע” איז אַ גרויס וווּנדער
.ווויל איז דער מאַמע, וואָס זי אַזוינס הערט
.איך בין פֿאַרשאָלטן פֿון קינדער
.מאַמע” צו הערן בין איך גאָר נישט ווערט¨

וואָס פֿאַר אַ ווערט האָט דער בוים
?אָן פּרות און אָן צווײַגן
.ער ליגט בײַ דר’ערד און ווערט געצערט
.אים איז נעבעך צו באַקלאָג

“Az di furst avek” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

אַז דו פֿאָרסט אַוועק / Az di furst avek / When You Leave
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.

photo: “Morning Train (Soldier’s Farewell) by Thomas Hart Benson, 1943

Az di furst avek, oy, az di furst avek.
Af veymen zhe lozti meykh iber.
Az di furst avek. Az di furst avek
Ven zhe mir zikh nokh a mol zeyn vider. 

Loz mir dayn bild, oy, loz mir dayn bild.
Efsher vel ikh mekh kenen treystn.
Az ekh vel es unkikn, vel ikh meynen az di shteyst far mir.
Efsher vel ekh on dir kenen fargesn. 

Oy, veyn nisht lyubitshku. Oy, veyn nisht dushenyu.
Mit keyn geveyn, zolsti tse mir nit reydn.
Vayl s’iz dokh shoyn gekimen, di imgliklekhe shtunde,
Az mir beyde miz me zikh tsesheydn. 

Oy, az di ban, oy, hot gegibn deym ershtn faf
Mit trern zenen farlofn mayne oygn. 
Ersht bisti geveyn. Ersht hob ikh dekh gezeyn.
In eyne, tsvey minitn bisti farfloygn. 
Ersht bisti geveyn. Ersht hob ikh dekh gezeyn.
In eyne, tsvey minitn bisti farfloygn. 

In az di ban, oy, iz avekgegan,
geblibn bin ikh aleyn shteyn.
Oy gevald, ikh khalesh. Oy gevald, ikh shtarb.
Oy gevald, ekh bin elnt vi a shteyn. 

ENGLISH TRANSLATION

When you leave, oh, when you leave
with whom are you leaving me?
When you leave, oh, when you leave,
When will we see each other again?

Leave me your picture, oh, leave me your picture.
Maybe it will comfort me.
When I will look at it, I’ll think you’re standing before me.
Maybe I will be able to forget you. 

Oh, don’t cry my love, oh don’t cry my sweetheart.
You should not speak to me with tears.
For the unhappy hour has arrived,
when we must depart. 

Oh, when the train blew the first whistle,
my eyes filled up with tears.
You were just here, I just saw you.
And in one, two minutes, you flew away.

An when the train departed,
I was left standing alone.
Woe is me, I’m fainting. Woe is me, I’m dying.
Woe is me – I’m as lonely as a stone. 

אַז דו פֿאָרסט אַוועק
געזונגען פֿון ליפֿשע שעכטער־ווידמאַן

אַז די פֿאָרסט אַוועק, אוי, אַז דו פֿאָרסט אַוועק
?אויף וועמען לאָזסטו מיך איבער
.אַז דו פֿאָרסט אַוועק. אַז דו פֿאָרסט אַוועק
?ווען וועלן מיר זיך נאָך אַ מאָל זען ווידער

.לאָז מיר דײַן בילד, אוי, לאָז מיר דײַן בילד
.אפֿשר וועל איך מיך קענען טרייסטן
.אַז איך וועל עס אָנקוקן, וועל איך מיינען, אַז דו שטייסט פֿאַר מיר
.אפֿשר וועל איך אָן דיר קענען פֿאַרגעסן

.דו וויינסט, ליוביטשקו, אוי, וויין נישט דושעניו
.מיט קיין געוויין, זאָלסטו צו מיר נישט ריידן
ווײַל ס’איז שוין דאָך געקומען די אומגליקלעכע שטונדע, [שעה]
.אַז מיר ביידע מוז מיר זיך צעשיידן

און אַז די באַן האָט געגעבן דעם ערשטן פֿײַף 
.מיט טרערן זענען פֿאַרלאָפֿן מײַנע אויגן
.ערשט ביסטו געווען. ערשט האָב איך דיך געזען
.אין איינע, צוויי מינוטן ביסטו פֿאַרפֿלויגן
,און אַז די באַן, אוי, איז אַוועקגעגאַן

.געבליבן בין איך אַליין שטיין
.אוי גוואַלד! איך חלש.אוי גוואַלֹד איך ! איך שטאַרב
.אוי גוואַלֹד איך בין עלנט ווי אַ שטיין

COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN

As before, I have transliterated Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s (LSW’s) Yiddish into English letters adhering as best as I could to her Bukovina dialect. To see the song written in standard Yiddish, please look at the Yiddish text in Yiddish letters, below.

This song by LSW was included in the casette “Az di furst avek” (Global Village,1986). A similar melody and motif to “Az di furst avek” cassette can be heard in the song “Oy, forn forstu fun mir avek”. Though in that version the lover is leaving for Tsarist conscription. Dora Wasserman’s performance of the song can be heard at this link in the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s website:

The printed words and music of this version can be found in the collection Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, p. 39 – 40.

LSW’s powerful and emotional rendering of the song is heartbreaking. The lyrical folk poetry paints the tragic farewell scene dramatically, culminating in the killer last line, “Oy gevald ikh bin elnt vi a shteyn” – “Woe is me, I am left as lonely as a stone”.

When LSW’s daughter Beyle Gottesman sang the song, she sang שעה “sho” instead of the German, “shtunde” meaning “hour”.

“Simkhe mit zayn yidene” Performed by Tillie Fishman

Simkhe mit zayn yidene (Simkhe and His Wife), words by Yosel Cutler, music by M.M. Warshawsky. Sung by Tillie Fishman, recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg 1979, Baltimore. This recording is found in the Gertrude Nitzberg Collection at the Jewish Museum of Maryland.

“Self-portrait” Yosl Cutler.

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

Artist and Yiddish writer Yosl Cutler (1896 – 1930) included this poem in his book Muntergang (1934). The text is sung to the melody of M.M. Warshavsky’s Passover song Tayere Malke (Dear Malke), which is well-known due to its inclusion in the annual Worker’s Circle Third Seder. Fishman sings a 7-verse version. In Cutler’s original text (attached) there are 10 verses. Though the song was very popular among the Yiddish left, the only recordings I could find are in a 1930s short film of the NY-based Yiddish puppet theater Modicut, created by Zuni Maud and Yosl Cutler, and in a more recent production by Jenny Romaine and the Great Small Works theater, Muntergang and Other Cheerful Downfalls (2016) – you can see Great Small Works performance of the song in the below excerpt starting at 9:23:

Tillie Fishman says that she changed some words which she found inappropriate. This includes a line about the strikers beating up the landlord. The charm and humor of the song is the repetition of the rhyme “farshidene” (various) and “yidene” (old fashioned woman, wife). The text’s tragic tale is given an ironic twist by Warshawsky’s sing-song melody.

Thanks this week to Lorin Sklamberg and the YIVO sound archive, Eddy Portnoy and Jenny Romaine.

Oy, Simkhe hot gearbet 
bay shleser farshidene. 
hot er hot gehat a sakh arbet
hot im geholfn zayn yidene. 

Oy, Simkhe labored
on various locks.
When he had a lot of work,
he was helped by his wife.
Bim-bom…

Oysgelozt di shleser.
Nishtu mer keyn shleser
hot er gekrogn a plats
un iz gevorn a preser.

The work on locks ended;
no more locks.
So he got a place
and became a presser.

Hot er geprest un gebiglt
af kleyder farshidene.
Az er hot gehat a sakh presn
hot geprest di yidene.
Bim-bam…

So he ironed and pressed
various clothes.
When he had much to iron
his wife ironed too.

Oysgelozt dus presn
nishtu mer keyn presn
iz er gezesn leydik
un hot nisht gehat vus tsu esn.

The ironing came to an end.
No more ironing.
So he sat empty
and had nothing to eat.

Hot er gekrekhst un gezifst
mit krektsn farshidene.
Hot gehat a sakh krekhtsn,
hot gekrekhtset di yidene.

So he moaned and groaned
various moans.
When he had many moans,
his wife also groaned.

Iz ungekimen shlekhte tsaytn
mit frest farshidene
Hot der “landlord” aroysgevorfn
Simkhe mit der yidene.

Bad times arrived
with various freezes.
So the landlord threw out
Simkhe and his wife.

Iz ongekimen skheynim
mit ‘straykers’ farshidene
un hot tsurik arayngeshtelt
Simkhe mit zayn yidene
Bim-bam…

So neighbors arrived
with various strikers
and put back in his place
Simkhe and his wife.

Song as printed in Yosl Cutler’s book Muntergang (1934), p. 19:

“Vi zent ir geveyn?” Performed by Rose Jaffe

Vi zent ir geveyn? / Where were you? / ?וווּ ביסטו געווען
A Holocaust adaptation of a popular Yiddish song. Sung by Rose (Roza/Reyzl) Jaffe. Recorded by Itzik Gottesman at the Worker’s Circle’s “Circle Lodge”, Sylvan Lake, Hopewell Junction, NY, approx. 1987.

Rose Jaffe

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:

I met Rose Jaffe on the way to the dining hall in the Worker’s Circle retreat at Circle Lodge, approximately in 1986. She was from the town of Khotyn in Bessarabia, today Ukraine. 

This song is a Holocaust adaptation of the popular ironic Zionist Yiddish folksong “Avu bistu geven?” which referred humorously to the building of the state of Israel and more specifically to life on the kibbutz. The text and music can be found in Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, p. 235. You can hear Rubin’s field recording of singer Bess Kleinman at this link.

The text of another version can be found in the journal מאסף. M’asef, 3-4, August 1972 from the collection of Menashe Gefen, pages 88 – 89. 

In the song Jaffe refers to Fred Sharaga, a representative of the Joint Jewish Distribution Committee who took Jewish orphan children of Romania to safety.

Rose Jaffe has a significant presence on social media. For the Yiddish Forward newspaper she demonstrates how to make kashe varnishkes and has a ten-part autobiography on YouTube. Here is a short interview with her:

Spoken by Jaffe: 

“Ikh ken zikh nisht dermonen funem onheyb.”
I can’t remember the beginning

Vi zent ir geveyn? 
Vi zent ir geveyn?
Tokhterl mayn getraye.
Tokhter mayn getrayer
Geveyzn in Kapay
Gearbet vi far dray
Mame s’iz geveyzn a mekhaye.

Vi zent ir geshlufn ?
Vi zent ir geshlufn?
Kinderlekh mayne getraye.
Kinderlekh mayne getraye.
Geshlufn af der brik.
Gevorn shir dershtikt.
Mame s’iz geveyzn a mekhaye

Vus hot ir gegesn
Vus hot ir gegesn?
Kinderlekh mayne getraye
Kinderlekh mayne getraye. 
Gegesn kartofle־yukh [yoykh],
gegrimt hot es indz in bukh [boykh]. 
Mame, s’iz geveyzn a mekhaye. 

Vus’et [vet] zayn der sof?
Vus ‘et zayn der sof?
Kinderlekh mayne getraye.
Kinderlekh mayne getraye.
Sharaga  vet kimen
Un vet indz farnemen
Un in Romanye vet zayn a mekhaye

Jaffee speaks: 
Sharaga iz geveyn a yid vos er hot aroysgenimen ole kinder vus zenen geblibn nukh der milkhume, un eltern, di yesoymem. Men iz gekimen un m’hot indz genemen, ole genemen keyn Rumeynye in Sharaga iz geveyn eyner fin deym. 
Sharaga was a Jew who took all the children that were left after the war, without parents, orphans. The came and took all of us to Romania, and Sharaga was one of them. 

(spoken) Itzik Gottesman:
Ven hot ir dus lid gehert?
When did you hear this?

Jaffee:
Dus iz geveyn…dus iz a lid fin, arim, dray un fertsik, fir un fertsik. 
This was around 1943, 1944.

Gottesman:
Ir zent geveyn in lager ven ir hot dus gehert? 
You were in the camp when you heard it?

Jaffee:
Ikh bin geveyn in Transnistria. 
I was in Transnistria

Gottesman:
Which ones? Where?

Jaffe:
Ikh bin geveyn in Popovits, Shargarod, Kapaygorod; in a sakh pletser. Ober dakht zikh in Popovits hot men indz genemen keyn Berlat. 
I was in Popovits, Shargarod, Kapaygorod; in many places.  But I think in Popovits they took us to Berlat. 

Gottesman:
Ir zent geveyn a kind?
You were a child?

Translation

Where were you?
Where were you?
My faithful daughter.
My faithful daughter.
We were in Kapay
and labored for three.
Mother, it was a pleasure.

Where did you sleep?
Where did you sleep?
My faithful children.
We slept on the floor,
we were almost smothered.
Mother is was a pleasure.

What did you eat?
What did you eat?
My faithful children. 
We ate potato broth
It gave us stomach cramps
Mother it was a pleasure. 

How will this all end?
How will this all end?
My faithful children. 
Sharaga will come
and take us all away,
and in Romania it will be a pleasure.

געזונגען פֿון ראָוז (רייזל/ראָזע) דזשאַפֿע
פֿאַרשריבן פֿון איציק גאָטעסמאַן

?וווּ ביסטו געווען
?וווּ ביסטו געווען
טאָכטער מײַן געטרײַע
.טאָכטער מײַן געטרײַע
געוועזן אין קאַפּײַ
געאַרבעט ווי פֿאַר דרײַ
.מאַמע, ס’איז געוועזן אַ מחיה

?וווּ זענט איר געשלאָפֿן
?וווּ זענט איר געשלאָפֿן
קינדערלעך, מײַנע געטרײַע
.קינדערלעך מײַנע געטרײַע
געשלאָפֿן אויף דער בריק
.געוואָרן שיעור דערשטיקט
.מאַמע, ס’איז געוועזן אַ מחיה

?וואָס האָט איר געגעסן
?וואָס האָט איר געגעסן
.קינדערלעך, מײַנע געטרײַע
.קינדערלעך מײַנע געטרײַע
,געגעסן קאַרטאָפֿל־יויך
.געגרימט האָט עס אין בויך
.מאַמע ס’איז געוועזן אַ מחיה

?וואָס וועט זײַן דער סוף
?וואָס וועט זײַן דער סוף
קינדערלעך, מײַנע געטרײַע
.קינדערלעך, מײַנע געטרײַע
שאַראַגע וועט קומען
און וועט אונדז פֿאַרנעמען
און רומעניע וועט קומען 
.און אין רומעניע וועט זײַן אַ מחיה

:דזשאַפֿע:
 שאַראַגע איז געווען אַ ייִד וואָס ער האָט אַרויסגענומען אַלֹע קינדער וואָס זענען געבליבן נאָך דער מלחמה, אָן עלטערן, די יתומיםץ מען איז געקומען און מ’האָט אונדז גענעמען קיין רומעניע און שאַראַגע איז געווען איינער פֿון דעם

:גאָטעסמאַן 
?ווען האָט איר דאָס געהערט

:דזשאַפֿע
.דאָס איז געווען…דאָס איז אַ ליד פֿון, אַרום, דרײַ און פֿערציק, פֿיר און פֿערציק

:גאָטעסמאַן
?איר זענט געווען אין לאַגער ווען איר האָט דאָס געהערט

:דזשאַפֿע
.איך בין געווען אין טראַנסניסטריע

:גאָטעסמאַן 
?וועלכע? וווּ

:דזשאַפֿע 
איך בין געווען אין פּאָפּאָוויץ, קראָפּאָוויץ, שאַרגעראָד, קאַפּײַגאָראָדץ. אין אַ סך פּלעצער. אַבער דאַכט זיך אין פּאָפּאָוויץ
.האָט מען אונדז גענעמען קיין בערלאַט

:גאָטעסמאַן
?איר זענט געווען אַ קינד

“Dire-gelt”: A lid fun a shlekhtn balebus Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

“Dire-gelt” A lid fun a shlekhtn balebus
דירה־געלט: א ליד פֿון א שלעכטן באַלעבאָס
Rent-Money, A Song of a Wicked Landlord, an alternate version of “Dire-gelt” sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman. Recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954

Photo of collector Leybl Kahn, Bronx 1980s, by Itzik Gottesman 

Lifshe speaks: “Fin a shlekhtn bal’bus [balebus], a lid”…

Kimt aran der balabus
mitn grobn shtekn:
“Tsult ir nisht keyn dire-gelt,
varf ikh aroys di betn.”

The landlord enters
with a big stick:
“If you don’t pay the rent
I’ll throw out the beds”

Refrain: 
Dire-gelt, oy, oy, oy.            The rent-money – oy, oy, oy
Dire-gelt azoy, azoy.           The rent-money – so it is. 
Dire-gelt dem balabus.       Rent-money for the landlord
Dire-gelt, far vus iz dus?     Rent-money , why is this?

Far vus zol ikh aykh tsuln dire-gelt
az di kekh iz mir tsebrokhn.
Far vus zol ikh aykh tsuln dire-gelt,
di kekh zi vil nisht kokhn?

Why should I pay you rent-money
if the stove is broken. 
Why should I pay you rent-money
if the stove doesn’t want to cook?

Refrain:

Dire-gelt, oy, oy, oy               The rent-money, oy, oy, oy
Dire-gelt dem balabus          Rent for the landlord.
Dire-gelt azoy, azoy.             Rent-money, so it is.
Dire-gelt far vus i’ dus?        Rent-money, why is this?

“Az ir vet nisht tsuln keyn dire-gelt
varf aykh aroys di betn. 
Az ir vet nit tsuln keyn dire-gelt
vet ir zikh farnemen .”

If you don’t pay the rent money
I will throw out the beds
I you don’t pay the rent money
you can scram.

Dire-gelt, oy, oy, oy
Dire-gelt azoy, azoy.
Dire-gelt dem balabus
Dire-gelt, far vus iz dus?

דירה־געלט

געזונגען פֿון ליפֿשע שעכטער־ווידמאַן, זוויניעטשקע, בוקעווינע

קומט אַרײַן דער באַלעבאָס
.מיטן גראָבן שטעקן
צאָלט איר נישט קיין דירה־געלט
.וואַרף איך אַרויס די בעטן

:רעפֿרען:

 דירה־געלט, אוי, אוי, אוי
דירה געלט אַזוי, אַזוי
,דירה־געלט דעם באַלעבאָס
?דירה־געלט, פֿאַר וואָס איז דאָס

,פֿאַר וואָס זאָל איך אײַך צאָלן דירה־געלט
.די קיך איז מיר צעבראָכן
,פֿאַר וואָס זאָל איך אײַך צאָלן דירה־געלט
?די קיך זי וויל נישט קאָכן

:רעפֿרען

דירה־געלט אוי, אוי, אוי
דירה־געלט דעם באַלאַבוס
דירה־געלט אַזוי,אַזוי
?דירה־געלט פֿאַר וואָס איז דאָס

,אַז איר’ט ניט צאָלן קיין דירה־געלט
.וואַרף איך אַרויס די בעטן
,אַז איר וועט ניט צאָלן קיין דירה־געלט
וועט איר זיך פֿאַרנעמען.־

:רעפֿרען

.דירה־געלט, אוי, אוי, אוי
דירה געלט אַזוי, אַזוי
דיר־געלט דעם באַלעבאָס
?דירה־געלט, פֿאַר וואָס איז דאָס

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

LSW’s version was transcribed, music and text in the YIVO journal Yidisher folklor, March 1962, vol. 1, no. 3, page 54. In that printed text, the second verse is “Di tep iz mir tsebrokhn” (The pots are broken). Perhaps this change was done after consulting with Lifshe. 

In the Mlotek song book collection Mir trogn a gezang (p. 76-77), now on line, the more popular version is found. There are several commercial recordings of this version. In the Ruth Rubin Archive there are two recordings of  the song. Teddi Schwartz sings the song quite differently and Ruth Rubin sings the more well-known version. Both versions can be heard by clicking here.

“Tsi veyst ir, fraynd, vos iz haynt?” Performed by Zev Engel

?צי ווייסט איר, פֿרײנד, וואָס איז הײנט / Tsi veyst ir, fraynd, vos iz haynt? / Do you know, friend, what is today?
A song for Rosh-khoydesh Elul sung by Zev Engel

Zev Engel

Zev Engel’s Grandparents

Tsu [Tsi] veyst ir fraynd, vos iz haynt
vemen hobn mir far a gast?
Vos hayntike nakht hot undz gebrakht
Rosh-khoydesh Elul af der velt.

Rosh-khoydesh Elul aleyn iz gekumen tsu geyn
mit zayn favyestke [povyestke] hot er gebrakht.
Er ruft oys umetum, az men zol vern frum.
Ay, ay, ay, ay….

צי ווייסט איר פֿרײַנד, וואָס איז הײַנט
?וועמען האָבן מיר פֿאַר אַ גאַסט
?וואָס הײַנטיקע נאַכט האָט אונדז געבראַכט
.ראָש־חודש אלול אויף דער וועלט

ראָש־חודש אלול אַליין איז געקומען צו גיין
.מיט זײַן פֿאַוויעסטקע [פּאָוויעסטקע] האָט ער געבראַכט
.ער רופֿט אויס אומעטום, אַז מען זאָל ווערן פֿרום
.אײַ, אײַ, אײַ אײַ אײַ אײַ

Do you know my friend, what is today?
Whom we have for a guest?
What tonight has brought us?
Rosh-khoydesh Elul all over the world.

The eve of Elul has come to us,
summoning us.
He calls everywhere:
we should become pious.
Ay, ay, ay ay, ay

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

Rosh-khoydesh Elul is the first day of the Jewish month of Elul, traditionally a month of repentence and reflection. Zev Engel the singer, writes “My grandmother used to sing this song to us as children. She learned this song from her mother.” He believes his grandmother came from the Ukraine, and then settled in the Hasidic Williamsburg neighborhood. His grandmother was close to the Stoliner rebbe and his followers. The Hasidic songwriter Yom Tov Ehrlich, also a follower of Stolin, played clarinet at his mother’s wedding. 

The one word that gave us trouble was “פּאָוויעסטקע/povyestke” which he sings as “favyestke/פֿאַוויעסטקע”. Perhaps it is a regional dialect or he misremembered.

Thanks this week to Michael Lukin, Jeanette Lewicki, Eliezer Niborski and Zev Engel, Yelena Shmulenson.

“Oy, der heyser tog fargeyt” Performed by Marsha Gildin

אוי, דער הייסער טאָג פֿאַרגייט / Oy, der heyser tog fargeyt / O, the hot day sets
A Tisha-b’ov song from Camp Boiberik, NY sung by Marsha Gildin
Words by Mani Leib, music by Meyer Posner
Recorded by Marsha Gildin, NYC, June 2023.

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

This song was only sung in Camp Boiberik, and only sung once a summer at the annual evening Tisha b’ov ceremony at camp. It was composed by Meyer Posner (1890 – 1931) who in the 1920s was a music counselor/teacher at Boiberik, a Yiddish cultural camp near Rhinebeck, New York. The camp was part of the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute which had established many Yiddish schools across the country.

 For more on Posner’s life and extensive work see the Milken Archive post on Posner at this link.

The lyrics of the song were written by the poet Mani Leib (1883 – 1953), pen name for Mani-Leib Brahinski .  He was the leading poet of the American Yiddish literary movement called “Di yunge” (the young ones) emphasizing mood and mystery.

Though the song “Oy, der heyser tog fargeyt” is not specifically about Tisha b’ov, it sets a somber mood appropriate for the Jewish fast day. At Boiberik, the Tisha b’ov ceremony included a memorial to the Holocaust.

The singer Marsha Gildin was a camper at Boiberik from 1961 – 1966, and a CIT (counselor in training) in 1968. Earlier generations of the Gildin family had been coming to Boiberik for many years.

The Yiddish text below is from the 1963 “Camp Boiberik Songbook” (you can see the entire book at this link).

Thanks this week to Marsha Gildin and Emily Socolov.

TRANSLITERATION

Oy, der heyser tog fargeyt.
Un der kiler ovnt veyt.
Un dos kind farmatert shteyt
noent bay mayn tir.

Kum mayn kind tsu mir.
Kum may kind tsu mir.
Shteyt dayn tish mit milkh un broyt
ongegreyt far dir.

Di levone shvimt aroys.
Kalt un umetik un groys.
Est dos kind un groys un heys
falt arop zayn trer.

Kum mayn kind aher,
Kum mayn kind aher.
Leyg dayn kop bay mir in shoys
un antshlofn ver.

TRANSLATION

O, the hot day sets
And the cool evening blows.
And the exhausted child stands
Near to my door.

Come my child to me.
Come my child to me.
Your table stands ready with bread and milk,
already prepared for you.

The moon swims out.
Cold and sad and large.
The child eats, and large and hot
drops down his tear.

Come my child here,
Come my child here.
Put your head in my lap
And fall asleep.

¨Vi iz dus meydele?¨ Performed by Lifshe Schaechter Widman

Vi iz dus meydele? / Where Is The Girl?
A Yiddish children’s game song from Bukovina. Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.

Image: YIVO Institute

Leybl Kahn (spoken): Vi heyst dos lid?

LSW: (spoken) A kindershpil. Kinder hobn zikh arimgenemen in a rud. In m’ot eynem tsigebin’en di oygn; geveyntlekh a yingele hot men tsigebinen di oygn in er fleygt arimgeyn in zingen.

LSW: A children’s game. Children held each other in a circle and they blindfolded someone; usually a boy was blindfolded. And he went around singing this: 

LSW sings: 

Vi iz dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt. 
Ikh vel ir geybn a shisele mit gold.
Efsher shteyt zi dort bay der tir.
Meydele, oy meydele, kim arayn tse mir.

Where is the girl that I wanted.
I will give her a golden plate. 
Maybe she is standing there at the door.
Girl, o, girl come inside to me.  

Vi i’dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt?
Ikh vel ir geybn a ringele fin gold.
Kim shoyn meydele, kim arayn tsi mir.
Meydele, oy, sheyne, shtey nisht bay der tir.

Where is the girl that I wanted?
I will give her a golden ring.
Come already girl, come inside to me.
Girl, o, pretty one, don’t stand by the door. 

LSW (spoken) Azoy fleygt men arimloyfn biz m’ot gekhapt dos meydele un dernokh iz men gegangen mit an andern.

LSW: In this way they ran around till they caught a girl and then they chose another

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע
קינדערליד און שפּיל פֿון דער בוקעווינע
געזונגען פֿון ליפֿשע שעכטער ־ווידמאַן
רעקאָרדירט פֿון לייבל כּהן, 1954, נ”י

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע וואָס איך האָב זי געוואָלט
.איך וועל איר געבן אַ שיסעלע מיט גאָלד
.אפֿשר שטייט זי דאָרט בײַ דער טיר
.מיידעלע, אוי, מיידעלע קום אַרײַן צו מיר

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע וואָס איך האָב זי געוואָלט
.איך וועל איר געבן אַ רינגעלע פֿון גאָלד
.קום שוין מיידעלע, קום אַרײַן צו מיר
.מיידעלע, אוי, שיינע, שטיי נישט בײַ דער טיר

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

This is a shtetl version of Blind Man’s Bluff or “Blinde ku”(Blind cow) sung by the boy. In the collection of Ginzburg and Marek Yiddish Folksongs in Russia, 1901, there is a one verse song that might be what the girl would sing when it is her turn (No. 208, page 168)

Vu iz dus bokherl vos hot mikh gevolt?
Vos hot mir tsugezogt a “fazeile” [fatsheyle] mit gold?
Dortn shteyt er unter der vant.
Halt di “fazeile” in der hant. 

Where is the boy who wanted me?
Who promised me a kerchief full of gold. 
There he is standing at the wall.
Holding the kerchief in his hand.