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
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.
The Yiddish Mate Tea Song / דאָס ייִדישע מאַטע־טייליד Sung by Clara Bitman, recorded by Itzik Gottesman 1980s.
Clara Bitman learned this song in the 1950s in the Zhitlovsky-shul in Buenos-Aires; a school that was part of the leftist Yidishe kultur-farband organization in Argentina. She sang it at a Yugntruf “shraybkrayz” [writing circle] in NYC in the 1980s. Thanks this week to Janina Wurbs and Emily Socolov.
The Yiddish Mate Tea Song
Mume Zlate trinkt a mate un farbayst a kikhl. Nokh a mate gist on Zlate farn feter Mikhl.
Aunt Zlate drinks mate and snacks on a cookie. Another mate Zlate pours for her uncle Mikhl.
Feter Mikhl neyt a shikhl mit der rekhter hant. Mit der linker, mate trinkt er, trinken zey banand.
Uncle Mikhl sews a shoe with his right hand. WIth his left he drinks mate. So all three drink together.
Kumt fun shul der kleyner Shmulik, hungerik farbayst. Gist im Zlate on a mate; trinken ale dray.
Little Shmulik comes home from school hungry, so he snacks. Zlate pours for him a mate, So all three drink.
Fun a tetsl nasht dos ketsl milekh mitn hintl. Do a lek, do a shmek sara lib gezindl.
The kitten snacks from a saucer some milk with the puppy. Here a lick, there a whiff – what a loving family.
Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/I and My Darling Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], Recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954
Painting by Yosl Bergner (1920-2017) “The Wedding”
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This song has the same melody as the folksong “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” recorded by Ruth Rubin and can be heard as a field recording sung by her in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO.
The melody and text of “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” is printed on p. 94, in the collection Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive. Scans of those pages are attached.
The melody also begins the “Rumshinsky Bulgar” recorded by a number of klezmer groups including Marilyn Lerner on her recording “Romanian Fantasy”
LSW’s daughter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman who heard the song from LSW many times, typed out the words in the 1970s and moved the first fragmented verse of LSW to the last verse. I suggest any singer of this song follow this change which makes sense logically: the couple are married at the end
Thanks to Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, Christina Crowder, Josh Horowitz, Joel Rubin, Martin Schwartz and many others who pointed out similar variants.
Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/My Darling and I [Ikh vel zayn dayn ]…tabele. [This should be the last verse not the first] Gliklekh veln mir beyde zan. Az ekh vel zayn dayn vabele un di vest zayn mayn tayerer man
[I will be your dear] dove. How happy we will be, When I am you dear wife And you will be my dear husband.
Ikh un mayn lyubitshke; mayn mame in der mit. Ikh vil mayn lyubitstshke. Mayn mame vil zi nit.
I and my sweetheart; my mother in the middle. I want my sweetheart My mother does not.
Her ikh nisht oys mayn mames reyd Un nem mir mayn lyubitshke Vi’zoy zi shteyt un geyt.
I do not heed what my mother says. And I take my sweetheart Just as she is.
Vayl gelt iz dokh kaylekhik Un gelt geyt avek. Nem ikh mir mayn lyubitshke Un kh’fur mit ir avek.
Because money is round And money rolls away. So I take my sweetheart And go away with her.
Ekh fur mit ir avek biz keyn odes. Shtel mit ir a khipe s’gedoyert a mis-les
I go away with her All the way to Odessa. I stand under the khupe [wedding canopy] with her in less than a day.
Gib a brukhe tsu dayn kind/ Give a Blessing to Your Child A Holocaust song learned in the Bochnia ghetto, Poland. Sung by Sara Rosen, recorded by Itzik Gottesman, 1989, NYC.
Photo: Children in Bochnia
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
This is a Holocaust song from the Bochnia ghetto sung by Sara Rosen. The author and composer of the song are unknown. Rosen learned this song in the Bochnia ghetto. For her biography see the previous post “Es dremlt in geto”.
A post-Holocaust recording of this song can be listened to on the album Remember the Children, 1991. Sung by Adrienne Cooper, #18 on the recording produced by the United States Holocaust Museum.
Printed versions of this song, words and music, can be found in We Are Here/Mir zenen do (1983) compiled by Eleonor Mlotek and Malke Gottlieb. (scans attached – “Rosen/Mlotek) and in Shmerke Kaczerginsky’s Lider fun di getos un lagern: text 208 – 209; no music. (scans attached “Rosen/Katsh”). Mlotek and Gottlieb write that “This song was sung by the deported Jews of Cracow in Miedzrych Podlaska and in the Bochnia ghetto in 1941.”
Much of the last verse in my recording of Rosen is missing due to technical issues [approx.5:50 min – 6.00Min I would advise any singers of this song to make up the gap with Katsherginski’s version, which he recorded from Meyer Lamer. מאיר לאמער
The music of this song was used in the first Bobov Purim Shpil after the Holocaust produced in the United States. In an article by Moyshe Aftergut (translated by Shifre Epstein in the website “In Geveb”), Aftergut writes:
“The music of one song, “Mame, gib dayn brukhe tsu dayn kind (“Mother, Give a Blessing to Your Child”), best illustrates the role of music in creating the setting for the play. The song was written by an unknown composer and was sung by mothers in the ghettos during World War II as farewell songs to their children before they were taken away.”
Thanks this week to Eliezer Niborski who edited my Yiddish text.
Spoken introduction to song by Sara Rosen, translated by Itzik Gottesman:
“This ws already the year 1943. There were almost no Jews left in Poland. There were a few towns where the last ones were left in labor camps. And there were already concentration camps. I remember there was a girl Fela Shtern. She said she knows a song that a young boy wrote it; she doesn’t know who wrote it. And this is how the song spread around. And it was sung a lot because we already knew this is the fate that awaited us.
There [Bochnia ghetto] where we were, maybe five families remained together. They took away a sister, they killed, led her away. There were also refugees who escaped from here and there. The original people from Bochia, even from the Bochni ghetto were very few because they were already deported. For first raid they said that young people will be taken to work. The parents forced them, even pulled the children to go. ‘You will live but we are old already.’ So almost the whole youth of Bochnia was “liquidated”, that’s what they called it. Bochnia was the town I was in. It was a small town. The parents always hoped, waited for letters from the children, but they soon knew what happened.
This was a then a popular song that I have never heard. First of all there were very few people who survived. I never heard any one sing it. I wanted to sing it because it’s such a great song; not from a poetical, musical viewpoint, but it illustrates the situation how it was.
I have a good voice but today it’s rusty, but it’s not about my voice.
VERSE 1 PLUS REFRAIN
Ikh vil nisht mer nemen gor in akht. vus ikh hob letstns mitgemakht. Zayt ikh bin fin der haym avek, di tunkle gedanken vus nemen kayn ek. Di tribne teyg, der shverer veyg zey roybn bay mir dus letste gefil. Nor amul banakht, az kayner vakht tsu man mamen in khulem vayn ikh shtil.
I don’t want to consider anymore what I suffered yesterday, Since I have left my home I have dark thoughts that are endless. The gloomy days, the difficult way, they steal away my final feeling. But sometimes at night, when no one is awake I cry to my mother in my dreams.
REFRAIN:
Oy mame, mame nokh atsind gib a brukhe tsu dayn kind. Az Got vet geybn, gezint mit leybn, veln mir zeyen zikh geshvind. Oh mama, mama, even now give a blessing to your child. As God will give, health and life, we will soon meet again.
VERSE 2 PLUS REFRAIN
Gedenk ikh nokh, es iz damolst geveyn; Der tug der letster herlekh un sheyn. In mayn mame, bay der kokh farnumen, iz di shvester di klayne arayngekumen. Ikh hob gehert nas [nayes] af der gas. Az morgn vet a registratsye zayn. Di yugnt gur, biz finf un draysik yur. zol morgn fri far “arbaytsamy” ofshtayn.
I remember still how it once was; That day the last onem beautiful and nice and my mother, busy cooking when my younger sister entered, I heard news on the street that tomorrow there will be a registration. For all those younger than 35 years they will tomorrow wake up for the workers’ office.
Oy mame, mame blayb gezint, Avek fin dir miz ikh atsind. Az Got vet geybn, gezint mit leybn, Veln mir zeyen zikh geshvind .
Oy, mother, mother stay healthy, I must now leave you. If God will give health and life we will see each other soon.
VERSE 3 PLUS REFRAIN
Kom iz adorekh di kurtse nakht, der tog der letster nemt shoyn di makht, un mayn mame git zikh di mi dus frishtik dus letste, greyt zi mir tsi. Mir gisn aroys trern yamen ale kinder fin ayn mamen. Me kisht zikh tsuzamen Di mame vaynt: Vi vel ikh mikh kenen shaydn fin aykh?
Oceans of tears are pouring from me. All children from one mother. We kiss each other, and mother cries How will I separate from you all?
Oy mame, mame blab gezint, Avek fin dir miz ikh atsind. Az Got vet geybn, gezint mit leybn, vel mir zeyen zikh geshvind.
Oy, mother, mother stay well. I must now leave you. If God will give health and life, we will see each other soon.
[Beginning of Verse 4 sung by Rosen]
A ray khadoshim avek shoyn fin mir, fin mayn mamen, fin mayn tatn vays ikh kayn shpur.. Mayne libe eltern hot der tayerer Got farviglt, farpakt in a groysn [sod?]
[RECORDING IS ERASED FOR 15 SECONDS. What follows in bold face are four similar lines from Katcherginski’s Collection to conclude the fourth verse]
Un ikh ze nisht mer mayn mames gezikht vos ikh lib mit harts un gefil… Nor a mul ba nakht, ven keyner vakht, tsi mayn mamen in khulem vayn ikh shtil.
Translation of last verse:
(Rosen) My dear parents, did the great God hide in heaven, in his great orchard. I no longer see my mother’s face that I love with my heart and emotion. (Katsherginski’s text at this point) But sometimes at night, when no one is awake, I cry quietly in my dreams to my mother:
LAST REFRAIN FROM ROSEN
Oy mame, mame blab gezint, Avek fin dir miz ikh atsind. Az got vet geybn, gezint mit laybn, vel mir zeyn zikh geshvind.
Oy, mother, mother stay healthy. I must now leave you If God will give, health and life, will we see each other again soon.
גיב אַ ברכה צו דײַן קינד ,געזונגען פֿון שרה ראָזען געהערט אין בוכניער לאַגער, פּוילן
איך וויל נישט מער נעמען גאָר אין אַכט .וואָס איך האָב לעצטנס מיטגעמאַכט זײַט איך בין פֿון דער היים אַוועק .די טונק’לע געדאַנקען וואָס נעמען קיין עק די טריבנע טעג, דער שווערער וועג זיי רויבן בײַ מיר דאָס לעצטע געפֿיל נאָר אַמאָל בײַ נאַכט, אַז קיינער וואַכט .צו מײַן מאַמען אין חלום וויין איך שטיל
My classmate from high school Eric Finkelman sent me this link to a video recording of Fay Webern from the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project saying, he had heard this song as a kid as well. Let this be the blog’s small contribution to the anti-Putin sentiment we all feel.
Tsar Nikolai, yob tvayu mat.* Zey nor mit veymen di host khasene gehat. A kurve, a blate, an oysgetrente shmate, Tsar Nikolai, yob tvayu mat!
Tsar Nikolai, go f__ your mother. Just see with whom you married. A thieving whore, a used up [sexually] rag Tsar Nikolai, go f__ your mother.
* In Cyrillic it’s ‘ëб твою мать’ (or the way she’s singing it – ‘ëб ваю мат’).
S’hot mit indz geleybt a khaver / A Comrade Lived Among Us. A Soviet Yiddish song praising Stalin. Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG], recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx. 1990s.
Image: A Jewish Kolhoz in Crimea
Commentary on the song is below after the lyrics and translation.
BSG spoken:
Dos hob ikh gehert tsum ershtn mul in Chernovitz in tsayt fun di rusn. I heard this for the first time in the time of the Russians. [The Soviet occupation of Chernovitz was June 1940 – July 1941]
S’hot mit indz geleybt a khaver. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay S’iz geveyn a yat a, braver. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
A comrade lived among us. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay He was a brave lad. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Er fleygt kikn af di shtern. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay A kolvirt vet bay undz vern. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
He used to look up to the stars Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay. We should build a kolvirt [farming collective]. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Fun di velder ungekimen. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay Hot er indz tsunoyf genimen. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
From the fields we came. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay He gathered us together Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Lomir trinken a lekhayim Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay far dem leybn, far dem nayem. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
[BSG indicates this verse can be sung at the end]
Let us make a toast Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay for the new life. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Far der oktober-revolutsye Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay in far Stalins konsitutsye Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
For the October Revolution Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay And for Stalin’s constitution Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Far di kinder, [far] di zkeynem. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay In far alemen in eynem. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
For the children, for the old ones Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay And for all of us together. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Zol der ershter kos zikh khvalyen. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay far indzer libn khaver _______
(BSG spits and says “yemakh shmoy” then continues) …Stalin. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Let the first drink swirl Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay for our dear comrade ______ [BSG spits and curses him “May his name be erased” then continues] …Stalin. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Far der Oktober-revolutsye Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay in far Stalins konsitutsye. Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
For the October Revolution Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay And for Stalin’s constitutution Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
.ביילע רעדט: דאָס האָב איך געהערט צום ערשטן מאָל אין טשערנעוויץ אין צײַט פֿון די רוסן
BSG was reading from a notebook of Yiddish songs that she wrote down in Vienna in the Displaced Persons camp (1947- 1950). You can hear my voice helping her read some of the lines.
It seems that this song started out as a Hasidic nign (כּיצד מרקדי Ketzad merakdin);
Here is an instrumental version of the Hasidic tune from the album “Chassidic Authentic Wedding Dances (Galton D-5935):
Then the melody was used for a Soviet Yiddish song praising Stalin in the 1930s and 1940s, probably made popular by the 1938 recording of the Soviet Yiddish singer Zinoviy Shulman (1904 – 1977) .
The text version praising Stalin as was printed in the collection Yidishe folks-lider, edited by Y. Dobrushn and A. Yuditsky, Moscow 1940, p. 425
Here is an image of that version:
In the 1950s, after the death of Stalin (1953), the song made its way into the leftist 1956 American Yiddish songbook Lomir ale zingen / Let’s Sing (Jewish Music Alliance, NY) but dropped any mention of Stalin, of his constitution and of the October revolution. It was called “S’hot mit undz gelebt a khaver”.
A rousing version of the song entited L’chayim Stalin and based on the Shulman recording was recently recorded by Dan Kahn and Psoy Korolenko, including the references to Stalin on their album The Third Unternationale (2020):
Special thanks this week to Benjamin Ginzburg, Arun Vishwanath, Psoy Korolenko and Dan Kahn.
Ikh hob ongehoybn shpiln a libe / I Began a Romance Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn, 1954, New York City
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman with her son, the linguist Mordkhe Schaechter. 1930s, Chernovitz, Romania.
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
Another lyrical love song from the repertoire of LSW. The wonderful rhyme “blote” (mud, mire) and “akhote” (desire, enthusiasm) is rare but can be found in I. L. Cahan’s collection (YIVO, 1957, page 183), in a similar verse but different melody. Also noteworthy is the curse that the girl wishes upon her boyfriend – may he become a beggar and at every door, may they say “You were here already”. In today’s slang we would say – “We gave at the office.”
Ikh hob ongehoybn shpiln a libe Mit groys kheyshik in mit akhote. Mit groys kheyshik in mit akhote. Arupgefirt hot dus mekh fun deym glaykhn veyg. Arayngefirt in a tifer blote.
I began a romance with great desire and with enthusiasm. With great desire and with enthusiasm. It led me astray off the straight path. And led me into a deep mire. It led me astray off the straight path. And led me into a deep mire.
Ikh vel dir koyfn, mayn tayer, zis leybn a goldenem zeyger mit a vazer. [vayzer] A goldenem zeyger mit a vazer. Der vos hot undz beyde tsesheydt, er zol geyn in di hayzer.
I will buy you, my dear, sweet one, a golden clock with a clock hand. A golden clock with a clock hand. He who split us apart should go begging among the houses.
In di hayzer zol er geyn. Bay yeyder tir zol er blaybn shteyn. Bay yeyder tir zol er blaybn shteyn Un yeyder zol im dus zugn: “Ba mir bisti shoyn geveyn.” Un yeyder zol im dus zugn: “Ba mir bisti shoyn geveyn.”
May he go begging among the houses and at every door should he stop. At every door should he stop. And everyone should say to him “You have already been here.” And everyone should say to him “You have already been here.”
Gur in eyn fintsterer nakht / In a dark night Sung by Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller, Recorded by Michael Kroopkin, Chicago 1965.
photo: “Goldie (left) and sister Hyala Rosenbaum
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
For biographical information on the singer Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller, see the previous post at this link.
Most Yiddish love songs are three, four, maybe five verses long, but here we have a ten verse lyrical love song. Some of the Yiddish lines do not make sense to me (“God, show us your nap”?) We welcome suggestions for other interpretations. Eliezer Niborski helped clarify some lines and suggested corrections in brackets.
Though some of the verses are confusing, Rosenbaum-Miller sings with much self-assuredness in an old, slow Yiddish folksong style.
The two word spoken conclusion “Ende libe”, (“the end of the romance”) implies a ballad-like plot was at play during the performance of this song, but many verses can be found in other Yiddish lyrical love songs.
Thanks again to Rosenbaum-Miller’s great granddaughter Debbie Kroopkin for bringing the home recordings of Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller to the attention of Binyumin Schaechter, longtime conductor of the NYC based Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus.
Gur in eyn fintsterer nakht Sung by Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller
1) Gur in eyn fintsterer nakht. Badekt iz gevorn der himl. In ikh shtey mir in ayn vinkele fartrakht. Got, oy, bavayz shoyn dayn driml.
In a dark night, the sky became covered, and I stand in a corner and think – Oh God, reveal your nap/rest. [?]
2) Lyubtshenyu, dushunyu, leybn, efn mir oyf di tir. Ikh shtey eyne aleyn; hob shoyn rakhmones oyf mir.
My darling, dear one, my love, Open the door for me. I am standing alone – Have pity on me.
3) Ikh hob mir nisht mit veymenen tsu baheftn. Mit keynemen kayn vort tsu reydn. Es geyt mir oys mayne koykhes un kreftn. Dem toyt iz mir optsubeygn [?] [Or – “dem toyt oyf zikh betn”]
I don’t have anyone to connect with. With no one do I have a single word to say. My strength and power are fading. Death is for me to bend [?] [Or perhaps – I wish death upon me.]
Don’t think that because you are the one, you can know what is in my heart. Don’t think that because you are the one, you can know my pain.
5) Mayne eltern tien mir freygn: “Tokhternyu, vus geyst azoy fartribt?” “Muter, kh’en dir nisht fartseyln. Kh’ob mir in eynem ayngelibt.”
My parents ask me: “Daughter, why do you go around so sad?” “Mother, I can’t tell you. I have fallen in love with someone.”
6) Farlibt hob ikh mir in eynem. Vayter, oy, lib ikh nisht keynem Fartseyln ken ikh nisht far keynem, Minhastame, [min-hastam] dekh, i’ mir azoy bashert.
I have fallen in love with someone; none other do I love. I can speak of this to no one. Probably it was so fated.
7) Ikh trink mir un in eyn taykh. Ale mentshn zeyen mit di oygn. Vus toyg mir mayn gelt in mayn raykh? Mayn lyubtshe iz fin mir farfloygn.
I drink much [am drowning?] in a river. All the people watch me with their eyes. What need do I have of my money and my wealth? My darling has flown away. .
8) Er iz fin mir farfloygn durkh eyn ayn vaytn land. Ikh sheym mir oystsuzugn. S’iz mir ayn groyser shand.
He flew away from me, to a distant land. I am ashamed to talk about it. I am so humiliated.
9) Kh’ob nisht gekikt af kayn blote un af kayn reygn. Ikh bin shtendik tsu dir gekimen. Hayntike vokh [Haynt iz gevorn] hobn farvaksn indzere veygn, fin indzern troyerdikn shpatsir.
Neither mud, nor rain prevented me. I still always came to you. This week [today our paths grew together?] our two paths crossed during our sad walk.
10) Kh’o shoyn dir, oy, lang gevolt oyszugn. Farblayb shoyn, oy, mayner af gevis. Haynt ti ikh veynen in klugn. Mayn hofening iz geveyn imzist. [imer zis]
I have wanted to tell you for a long time. Stay mine for sure. Today I cry and moan. My hope was for naught. [was always sweet]
(Spoken) Ende libe…The end of the romance
גאָר אין אַ פֿינצטערער נאַכט געזונגען פֿון גאָלדי ראָזענבאַום־מילער
גאָר אין אײַן [=אַ] פֿינצטערער נאַכט .באַדעקט איז געוואָרן דער הימל .און איך שטיי מיר אין אײַן [=אַ] ווינקעלע פֿאַרטראַכט .גאָט, אוי, באַווײַז שוין דײַן דרימל
In Daytshland aleyn / In Germany Itself A 19th century pogrom song adapted for the Holocaust sung by Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller. Recorded by Michael Kroopkin, circa 1965.
Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller
In daytshland aleyn, hob ikh dort gezeyn zitsn ayn meydl, ayn sheyne, zitsn ayn meydl, ayn sheyne. Ze, zi itstert veynt far yedern farbay geyn, zi beyt a neduve, ayn kleyne,
In Germany I saw there a girl was sitting, a beauty, a girl was sitting, a beauty. See how she cries now, for every passerby. She asks for alms, just a few.
Meydl, di sheyne, di binst azoy eydl. Vus makhsti aza troyerdike mine? Vus makhsti aza troyerdike mine? Dayn sheyne fagur [figur], dayn eydele natur, past dir tsu zayn a grafine.
Girl, you pretty one, you are so gentle. Why do you make such a sad face? Why do you make such a sad face? Your fine figure, your gentle nature – It suits you more to be a countess.
S’iz mir ayn shand, oystsushtrekn man hant tsu beytn ba laytn gelt. Got di tayerer, Got oy mayner Nem mikh shoyn tsi fin ver velt.
I am ashamed to stretch out my hand and beg for money from people. Oh God, you dear one, Oh my God, Take me away from this world.
Hitler mit di katsapn mit zayne vilde lapn. Er hot, dokh, oy, ales fardorbn. Er hot, dokh, oy, ales fardorbn Dos hoyz hot er tsibrokhn Man fater geshtokhn Fin ales [ ?] far toytshrek geshtorbn. Dos hoyz hot er tsibrokhn. Man fater geshtokhn Mayn muter far toytshrek geshtorrbn.
Hitler with his bandits [“Katsapn”: derogatory word for “Russians”] and his wild paws, He ruined everything. He ruined everything. My house was destroyed. My father was stabbed, From it all, they died of terror. My house was destroyed. My father was stabbed, my mother died of terror.
Ven men iz aroys, fun yeydern hoyz s’i geveyn shreklekh tsitsikikn. Hitler mit di bande er hot gefirt di komande. Er hot dokh, oy, ales fardorbn. Hitler mit di bande, Er hot gefirt di komande. Er hot dokh oy ales fardorbn.
When everyone came out of their houses It was a horrible site to see. Hitler and his band, he lead his gang Oh, he ruined everything. Hitler and his band, he lead his gang Oh, he destroyed everything.
Commentary on the Singer Provided by Debbie Kroopkin, Her Great-Grandaughter:
Goldie Miller was born Goldie Rozenbaum in Sokolow Podlaski, Poland on March 4, 1888. She married Nathan Kroopkin in 1909 in Warsaw, emigrating to the U.S. in 1913. In Chicago, she later married Isaac S. Miller. She loved to sing and would often perform at landsmanshaften picnics. According to a family story she was asked to sing professionally in Poland “but chose to raise a family instead”. She died on April 23, 1973 in Chicago.
But this version, “In Daytshland aleyn” sung by Goldie Rosenbaum-Miller, has converted it into a Holocaust song accusing Hitler of the destruction. “Katsapes”, a derogatory term for “Russians” that made more sense in the earlier pogrom versions, is kept in this Holocaust adaptation though historically it doesn’t fit it in.
Thanks to Goldie Miller’s great-grandaughter, Debbie Kroopkin, who brought this family recording to the attention of Binyumen Schaechter, conductor of the Yiddish Philharmonic Chorus in NYC.
אין דײַטשלאַנד אַליין געזונגען פֿון גאָלדי ראָזענבאַום-מילער ,אין דײַטשלאַנד אַליין, האָב איך דאָרט געזען
Got fin Avrum/God of Abraham (a woman’s prayer). Version as remembered by Matele (Margaret) Friedman. Recorded by Mark David in Los Angeles, January 1, 2020. Transcribed by Eliezer Niborski.
Matele Friedman
Got fin Avrum
Got fin Avrum, fin Yitskhok, fin Yankev, bahit dayn lib folk Yisroyl. Zibn teyg in ale teyg zoln undz voyl bakimen, Furs (?) tsu gevin, tse leybn, tse oysher, tse mazl, tse brukhe, tse parnuse.
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Protect your dear people of Israel. For seven days and all the days may we only know good: For prosperity, life, wealth, good fortune, blessing and livelihood.
Reboyne-shel-oylem, tsu susen, tsu simkhe, tse yeshies toyves, tse psires toyves, Tsim alem gitn un tsu gevint[?]. Tsu gevin, tsu gevin, tsu lange lebetug [=lebnstug?] hot der liber her Got fil farmugt.[?]
Dear God, for joy, celebration, salvation, good tidings, For all things good and prosperity for prosperity, for prosperity for all of our lives. So does our dear God possess.
Nemt der liber her Got dem bekher in zayn rekhter hant Un makht a brukhe ibern gantsn land. Makht a brukhe gur zhe hoykh Az kol-yisruls kinder zoln zhe zogn umeyn oykh.
So our dear God takes the goblet in his right hand And makes a blessing over the whole land. Says a blessing very loudly So that all of Israel’s children will say “Amen” too.
Umeyn, veumeyn, s’zol shoyn vern, zol men shoyn oysgelayzt vern, Bar [gor?] gikh in dem yor.
Amen, and amen, may we soon hear. How we will be redeemed. Soon in this very year.
Shma kolayni – ikh shray tsu dir, lebediker Got, nu, helf zhe mir, Ales bayz zol fin indz avekgeyn.
Listen to our voice – I shout to you The living God, help me, so that all bad things should go away.
Elye hanuvi, Elye hanuvi zol bayn undz in indzer hoyz aybik zayn, Tse deym lekhtikn hoyz. Me zol hofn az tir un toyer zoln shtayn aybik ofn.
Elijah the prophet, Elijah the prophet May he be in our house. To the brilliant house, May we hope That door and gate should always stay open.
Ofn, ofn zoln shtayn, Arayn, arayn zoln mir gayn. Arayn, arayn zoln mir tritn [treytn] mir zoln hubn dem lekhtikn Got [= hofn tsum likhtikn Got?] A gite vokh, A gezinte vokh, A mazldike vokh. A frayerdike vokh. [fraydike?] A gebentshte vokh. Mir zoln hubn a git mazl oysgebeytn.
Open, open may it stay, Enter, enter may we go. Enter, enter may we step. May we have the brilliant God. A good week A healthy week A happy week A blessed week May our prayers for a good fortune be accepted.
גאָטפֿוןאַבֿרהם
נוסח פֿון מאַטעלע פֿרידמאַן רעקאָרדירט פֿון מאיר דוד, לאָס־אַנדזשעלעס טראַנסקריבירט פֿון אליעזרניבאָרסקי
,גאָט פֿון אַבֿרהם, פֿון יצחק, פֿון יעקבֿ .באַהיט דײַן ליב פֿאָלק ישׂראל .זיבן טעג און אַלע טעג זאָלן אונדז ווויל באַקומען .פֿורס [?] צו געווין, צו לעבן, צו עושר, צו מזל, צו ברכה, צו פּרנסה
,רבונו־של־עולם ,צו שׂשׂון, צו שׂימחה, צו ישועות־טובֿות, צו בשׂורות־טובֿות .צום אַלעם גוטן און צו געווינט צו געווין, צו געווין, צו לאַנגע לעבעטאָג [= לעבנסטאָג?] .האָט דער ליבער הער גאָט פֿיל פֿאַרמאָגט
This is the second “Got fun/fin Avrom/Avrum”, a woman’s prayer said at the end of the Sabbath, that we have posted. It is also the second post on this blog of the singer Matele Friedman (born in 1927, in Kimyat, Czechoslovakia, now Velikiye Komyaty, Ukraine), who died in Los Angeles, February 2022. You can hear more of her songs in Yiddish at the website of Mark David’s radio program The Yiddish Voice/Dos Yidishe Kol.
Mark David who recorded Matele Friedman in LA wrote the following after her passing:
She was, like my aunt Hedy and my mom, a survivor of Auschwitz from the Carpathians, deported in 1944 under the Hungarians. But she lived a very different life compared to my mother after the war. She did not spend a few years in a DP camp in Germany or elsewhere in Western Europe after the war, but instead went back to the home area. She was a lot more frum, and practiced, surprisingly, orthodox Judaism under the Soviets when “our” area became part of Ukrainian SSR (Soviet Union). (She had gone back after the war, gotten married, and started her family there.) She moved to the US in the 1970’s with her two young daughters, already teen-agers or a maybe a bit older.
In Noyekh Prilutski’s first collection of Yiddish folksongs Yidishe folkslider, 1912, which included religious and holiday songs, he printed 23 versions of this prayer. Here is the link to the first of the variations, song number 8.
Because the “Got fun Avrum” prayer was transmitted orally, the daughters often learned the prayer from their mothers as just sounds, not thinking what the words were or meant to be. As a result, a few words in this version cannot be understood and there are more question marks in the transcription in this post than we would ordinarily like. Eliezer Niborski did a wonderful job of transcribing Matele’s “Got fin Avrum” as best as possible. Corrections or improvements are welcome from those with sharper hearing. There are at least two more recordings of “Got fun Avrom” that we hope to post in the future. The “Got fun Avrom” prayer is the most widespread and among the oldest examples still extant of Yiddish woman’s folk poetry. A “standard” version can be found in the Art Scroll siddur and a scan is attached.
Thanks to Mark David, Eliezer Niborski, Simon Neuberg, Claudia Rosenzweig and David Braun.
Yiddish Song of the Week 