Der yold iz mir mekane / The fool envies me A song from the Jewish underworld sung by Yetta Seidman Recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg, Baltimore 1979, collection of Jewish Museum of Maryland
TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION (Yiddish transcription at the end of this post)
Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane far mayn urem shtikele broyt. Er vil fin gurnit visn, vi ikh ver oysgerisn Es kimt mir un biter vi der toyt.
The sucker/fool/patsy envies me. The fool envies me. The fool envies me because of my dismal piece of bread. He doesn’t want to know how I suffer. It is as hard for me as death.
Mayn mame in mayn tate, zey zenen geveyzn blate. Fin kayn tsuris hob ikh bay zey keyn mol nit gevist. Ven ikh bin gevorn elter, zenen zey gevorn kelter in ganvenen hot zikh mir farglist.
My mother and my father; they were in the underworld. I did not know of any troubles with them. When I got older, they became colder, And I got the desire to steal.
Ikh gey aroys in market, in khap zikh tsi a pocket. A mise-matn [mase-matn] hob ikh zikh dortn ungemakht. Es kimt tsi geyn a yenta, in brengt mit zikh a mente in in “Steyshun-hoyz” hot men mir gebrakht.
I go out into the market, and pick a pocket, I committed a theft [literally – transaction] over there. A trouble-making woman comes over and brings with her a cop and to the Station House I was brought.
In droysn geyt a reygn, in droysn geyt a reygn. Se iz zikh shoyn ongefaln a kleyn bisele shney. Ale mayne yurn in “prizin” upgezesn, Az yeder eyver tit zikh mir shoyn vey.
Outside it’s raining; outside it’s raining. A small bit of snow has already fallen All of my years I spent in prison So every part of me hurts.
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
Probably the most popular of the Jewish underworld songs, there is an East European version and an American version. Seidman sings the American version which includes the English language words “market” “pocket” “station house” and “prison”.
Those words are not found in the East European version. But on both sides of the Atlantic the Yiddish underworld slang words are kept – “mente” (policeman), “blate” (criminal) “mase-matn” (a theft, a criminal act but literally “transaction”).
Image: M. Leizerowicz in the play “Motke Ganef” by Sholem Asch from the Yizkor (Memorial) Book of Piotrkow Trybunalski
The song often begins with the verse “In droysn geyt a regn mit a kleyn bisele shney” and for those grammarians out there – the first line is usually sung “Der yold iz mikh mekane”.
Another version of the song, with a slightly different melody can be heard in the YIVO Ruth Rubin archive. On this 78 rpm record Morris Goldstein sings the original (?) American version (1922):
The song is featured in the film “Image Before My Eyes” (1980) sung by Lillian (Leyele) Klempner. According to Lehman in his collection Ganovim-lider (1928), the song was written during the German occupation of WW1. Scans of Lehman’s version from Poland, words and music, are attached. Also see Jane Peppler’s comments on the song:
“שיכעלעך/Shikhelekh/Shoes” – An early American Yiddish theater song that crossed the Atlantic and came back.First version sung by Gertrude Singer, recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg, Baltimore 1979 from the archive of the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Second version sung by Manya Bender, recorded by Ruth Rubin 1950, NYC, found at the Ruth Rubin Archive, YIVO.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
“Shikhelekh” a song about a boy in an immigrant family desperate to get a new pair of shoes, is interesting because there are two versions: one with a sad ending and one with a happy ending.
The older version, 5 verses long, with the sadder ending was first printed in the 1897 compilation Di yidishe bine, ed. J. Katzenelenbogen, NY. (A scan is attached). In this version the boy complains he cannot go to school barefoot and asks his father to buy a pair of shoes in the store next to his school. The song concludes with the father, “powerless”, crying together with the boy. This version was reprinted with the title “Papa mit dem shikhele” no date, in American Yiddish Penny Songs edited by Jane Peppler, 2015. (scan attached). We have not yet found recordings of this older version.
The newer version ( approx. 1916) with a “happy ending” concludes with a verse that relates how that young barefoot boy is now a lawyer and the girl he is with, playing “fortepian”, is his bride. The final refrain is:
Nu, Papa do you remember how eight years ago, when I cried and begged you to buy me a pair of shoes. Now I am a lawyer, and will make you happy for all of your years.
The singer, Gertrude Singer (1900 – 1979), recounts how she sang it often on the ship coming to America from Warsaw. In the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, Manye Bender who learned the song in Bessarabia “on the way to America.” also sings the new version. Click here for her performance, beginning with the line “In droysn iz fintster”.
The transcription, translation and Yiddish of both versions follows below.
It is not clear who the composer is of the older “unhappy” version. The Mloteks point out in their Forverts newspaper column that in the collection “Di yidishe bine” it is placed right after Morris Rosenfeld poems but it does not appear in his collected works. In the column on June 20, 1976, the music as remembered by a reader is also printed.
The later-adapted revision with the happy ending was the work of the singer Josef/Joseph Feldman around 1916. On a song sheet for “Shichalach” as sung by Moishe Oisher (no date), the words are credited to singer Joseph (Josef) Feldman (scans attached). But on page two, it is written “Version by Jos Feldman”, acknowledging his text as a revision of an earlier song. On a 78 rpm record (1916) Josef Feldman recorded it and one can hear it at the Florida Atlantic University “Recorded Sound Archives”
The happy vs. sad ending of “Shikhelekh” brings up an interesting point: could the generation after the original 1890s version no longer accept such a sad ending, and thus inspire the happy, nostalgic song conclusion of 1916?
Thanks this week to Jane Peppler, Steven Lasky and his Museum of the Yiddish Theater, the YIVO Sound Archives and the Judaica Sound Archives at Florida Atlantic University.
TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION and YIDDISH
Shikhelekh sung by Gertrude Singer, recorded in 1979.
1 ) In droysn is fintster, in droysn iz nas, un du gey ikh borves, ikh ken nisht geyn in gas. Papa, ikh beyt mir far dir azoy fil mul. koyf mir a pur shikhelekh. Ikh ken nisht geyn in “skul.” Oy papa, di zolst dir oysbeytn a git yur. Koyf mir, papele, shikhelekh a pur. Oy, koyf mir, papele, shikhelekh a pur.
2) Der papa blaybt shteyn mit a troyern [troyerik] geveyn biz zayne trern faln afn kind aleyn. “Kind mayns, du veyst vi azey ikh hob dikh lib. Tsulib dayne shikhelekh vel ikh farpanen a kishn fun shtib. Oy kind mayns, mir zoln shoyn nisht hobn mer keyn noyt. Tsulib dayne shikhelekh hob [iz nishto] ikh nishto keyn broyt. Orem mayn kind iz nokh erger vi der toyt.”
3) In di tsayt flit avek un es iz shoyn akht yur Kik on [?] dem boychik, er vert shoyn a “loyer.” Dort zitst a meydele vos zi shpilt pian. Me zugt az dos meydele vet dem loyer’s kale zayn. Nu, papa, gedenkstu tsurik mit akht yur ven ikh hob dikh gebeytn far shikhelekh a pur. Yetst bin ikh loyer un ikh makh dikh glikekh af ale dayne yor.
1) Outside it’s dark; outside it’s wet, and I am walking barefoot; I can’t go in the street. Papa, I’ve asked you so many times to buy me a pair of shoes. I can’t go to school. Oy papa, may you succeed in praying for a good year. Buy me, papa, a pair of shoes Oy, buy me, dear papa, a pair of shoes
2) Papa remains standing with a sad weeping, until his tears drop on his child. “My child, you know how much I love you: because of your shoes, there is no bread. To be poor is worse than death.”
3) Time flies and it’s eight years later. Look at the boy [?] – he is soon to be a lawyer. There sits a girl who plays grand piano. They say that she will be the lawyer’s bride. So, papa, remember eight years ago when I begged you for a pair of shoes? Now I am a lawyer and I will make you happy all of your years.
שיכעלעך געזונגען פֿון גערטרוד זינגער רעקאָרדירט פֿון גערטרוד ניצבערג .אין דרויסן איז פֿינצטער, אין דרויסן אין נאַס
.און דאָ גיי איך באָרוועס, איך קען נישט גיין אין גאַס ,פּאַפּאַ, איך בעט מיר פֿאַר דיר אַזוי פֿיל מאָל .קויף מיר אַ פּאָר שיכעלעך. איך קען נישט קיין אין סקול .אוי, פּאַפּאַ, דו זאָלסט דיר אויסבעטן אַ גוט יאָר .קויף מיר, פּאַפּעלע, שיכעלעך אַ פּאָר “.אוי, קויף מיר, פּאַפּעלע, שיכעלעך אַ פּאָר
1) In droysn iz fintster, in droysn iz nas. “ikh hob nit kayn shikhelekh tsu geyn oyf der gas. Papa, ikh bet dir, azoy fil mol. Koyf zhe mir shoyn, koyf zhe mir shoyn shikhelekh a por. Koyf zhe mir shoyn, koyf zhe mir shoyn shikhelekh a por.”
2) S’iz avek gegangen a lange tsayt, Dos kind iz gevorn a groyser advokat. Er zitst mit zayn meydl, zey shpiln beyde pian. di meydl zogt, zi vil zayn kale zayn. “Papa, gedenkstu mit azoy fil yor tsurik. Ikh hob dir gebeytn shikhelekh a por? Un itst makh ikh dir gilklekh af ale dayne yor.”
TRANSLATION of BENDER
1) Outside it’s dark, outside it’s wet “I don’t have a shoes to go out in the street. Papa, I’ve asked you so many times Buy me, buy me a pair of shoes.”
2) A long time had passed. The child became a big-time lawyer. He sits with his girlfriend; they both are playing piano. The girl says she wants to be his bride. Papa, do you remember many years ago? I asked you to get me a pair of shoes. And now I will make you happy the rest of your days.
Tort un vayn / Cake and wine
A Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” sung by Tillie Fishman, recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg , Baltimore, 1979
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is a Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s song “Pie in the Sky” originally called “The Preacher and the Slave”. Here is Cisco Houston’s version of the Joe Hill song.
Joe Hill
Joe Hill (1879 – 1915) was a labor activist , songwriter and member of the IWW – Industrial Workers of the World. He was executed for the murder of a grocer and his son in Utah, despite international protests and appeals for clemency. His memory has been preserved in the song “Joe Hill” which was recorded by Paul Robeson, Joan Baez, among others.
Hill’s song was itself a parody of the Christian hymn “Sweet Bye and Bye” written in 1868. Here is country singer, Loretta Lynn with her version of the original hymn.
This Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” appeared in the songbook Mit gezang tsum kamf, songs composed and arranged by Jacob Schaeffer, 1932. Fishman sings two verses, but the songbook has five.It does not say who translated or adapted the songs. We are attaching the music, the Yiddish text from that book, and including below a transcription of the longer version found in Schaeffer’s book. In Schaeffer’s collection the song is called “Der prister un der nar” (“The Priest and the Fool”).
Did you know that Ethel Raim, Yiddish singer and teacher, founder and artistic director emeritus of CTMD,composed a melody to “Joe Hill’s Last Will”? You can find it in the magazine “Sing Out!”, volume 11, #3, p. 29.
Special thanks with help for this week’s post to Emily Socolov.
TRANSLITERATION (Tillie Fishman’s version)
“Prist” un “preacher” haltn droshes umetum.
Vus me zugt undz, heyst men indz zayn frum. Es mont der galakh un es shtroft der rov.
Zol shoyn nemen tsi di tsores a sof.
Refrain
Me redt undz ayn es vet zayn. Es vet zayn.
In gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn. Broyt un vayn. Un dervayl shteyt in “line”. Es vet zayn
in gan-eyden tort un vayn; tort un vayn!
Fun dem eltstn biz dem klenstn kind,
vus me zogt im, zogt men as s’iz zind.
Es shtruft der galakh un es munt der rov.
Zol shoyn nemen tsu di tsores a sof.
Refrain
Me redt undz ayn es vet zayn. Es vet zayn
In gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn. Broyt un vayn. Un dervayl shteyt in “line”. Es vet zayn
in gan-eyden tort un vayn; tort un vayn!
TRANSLATION
Priest and preacher give speeches everywhere.
They are always saying that we should be religious.
The priest demands, the rabbi punishes. May an end to our troubles come soon.
Refrain
They assure us that there will be, in heaven fresh bread and wine. Bread and wine.
In the meantime get in line. There will be
in heaven cake and wine. Cake and wine.
From the oldest to the smallest child,
They are told that everything is a sin. The priest punishes and the rabbi demands.
May an end to our troubles come soon.
Refrain
They assure us that there will be, there will be, in heaven fresh bread and wine. Bread and wine.
In the meantime get in line. There will be
in heaven cake and wine. Cake and wine.
TRANSLITERATION OF SCHAEFFER VERSION
Pristers haltn droshes umetum
In Gots nomen heyst men undz zayn frum.
Laydn mir hunger, laydn mir noyt. Viln mir esn, monen mir broyt.
Refrain:
Redt men undz ayn es vet zayn in gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn un dervayl shteyt in “layn”, Es vet zayn in gan-eydn tort un vayn.
Eyder mir derzen a por sent
rayst men es oys fun undzere hent. Prist un pritsher, yeder shvindler nemt
biz men tut undz oys dos letste hemd.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Shafn far raykhe un nit far zikh.
Shteyt men in “layn” far der tir bay der kikh.
Fresn di raykhe, s’platst zey der boykh. Volt men darlangt khotsh a bisl undz oykh.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Fun dem grestn biz dem klentstn kind
vos mir tuen af der erd iz zind.
Shtroft der galakh un es mont der rov.
un beshas mir tsoln undzer shtrof.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” in the songbook Mit gezang tsum kamf, songs composed and arranged by Jacob Schaeffer, 1932
Der dishvasher / The Dishwasher A song by Herman Yablokoff sung by “Harris”.
Recorded by Itzik Gottesman in the apartment of Tevye (Tobias) un Merke (Mary) Levine, Bronx, 1983.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.
This 1930s song is by Yiddish actor and singer Herman Yablokoff (1903 – 1981) His original version can be heard here:
The song can be heard more recently at the Milken Archive of Jewish Music in 2001, sung by Cantor Robert Abelson. That web page also has extensive notes, translations and transliterations of the original version.
The singer “Harris” (I only remember him by this name) has dropped and changed a number of lines from Yablokoff’s original song. An amazing coincidence: the song sheet I found on line and have used here as an illustration has the name “Harris” written on the front! Perhaps it was his. His performance gives one a good sense of the intended pathos, and Yablokoff, writer of the classic song Papirosn (Cigarettes), was indeed the master singer of Yiddish pathos.
TRANSLITERATION
In a restoran hob ikh gezeyn
an altn man in kitshen shteyt.
un in der shtil
zingt er mit gefil:
Oy, ikh vash mit mayne shvakhe hent.
Ikh vash un vash, fardin ikh a por sent.
Fun fri biz shpeyt far a trikn shtikl broyt.
Ikh vash un beyt af zikh aleyn dem toyt.
Kh’bin a mul geveyn mit mentshn glaykh.
Gehat a heym, geveyzn raykh.
Itst bin ikh alt.
Keyner vil mikh nit.
Oy kinder fir, gebildet[er?] ir.
Di tokhter, shnir,
shikn mir tsum zin. Der zin er zugt
“Ikh ken gurnit tin”.
Oy, ikh vash mit mayne shvakhe hent.
Ikh vash un vash, fardin ikh a por sent.
Fun fri biz shpeyt far a trikn shtikl broyt.
Ikh vash un beyt, oy, af zikh aleyn deym toyt.
TRANSLATION
In a restaurant I once saw
an old man standing in the kitchen
and quietly
he sang with feeling:
“O, I wash with my weak hands.
I wash and wash and earn a few cents.
From early to late for a dry piece of bread.
I wash and pray for my own death.”
I once was like all other people;
had a home and was wealthy.
Now I am old
No one wants me.
O, I have educated four children.
My daughter and daughter-in-law send me to my son.
My son says, ” I can do nothing”.
O, I wash with my weak hands.
I wash and wash and earn a few cents.
From early to late for a dry piece of bread.
I wash and pray, o, for my own death
Mame, a kholem (Mother, A Dream)
Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
recorded by Leybl Kahn, NY 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The motif of the lover who returns as a beggar is as old as Homer’s Odyssey and is found in ballads throughout the world. In this Yiddish ballad version, the former lover is not disguised as a beggar but has indeed become one because of his “character”.
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
I consider this ballad to be one of Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s [LSW] masterpieces. Not only because it is certainly among the older songs in her repertoire, but because of the deeply emotional way she performs it, concluding with the dramatic last verse in which the woman reveals to her mother who is at the door.
In typical old ballad style, the dialogue prevails: first between mother and daughter, then between daughter and beggar (former lover) and finally, again, between daughter and mother. There is a break in the narrative after the third verse when the dialogue changes and at this point Leybl Kahn, who is recording the song, feels compelled to ask LSW to continue.
This transition from third to fourth verse is noteworthy. A new plot/scene develops at this point. It leads me to believe that originally there might have been two ballads that were combined to form one.
Supporting this idea are the awkward transitions between the two scenes in all the versions. We also have examples of separate ballads. Singer/researcher Michael Alpert recorded Fanya Moshinskaya, (born 1915 in Babyi Yar, Kiev), singing a ballad of the first scene – ‘Oy a kholem’. And he has recorded Bronya Sakina (1910 – 1988) from Olvanisk (Holovanivsk/Golovanevsk, Ukraine) singing a ballad – “Derbaremt aykh”- depicting the beggar/lover scene. Alpert currently sings both of them and sometimes combines them.
In addition, there are two other versions of just the beggar/lover ballad with no first “kholem” part in the Soviet Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe” and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”. The singer for #62 was Rive Diner from Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, 1926. The singer for #63 was Yekhil Matekhin from Sobolivke, Ukraine, recorded in 1925.
A nine-verse Odessa variant without music of the LSW combined ballad – “Oj, a xolem hot zix mir gexolemt” – can be found in Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 201-202 song# 61. This was republished by Moyshe Beregovski with music in his Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34 pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355. The singer was Dine Leshner from Odessa, 1930.
In Leshner’s ballad, the transition verse between the two scenes, verse four, is presented in first person from the beggar’s viewpoint, not in dialogue. It would be quite confusing for the listener to figure out who is speaking, and I imagine the singer would almost be required to stop singing and indicate who is speaking (as LSW does at this transition point!).
Another variant of the combined version was collected by Sofia Magid in 1934 in a Belarus kolkhoz “Sitnya”, from the singer Bronya Vinokur (PON 103, full text on page 580, “Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008. The audio recording can be heard on the accompanying DVD). The initial dialogue is between a man and his mother. He then travels to the rebbe, and comes to her as a beggar. She curses him in the last verse.
Oyb du host a froy mit a kleyn kind, Zolstu zikh muttsen [mutshn] ale dayne yor. Oyb du host mir frier nit genumen, Konstu sheyn nit zayn mayn por.
If you have a wife and child, May you suffer all your years. If you did not take me before, Then you can no longer be my match.
Hardly the romantic ending we find in the LSW version.
I would like to take the liberty of suggesting some word changes in LSW’s version for any singers out there thinking of performing the song. These suggestions are based on the other versions and on the way LSW’s daughter, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG] sang the song.
1) Clearly the last line in the first verse of LSW’s ballad, which doesn’t rhyme with “gedakht”, is a mistake. BSG sang instead the rhymed line –
“Az mayn gelibter shteyt baym bet bay nakht” [“That my lover is standing at my bed at night”]
But in Magid’s version and in the Alpert/ Moshinskaya’s version this line reads – “un fun mir hot er zikh oysgelakht” (and he laughed at me”) And in the Folklor-lider version the line reads “un fun mir hot er khoyzek gemakht” (“and he mocked me”) So the mocking of the girl is the “character” flaw that results in his becoming a beggar.
2) Instead of “futerland” Bronya Sakina sang “geboyrn-land” which strikes me as folkier and more appropriate, though in one of the Folklor-lider versions, the daughter does use “foterland” as well.
3) Instead of LSW’s “derkh mayn kharakter”, – “because of my character”, – others sing “durkh a libe” and “durkh a gelibter– “because of a love”, “because of beloved”. This also strikes me as the older concept and more in line with the whole song.
4) Instead of LSW’s “untershtitsung” – “nedove” is more traditional. Both mean “alms”, “donation”.
5) LSW sings “iftsishteln di hant” – “to raise up the hand”. Usually that would be “oystsushtrekn di hant” – “to reach out your hand”.
6) For the last line she sings “vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.” (“because this is the one who was my lover”) but shorter and to the point is “vayl dos iz mayn gelibter geveyn” (because he was my lover”). BSG sang it this way.
TRANSLITERATION
1) Mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
Oy, mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gedakht.
Oy, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
az man gelibter shteyt leybn mayn bet.
2) Oy a khulem tokhter tur men nit gleybn
Vayl a khulem makht dem mentshn tsim nar.
Morgn veln mir tsi dem rebe furn.
A pidyen veln mir im geybn derfar.
3) Vus ken mir den der rebe helfn?
Tsi ken er mir geybn deym vus eykh hob lib?
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn.
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
Spoken: Leylb Kahn says “Dos gantse lid”
LSW: “Es geyt nokh vater.”
Leybl: “Lomir hern vayter.”
Spoken: LSW – “Es dakht zikh ir, az der khusn
kimt aran..”
4) Hots rakhmunes af mir libe mentshn
hots rakhmunes af mir in a noyt.
mit alem gitn zol nor Gotenyu bentshn.
Hots rakhmones un shenkts a shtikl broyt.
5) “Far vus zhe geysti azoy upgerisn?
Shemst zikh nisht iftsishteln di hant?
Fin vanen di bist bin ikh naygerik tsi visn.
Rif mir un dayn futerland.
6) Geboyrn bin eykh in a groys hoz.
Dertsoygn bin eykh eydl un raykh,
derkh mayn kharakter bin eykh urem gevorn
in intershtitsing beyt eykh du fin aykh.
7) Tsi vilt ir mir epes shenkn?
Git zhet mir in lozts mekh du nisht shteyn.
Tits mikh nit azoy fil krenken,
Vayl dus hob eykh mir mitgenemen aleyn.
8) Oy, mamenyu gib im shoyn a neduve.
Gib im shoyn un loz im do nisht shteyn.
Gib im avek a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
Gib im shoyn a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
TRANSLATION
1) Mama, I dreamed a dream,
oh mame, a dream i had imagined.
Oh a dream i had dreamed,
That my love was near my bed.
[..stands near me at night]
2) O daughter, a dream should not be believed.
Because a dream can lead you astray.
Tomorrow we will travel to the Rebbe
and give him payment for this.
3) O, how can the Rebbe help me.
Can he give me the one I love?
In my heart he will always remain.
Till my dark grave.
SPOKEN:
Leylb Kahn: The whole song
LSW: There is more.
Leybl: Let’s hear more.
LSW: She thinks that her groom has entered…
4) “Take pity on me dear people.
Take people on me in my need.
May God bless you with all good things.
Take pity and give a piece of bread.”
5) “Why are you going around in rags?
Are you not ashamed to hold out your hand?
Where are you from? I would like to know.
Tell me your fatherland.”
6) “I was born in a big house,
Raised noble and wealthy.
Because of my character, I became poor,
and for a donation from you I now beg.”
7) “Do you want to give me some alms?
Then give me and don‘t leave me standing here.
Don‘t torture me so,
For I have already suffered enough.”
8) “O mother give alms right now,
Give him now, and don‘t let him stand there.
Give him away a half of our fortune,
For he was once my beloved.”
Folklor-lider Volume 2 1936, pp. 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe”:
and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”:
Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34, ed. Moyshe Beregovski, pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355:
“Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008:
Der freylekher kaptsn (The Happy Poor Man) is an upbeat song I recorded from Jacob Gorelik in 1985 in New York City. The song follows the alef-beys for 23 verses. Der freylekher kaptsn is also known as Der freylekher khosid and Hop-tshik-tshak, which is a dance or dance step.
Jacob Gorelik sings at the Sholem-Aleichem Center with
Dr. Joshua Fishman sitting next to him (Bronx, 1980s)
As he says in his spoken introduction, Jacob Gorelik sent this song to the Israeli folklore journal Yeda-Am and it was printed in 1967 (Vol. 12 no 31-32) with the music. Attached are scans of those pages which include the Yiddish verses, a Hebrew translation and a brief commentary (in Hebrew) by the editor on the song at the end which includes references to other versions of the song found in other song collections. When he sang this for me Gorelik was reading the lyrics from the journal.
Gorelik also pointed out the similarity in melody to Khanele lernt loshn-koydesh (words by A. Almi), a song that was later recorded by Chava Alberstein and the Klezmatics among others.
The verse that corresponds to the letter ע begins with the word “helft” – because, as Gorelik explained, in the Ukrainian Yiddish dialect the “h” sound at the beginning of the word is often silent.
A humorous parody of the song about kibbutz life was collected and published by Menashe Gefen in issue 3-4, 1972, of the Israeli periodical מאסף, Measaf. Two scans of that are attached as are two scans of the version collected by I. L. Cahan and included in his 1912 publication Yidishe folkslider mit melodyen.
Thanks this week for help with the blog go to Paula Teitelbaum, Psoy Korolenko and Facebook friends
Gorelik speaks:
Lekoved mayn tayern gast, Itzikn, vel ikh zingen a folklid, an alte, alte folklid – “Der freylekher kaptsn”. Un es geyt in gantsn loytn alef-beys. Du veyst kaptsonim zenen ale mol freylekhe. Gehert hob ikh dos mit etlekhe tsendlik yor tsurik fun mayn froys a shvoger: Hershl Landsman. In Amerike hot gebitn – in Amerike tut men ale mol baytn – gebitn dem nomen af London. Far zikh, far di kinder, zey zoln kenen vern doktoyrim.
Un er hot es gehert baym onfang fun tsvantsikstn yorhundert. Hershl iz shoyn nito; lomir im take dermonen. Landsman is shoyn nito. Zayn froy iz nito shoyn. Mayn eygene tayere froy iz shoyn nito.
Der freylekher kaptsn. Es geyt loytn alef-beys. Gedrukt iz dos in Yeda-Am. Flegt aroysgeyn in Yisrol a vikhtiker zhurnal, a folklor-zhurnal. Unter der redaktsye fun Yom-Tov Levinsky, 1967 iz der zhurnal aroys, der numer.
א Ikh bin mir a khosidl, a freylekhe briye. Bin ikh mir a khosidl, on a shum pniye. Bin ikh mir a khosidl, a khosidak. Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ב Borves gey ikh mit hoyle pyates. Fun oyvn biz arop mit gole lates; Bin ikh mir a lustiker a freylekher bosyak Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ג Gole lekher iz mayn kapote fun oybn viz arop mit shvartser blote; Tu ikh mir on fun eybn dem yarmak. Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ד Der dales iz bay mir afn pritsishn oyfn. Der kop tut vey fun dem arumloyfn; kh’loyf un loyf azoy vi a durak. Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ה Hering mit broyt iz bay mir a maykhl, abi ikh shtop zikh on dem baykh. un kartofles far a pitak. Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ו Ver s’geyt in mayn veg, der vet hobn gute teg; in a bisl bronfn gefin ikh nit keyn brak; Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ז Zingen, zing ikh af mayn gorgl un shpiln, shpil ikh af mayn orgl. Bin ikh mir a khosidl, a spivak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ח Khotsh ikh bin mir horbevate un dertsu nokh stulovate; A bisl bronfn nem ikh mir geshmak Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ט Toybenyu, mayn vayb zogt tsu mir: nito af shabes, vey tsu dir; leydik iz mayn keshene, nito keyn pitak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
י Yontif iz bay mir di beste tsayt, tsu antloyfn fun der klipe – vayt; un makh ikh dort a koyse mit dem knak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
כּ Koshere kinderlekh, a ful getselt, hungerike tsingelekh aroysgeshtelt. Esn viln zey gants geshmak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ל Loyfn, loyf ikh af di piates, vayl shikh zaynen gole lates. Ikh loyf un loyf vi a bosyak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
מ Mirenyu, mayn tokhter, zi zogt tsu mir: ven met kumen di nekhome af mir? Gib mir a khosn mit a kurtsn pidzak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
נ Nekhome, mayne, zog ikh tsu ir: Du vest nokh heysn mitn nomen – shnir. Dayn shviger vet zayn a groyser shlak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ס S’hoybt nor on tog tsu vern, heybn zikh on di kinderlekh iberklern; un kalt iz zey gants geshmak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ע Elft mir kinder zmires zingen, vet ir zayn bay mir voyle yingen; shenken vel ikh aykh a pitak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
פּ Peysekh kumt, bin ikh mir freylekh, mayn vayb a malke un ikh a meylekh. Matsos hobn mir a fuln zak; Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
צ Tsadikim, rebeyim, veysn aleyn, az s’iz nit gut tsu zayn gemeyn; tsores faran in a fuler zak, tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ק Kinder mayne, hob ikh gezogt: haynt iz simkhes-toyre, nit gezorgt; A koyse veln mir makhn gants geshmak; Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ר Royzenyu, mayn tokhter, zogt tsu mir: kh’hob a man, iz er gerotn in dir: er git mir nit af shabes afile keyn pitak; Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
ש Shoyn Purim iz do, a yontif bay mir, Ikh trog shalekh-mones fun tir tsu tir. Khap ikh a trunk bronfn gants geshmak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
תּ Tomid freylekh, nit gezorgt, Nor layen, nor geborgt. un in keshene iz nito keyn pitak, Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!
In honor of my dear guest, Itzik, I will sing the folksong, an old, old folksong “The Happy Poor man”. It goes according to the alphabet. You know poor people are always happy. I heard this a few decades ago from my brother-in-law Hershl Landsman. In American he changed – In America one is always changing – In America he changed his name to London; for his sake, for his children, so that they can become doctors.
And he heard it at the beginning of the 20th century. Hershl is no longer here; his wife is no longer here. My dear wife is no longer here.
“The Happy Poor Man”. It goes according to the alphabet. It was published in Yeda-Am, that used to be published in Israel: a folklore journal, an important journal, edited by Yom-Tov Lewinsky. In 1967 this issue was published.
א
I am a khosid, a happy creature.
I am a khosid, with no bias.
I am a khosid, a khosidak [humorous form of khosid]
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ב
I go around barefoot with bare soles.
Up and down I’m full of patches.
I’m happy-go-lucky, cheerful and barefoot
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ג
My kaftan is full of holes
from top to bottom full of mud.
So I put on my overcoat
and I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak.
ד
I treat poverty as if it were nobility,
my head hurts from all my running around.
I run and run as an fool,
so I dance a joyous hip-tshik-tshak.
ה
Herring with bread is a real treat
as long as I can stuff up my tummy,
with potatoes for a penny.
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ו
Whoever goes in my path
will enjoy good days.
In a little whiskey I find nothing to waste;
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ז
I sing with my throat
and play on my organ.
So I am a khosid, a singer.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ח
Though I am a hunchback
and I slouch a little too, I take a nice swig of whiskey.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ט
Toybeynyu, my wife says to me:
We have nothing for sabbath, woe is me.
Empty is my pocket with no penny.
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak.
י
Holidays are the best time for me,
to escape far from my shrewish wife.
And I drink a shot with real snap.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
כּ
Observant children – I have a tent full;
their hungry tongues sticking out.
They really want to eat a lot.
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ל
I run on my soles
because my shoes are all patched up.
I run and run like a barefoot man,
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
מ
Mirenyu, my daughter, says to me:
when will I get some relief?
Give me a groom with a short jacket.
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
נ
“My solace”, I say to her:
“You will yet one day be called ‘daughter-in-law’.
Your mother-in-law will be big nuisance.”
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ס
As soon as the day breaks,
my children start to consider their state:
and they are so very cold.
So I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ע
If you help me children to sing zmires you will be good kids.
I will give as a tip, a coin.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
פּ
When Passover comes I am happy:
my wife is a queen and I a king.
We have a full sack of matzoh
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
צ
Holy rabbis, Rebbes, know already
that it’s not good to be vulgar.
We have a sack full of troubles.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ק
My children, I said,
today is Simkhes-Torah, don’t worry.
We will all down a good drink,
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ר
Rose, my daughter, says to me.
I have a husband just like you.
He doesn’t give me a penny for the Sabbath
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ש
Purim is already here, a real holiday for me,
I carry shalekh-mones from door to door.
I take a quick swig of whiskey, really fine.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
ת
Always joyous, never worried,
Always borrowing, always mooching,
And in my pocket not a penny.
And I dance a joyous hop-tshik-tshak!
This year’s Passover is now complete, so please save this song for next year’s festival!
Mentshn getraye:a matse-podriad lid is the second matse-baking song we have posted on Yiddish Song of the Week. The first was “Mir nemen veytslekh”, sung by Dora Libson. Mentshn getraye was recorded from Jacob Gorelik by Michael Alpert and me in New York City in 1984, and Alpert later recorded his own performance of the song on the Lori Cahan-Simon Ensemble’s CD Songs My Bubbe Should Have Taught Me: Volume One: Passover.
Pre-war matse baking [from the Yad-Vasham Photo Archives]
In this posting we present original field recording of that song. The tradition of Matse-podriad continues in religious Jewish circles today and one can see samples of it on the internet. The spirit has remained jovial, often musical, over the years. Here is a current example with the Mishkoltz Rebbe:
Jacob Gorelik introduces the song with these words: “…the second song I heard in my town. My mother and other mothers sang it. It was called the “Matse-podriad-lid”. In town there was a custom, that once a year when Passover came, money was collected especially for poor people who could not buy matse, could not buy wine. Help! No way to celebrate Passover. It [custom] was called moes-khitin. That was one thing.
The second thing was – the matse was the primary thing. So the whole town got together and there was complete unity – the orthodox, the “modern” ones, the Zionists, Bundists, socialists. They used to rent a house with an oven, and buy wood, buy flour and hire people to bake the matse. And this was called a community “matea bakery” by the entire Jewish community.
And as someone once asked – when you sing, or you do something good – do you do it for youself or for the other person? It was a combination. One had it mind that you were doing it for the poor. You were baking matse for them. But at the same time, at that time it was a joy in town becasue it was a boring life. It was also an opportunity for girls and boys to get together. And we used to sing and this is one of those songs that were sung. Who composed the song…This song is light verse. It’s not ‘pure’ poetry; but it’s humorously colored. According to what Mendel Elkin once told me the writer was Tunkel – or “The Tunkeler” [The dark one] his pseudonym.
The melody, I learned later when I was living in America, comes from a Ukrainian song “Nutshe Khloptse”. And now the song:
Mentshn getraye, farnumene un fraye,
Bay vemen es iz nor tsayt faran.
Git aher ayer pratse, un helft bakn matse,
dem noyt-baderftikn man.
Hentelekh ir kleyne, eydele un sheyne,
bikhelekh nor trogn ir kent.
Pruvt nor visn, eyn mol in Nisan
dem tam fun mazolyes af di hent.
Ir gvirishe meydlekh, helft kneytn teyglekh
mit ayere vaysinke hent.
Teygelekh geknotn vi Got hot gebotn,
Kosher un erlekh un fayn.
Spoken: A freylekhn Peysekh! Flegt men zogn alemen.
TRANSLATION
Dear people, those who are busy, and those who are free.
Whoever has some time to spare.
Donate your labor to help bake matse
for the man in need.
Little hands, delicate and beautiful,
who only could carry books.
Get to know at least once during the month of Nisan,
the taste of calluses on your hands.
You well-off girls, help knead the dough
with your white hands.
Flour all kneaded, as God has commanded,
Kosher, and honest and fine
Spoken: “Happy Passover!” Is what we wished everyone.
Though Gorelick was from Byelorussia, the song text is also found in the writings of Galician writer Soma Morgenstern, who quotes it in his book “The Third Pillar” (1955), page 59, translated from the German [see below]. I have yet to find this poem in Der Tunkeler’s writings.
Thisweek’s song was contributed by Bret Werb, Music Collection Curator at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Wurb interviewed and recorded Norman Salsitz singing in New Jersey in 2002 Khanele mayn lebn.The recording is provided courtesy of the USHMM Archives and used with permission.
As Mr. Salsitz explains in the introduction in English, the well-know songwriter Nokhem Shternheim, who was from the Polish Galician town of Rzeszow ( Rayshe in Yiddish) often visited and stayed with them in Kolbuszowa (Kolbushov in Yiddish). Mr. Salsitz believed that Sternheim composed this song for Salsitz’s sister, but it turns out to be a Mordkhe Gebirtig song “Khanele un Nokheml” that has been recorded by Chava Alberstein and Mike Burstein. Thanks to singer/collector Leo Summergrad who follows this blog for pointing out the correct composer.
Mordkhe Gebertig
For more information on Shternheim – 1879 – 1942 – and a collection of his songs see “Hobn Mir a Nigundl: We have a little tune: The Songs of the Yiddish Troubadour Nokhem Shternheim” edited by Gila Flam and Dov Noy, Jerusalem 2000. In any case it is interesting that Sternheim, apparently, sang songs by Gebirtig. There are added lines in Salsitz’s version that refer to her mother and father that do not appear in the printed Gebirtig version. Did Sternheim compose those?
Nokhem Shternheim
The part B of the melody is the same as the part B of the song “Moyd fun Gas” (Girl of the Streets) written by Shloyme Prizament and can be found in his collection Broder zinger, Buenos-Aires, 1960. Arkady Gendler and “The gonifs” (singer Jeanette Lewicky) both recorded a version of “Moyd fun gas”.
The English transcription and translation of the song follows the singer’s version and dialect. We are attaching Gebirtig’s words in Yiddish and music as they appear in the book “Mordkhe Gebirtig zingt”, IKUF, 1963
Khanele mayn lebn
Sung by Norman Salsitz, recorded in New Jersey, 2002, by Bret Werb.
Khanele mayn leybn, Khanele di man,
Ikh vil di zolst mir geybn
Dus reytsl tsu farshteyn (faryshtayn)
Ven di kimst af mayne zinen,
Meygn royshn di mashinen,
Un dus biglayzn vern kalt.
Hob ikh azoy lib in gern,
Shuen lang fin dir tsu klern.
Un tsu zen far mir dayn tayer lib geshtalt.
Numkheml mayn leybn,
Nukheml di mayn.
Ikh vil dir bald geybn dus reytsl tsu farshteyn.
Dos bavayst di host mikh gern.
Dokh _____[?} tsu klern.
Es vet kayn toyve zayn far mir.
Vayter nemen kh’vel dayne zinin.
Vest koym af broyt fardinen.
Un ikh vel hingern bay dir.
Khanele mayn leybn, khanele du mayn.
Vos iz dos far an entfer?
Ikh ken dikh nisht farshteyn.
Ikh red fun libe. In mitn drinen
kimste veygn broyt fardinen
Hot a libe shaykhes den mit broyt?
Ikh vays ven me libt a khusn
miz men af a mol zan entshlosn
tsi di greste oremkayt un noyt.
Nukheml, mayn leybn, Nukheml di mayn.
Aza hayse libe
ken ikh nisht farshteyn.
Ikh hob gehert fin mayn mamen ,
Mit di greste libeflamen
Hot der tate zi amol gelibt.
Dokh ven zay hobn noyt gelitn.
hobn zey zikh arimgeshlitn,
Tsi iz den aza libe nisht batribt?
Khanele mayn leybn, Khanele di mayn.
Vuz iz dus far an entfer?
Ikh ken dikh nisht farshteyn.
Tsi hosti libe shlekht farshtanen.
Dus hot kayn shaykhes mit dayn mamen.
Nor di host moyre far dem noyt.
Vil ikh koyfn tsvey mashinen,
Di vest helfn af broyt fardinen
Un farzikhert vet zan indzer broyt.
Nukheml mayn leybn, nukheml di mayn
Di host dikh yetst bakimen,
Ikh ken dikh shoyn farshteyn.
Di vest dort nisht bay mir oysfirn,
Ikh vel zikh nisht bay dir unrirn.
Shoyn genig geplugt zikh in genay.
Ikh vil fastriges mer nisht tsien,
Yungerhayt zikh nisht farblien,
Ikh vil lebn uin genisn fray.
Khanele mayn lebn, khanele di mayn.
Di host nokh azelkhe taynes,
Vus vet nokh shpeyter zayn?
Gelt, nukh gelt ,vesti bagern.
Mir dus leybn tsi fartsern
ven fardin ikh vel nisht azoy fil.
Du a het [?], un du af klayder,
In bin ikh dokh nor a shnayder.
Ikh zey s’vet zan a troyerike shpil.
Nukheml mayn leybn, Nukheml di mayn.
Di bist geveyn mayn khusn,
mayn man vesti nisht zan.
Khanele my dear,my Khanele
I want you to
explain this riddle for me.
When you come into my head
the machines may whirl,
and the pressing iron can get cold.
I so love and am so glad
to think about you for hours
and to see before me your dear, lovely self.
Nokheml my dear, my Nokheml,
I will soon
explain this riddle to you.
This shows how you are fond of me,
yet ___ to think of me.
It will not be doing me any favors.
If I further take your purpose –
you will barely earn enough for bread
and I will go hungry with you.
Khanele my dear, my Khanele,
what kind of answer is that?
I cannot understand you.
I speak of love and out of nowhere
you speak of earning enough for bread.
What does love have to do with bread?
I know that when you love a fiance
You must once and for all commit yourself in spite of
the greatest poverty and hardship.
Nokheml my dear, my Nokheml
such passionate love
I cannot understand.
I heard tell from my mom:
with the greatest flames of love
did my father once love her.
Yet when they suffered hardship
they went from place to place [literally: sledded around]
Is not such a love a troubled one?
Khanele my dear, my Khanele
What kind of answer is this?
I don’t understand you.
Perhaps you have misunderstood love?
This has no connection to your mother.
But you are fearful of such poverty.
So I want to buy two [sewing] machines
so you will help earn our bread,
and thus ensured will be our income.
Nokheml my dear, my Nokheml.
You have made yourself clear.
I now understand you.
You won’t get me to do what you want,
and I won’t be touched by you
I’ve suffered enough by sewing.
I won’t sew any more basting stitches
and wilt away in my youth.
I want to live and enjoy freely.
Khanele my love, my Khanele.
You have such complaints,
what will be later?
Money, and more money is what you crave,
and you’ll devour me
when I don’t earn so much.
Here for a hat [?] and here for clothes,
but I am only just a tailor.
I see this will be a sad game.
Nokheml my dear, my Nokheml
I was indeed engaged to you
but you will not be my husband.
Zets zikh avek bay dem “kitchen table”
Performance by Izzy Young, Stockholm, Sweden
Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, May 2014.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Izzy Young (born 1928) is a well-known figure in the history of the American folk music revival. His “Folklore Center” in Greenwich Village, established in 1957, often served as the first performance space for up and coming singers such as Bob Dylan.
He later moved to Sweden, and in 1973 he opened a “Folklor Centrum” in Stockholm. In May 2014 I recorded him in his storefront singing Zetz zikh avek bay dem ‘kitchen table’ to the melody of Hob ikh mir an altn daym. He explained that his father had owned a kosher bakery in the Bronx and this song was composed during a baker’s strike in the late 1920s or 1930s. Izzy Young’s mother Pola Young used to sing Yiddish songs and even performed them once in the 1960s at a folk music concert.
The melody of the Yiddish drinking song Hob ikh mir an altn daym itself borrows the melody of George Enescu’s “Romanian Rhapsody n. 1”, Op 11:
The words to “Hob ikh mir an altn daym” can be found in many Yiddish song books including the Mlotek’s collection Mir trogn a gezang.
Zets zikh avek bay der “kitchen table”
Tra-la-la-la-la
Esn a broyt mit der “union-label”
Tra-la-la-la-la
Take a seat at the kitchen table.
Tra-la-la-la
Eat some bread with the union label.
Tra..tra…tra..
International union broyt
makht di bakn sheyn un royt.
tra-la-la-la-la….
International Union bread
makes the cheeks nice and red.
tra..tra…tra..
Spoken (possible second verse that Izzy Young tries to remember):
“And if you buy Union bread
may you live a long time…”
This is among the more well-known songs that have been posted on the Yiddish Song of the Week, but I have included it more because of Tsunye Rymer‘s heartfelt singing (as usual!), than the song itself. He was in his 80s by the time of this recording, but how he expresses the “ay-ay-ays” is a lesson in Yiddish (male) folksinging style.
This was recorded in our dining room in the early 1980s, I would guess when Rymer came over Friday night after dinner, as he often did. My mother, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman is the woman‘s voice, and I hear my father, sister and uncle Mordkhe Schaechter there too.
According to Bob Freedman‘s database of recorded songs, particularly of LPs, only Ben Bonus and the Salomon Klezmorim have recorded the song, but it has been quite popular. You can find it with words and music in Chana and Joseph Mlotek‘s collection Pearls of Yiddish Song page 146, 147. Also printed in the earlier collections of Anna Shomer Rothenberg 1928, and Gelbart 1938.
As for the performance here: The line is usually sung „nishto keyn matses, nishto keyn vayn‟ since it‘s referring to Passover, so singing „broyt‟ – bread – is a mistake, I will leave to the Yiddish linguists among you to discuss Rymer‘s „hypercorrective‟ pronunciation of „shavous‟ and „sukes‟.
The printed versions all have „Ober khsidim‟ [Hasidim] zenen mir‟ not, as is sung here, „ober yidn zenen mir‟. Since they‘re traveling to the rebbe, Hasidim is the more obvious choice, but in our family we always sang „yidn‟. Listening to this performance, it seems that the version known by the audience sometimes overwhelms Rymer‘s version and he just adapts to our words.
Un az ez kumt der yontif peysekh
vider af s‘nay
nishto keyn broyt iz, nishto keyn vayn,
Ay,ay, ay, ay! ay, ay, ay, ay!
Sha, shtil un nisht gezorgt,
Got in himl iz a futer,
du gelien, du geborgt,
Ikh hob shoyn alts un puter.
Hay, hay, hay, hay, hay!
Vus mir zenen, zenen mir, ober yidn zenen mir,
un tsim rebn furn mir, undzer gantsn lebn.
And when the holiday Passover arrives,
once more anew:
there‘s no bread, no wine,
Ay,ay, ay ay! Ay, ay, ay ay!
Sha! Quiet! Don‘t you worry,
God in heaven is our father.
Here and there we borrow a little,
I have everything and that‘s all we need.
Hay, hay, hay, hay, hay!
What we are – we are,
But Jews are what we are
And to our Rebbe we travel
our whole life.
Un az s‘kumt der yontif shvues,
vider af s‘nay.
Nito keyn milikhiks, nito keyn grins,
Ay, ay, ay, ay! Ay, ay, ay,ay!
Sha shtil……
And when the holiday Shavous arrives –
Once more anew.
There‘s no dairy, no vegetables,
Ay, ay ay, ay! Ay, ay, ay ay!
Sha…..
Un az s‘kumt der yontif sukes,
Vider af s‘nay.
Nito keyn esrig, nito keyn liliv,
Ay, ay, ay, ay! Ay, ay, ay ay!
Sha sthil……
And when the holiday Sukes comes –
Once more anew.
There‘s no esrog, there‘s no lulav,
Ay, ay, ay, ay! Ay, ay, ay, ay!
Sha….
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
Nokhem Shternheim
Yiddish Song of the Week 