A scene from Simkhe Shvartz’ Kamelyon theater in Chernovitz, Romania early 1930s.
As remembered and sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG], recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx 1990s.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.
From right: Simkhe Shvarts, Itzik Manger, Helios Hecht, Rose Auslander, Chernovitz, 1934.
Photo from Efrat Gal-Ed Niemandssprache
BSG spoken:
Dus iz a sene vus Simkhe Shvarts hot ofgefirt in Chernovitz mit der amatorn-trupe Kamelyon. “A kheyder” hot dus geheysn.
This is a scene that Simkhe Shvarts put on in Chernovitz with the amateur troupe “Chameleon”. It was called “A kheyder”. [traditional elementary school]
Tsigele, migele, kotenak
Royte pomerantsn.
Az der rebe’z nishtu in kheyder,
Geyen khevre tanstn.
Nem zhe Tshaykl dem rebns kantshik
Un varf im aran in hribe.
Ikh’n helfn dos kind talepen [telepen]
Der rebetsin Teme-Libe.
Avek di mamzer, di pachuk
Moykhl dir dus vign
Bald vet der rebe kimen.
Vesti dans shoyn krign
Kinder der rebe’z in shil.
Kimt zhe tsi aher in
lernt dus naye shpil
Shpiln zikh iz git, oy git.
ernen zikh, oy nit oy nit.
Shpiln zikh iz tayer
Der kantshik ligt in fayer.
A gitn-uvnt Libe!
A gitn yingnmantshik.
Freyg im nor deym takhsit.
Vi es ligt der kantshik.
[4 pupils reply]
“Rebe, ikh veys nisht”
¨Ikh veys gurnisht rebe.”
“Rebe, ikh oykh nisht.”
“Ikh veys oykh nisht rebe”
“Az s’i nishtu keyn kantshik
iz du a rimen mit a shprontshik.
Arinter, lernen!¨
Little goat, little kitten
Red oranges
When the teacher is not in school
The gang starts to dance.
So Tshaykl take the teacher’s s whip
and throw it into the heating stove.
I will help the teacher’s wife, Teme-Libe
knock around the child
Get away you scoundrel, you rat
I don’t need your rocking.
Soon the teacher will come
and you will get yours.
Children, the teacher is in the synagogue
so come over here
and learn the new game.
Playing is good, oy good.
Learning is not, oy not.
Playing is precious
The whip is in the fire.
“Good evening Libe”
“Good evening, my young man.
Just ask this brat
where he put the whip”.
“Teacher, I know nothing”
¨I know nothing, teacher.¨
“Teacher, I too know nothing”
“I too know not, teacher”
¨Well if there’s no whip
There is the leather strap with a buckle.
Sit down and learn!¨
BSG added later, spoken: Everyone then sat down around the long table and started to rock back and forth and learn. Meanwhile the teacher fell asleep, so they took his leather strap and threw it into the fire. Then they sang again the first verse again:
Tsigele, migele, kotinak….
The Kamelyon [Chameleon] theater in Chernovitz was founded in 1929 and directed by Simkhe Schvartz (aka Simcha Schwartz – September 1, 1900 – August 14, 1974), a leader of Yiddish culture between the world wars in the Romanian city Chernovitz (today in the Ukraine – Cernivtsi). He was a sculptor, dramaturge, director, and songwriter. He is perhaps most known for his Parisian Yiddish puppet theater Hakl-bakl (1949 – 52) in which Marc Chagall and Itsik Manger participated. Simkhe Shvartz had two younger brothers, Julian Shvartz and Itzik Shvarts (aka I. Kara), also writers and important figures in the Yiddish cultural world in Romania.
The skits of Kamelyon , created by Shvarts, often were comprised of adapted Yiddish folksongs strung together to form a plot. “A kheyder” uses folky elements: the opening rhyme is adapted from the children’s rhyme “Tsigele, migele kotinke” (two examples in Ginzburg/Marek, 1901 and two more in I. L Cahan, 1952). Ruth Rubin sings two versions that can be listened to in YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive. https://ruthrubin.yivo.org/categories/browse/Dublin+Core/Title/Tsigele%2C+migele%2C+kotinke?site=site-r
More recently, Israeli singer Ruth Levin sings a song that begins with Tsigele-migele, words by J. Joffe, music by N. Zaslavsky on her CD of children’s songs Tsigele-migele
Singer/composer Efim Chorney has set music to Yiddish poet Meir Charat’s song “Tsigele-migele” and it can be found on the Klezmer Alliance CD Mir Basaraber.
Another folk element in “A kheyder” – the melody of the Yiddish folksong, “Dire-gelt” is used (can be found in the Mlotek songbook Mir trogn a gezang.) starting with the line “Shpiln zikh iz git.”
Please note that the teacher in the traditional elementary school, the kheyder, is addressed as “rebe” and is not to be confused with a Hasidic leader also called “rebe”.
Special thanks this week to Eliezer Niborski.
Itzik Manger in his Chernovitz days, 1920s
Beyle and Itzik Gottesman looking over Yiddish field recordings, 1970s.
Yiddish Song of the Week 