Lifshe Schaechter-Widman Performs “Ale meydelekh hobn khasene”

Ale meydelekh hobn khasene / All the Girls are Getting Married
A children’s song sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954, NYC

TRANSLITERATION 

LSW’s son, Mordkhe Schaechter, introduces the song: “Nokh a kinderlid” – “Another children’s song.”

Ale meydelekh hobn khasene,
Eykh blab aleyn.
Oy, mame, s’iz avade
nit sheyn.

Tate, gey afn ben-zukher,
un kloyb mir oys a bukher.
Ale meydelekh hobn khasene.
Un eykh blab aleyn. 

TRANSLATION

All the girls are getting married.
I remain alone.
Oy, mame, of course
it’s not nice.

Father, go to the ben-zokher
and pick out a groom for me. 
All the girls are getting married.
And I remain alone. 

,אַלע מיידעלעך האָבן חתונה
.איך בלײַב אַליין
אוי, מאַמע, ס’איז אַוודאי
.ניט שיין

 טאַטע, גיי אויפֿן בן־זכר
.און קלויב מיר אויס אַ בחור
.אַלע מיידעלעך האָבן חתונה
.און איך בלײַב אַליין

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman 

The third line of this short children’s song was difficult to understand, but thanks to Yiddish teacher and researcher Eliezer Niborski, I believe we have the complete correct version. 

A ben-zokher (“zukher” in LSW’s dialect) is a ritual on the Friday night following the birth of a boy. At the home of the new born, the parents serve guests and relatives wine and fruit. The phrase “ben zokher” is from Jeremiah 20:15. See Hayyim Schauss’ description of the tradition in his work The Lifetime of a Jew.

“Wedding” by Issachar Ber Ryback, c. 1930

Niborski also found the ben-zokher – bokher rhyme in two other sources. One in a children’s song that Ruth Rubin sings, “Tate, tate, gey afn ben-zukher”, as heard at YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive. The second he found in the essay by I. L. Peretz “Dos yidishe lebn loytn yidishn folkslid” (“Jewish Life as Depicted in Yiddish Folksong”)

Special thanks to Eliezer Niborski and the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Sound Archive. 

“Geven amol a kleyne vantse” Performed by Gerald and Jocelyn Cooper

Geven amol a kleyne vantse / There once was a small bedbug
Gerald Cooper and Jocelyn Cooper
Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Greene Family Camp, Waco Texas  1993

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

The Coopers learned this playful song while attending the Habonim summer camp near Montreal (probably Camp Kissufim) in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The song fits into a common children’s song genre of more and more letters or syllables disappearing with each verse until there is silence. The  camp song “BINGO” comes to mind as an American example. Gerald Cooper said the song would typically be sung around a bonfire.

The Yiddish word for bedbug is “vants” (too bad Alan Alda’s Hawkeye didn’t know this in the M*A*S*H episode “38 Across” – tune in at 7:33) not “vantse/vantze” which is German. But by playfully adding a syllable to the words “vants” and “tants” to form “vantse” and “tantse”, the song has added a verse.

I have only translated the first verse since it is clear what is going on.

Thanks to Simcha Raphael, Evelyn Tauben for helping with this week’s post.

TRANSLITERATION

Geven a mol a kleyne vantse.
Hot zi zeyer lib gehat tsu tantse.
Kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di vantze tantze;
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di vantse tantze.

Geven a mol a kleyne vants
hot zi zeyer lib gehat tsu tants.
Kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di vants tants, tants
Kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di vants tants, tants.

Geven a mol a kleyne van
hot zi zeyer lib gehat tsu tan
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di van tan tan
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di van tan tan

Geven a mol a kleyne va
hot zi zeyer lib gehat tsu ta
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di va ta ta
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di va ta ta.

Geven a mol a kleyne “v”
hot zi zeyer lib gehat “t”
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di v – t – t
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di v- t- t

Geven a mol a kleyne (silence)
hot zi zeyer lib gehat tsu (silence)
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di (silence)
kuk zikh tsu, kuk zikh ayn
vi di (silence)

TRANSLATION

There once was a small bedbug-O
That loved very much to dance-O.
Look, look
how the bedbug-O dances-O.
Look, look
how the bedbug-O dances-O.

“Eyns un tsvey” Performed by May (Menye) Schechter

Eyns un tsvey / One and Two
Performance by May (Menye) Schechter
Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Circle Lodge Camp, Hopewell Junction, NY, 1985

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

To welcome the beginning of the school year we present a Yiddish children’s song written and composed in New York but sung by the children in Eastern Europe Jewish schools as well.

The singer May Schechter (Yiddish name “Menye”)  was born in August 1920 in Soroki (Yiddish- Soroke), Bessarabia, then Romania. She died this year, February 2018.

May (Menye) Schechter 1920-2018

In an interview I conducted with her in 1986 at Circle Lodge, the Workmen’s Circle camp in Hopewell Junction, NY, Schechter explained that the children in Soroki performed this song as part of Zishe Weinper’s (Vaynper) children’s operetta Der bafrayter (The One Who Was Liberated). Der bafrayter was published by Farlag Matones in 1925, NY. We are attaching the Yiddish words and music (composed by N. Zaslavsky/Zaslawsky) as it appeared there. Yosl Kotler did wonderful illustrations for the publication.

Picture of Der Bafrayter by Yosl Kotler

May Schechter’s daughter, Naomi Schechter, wrote  about her mother:

She liked to say “I came in singing and I’m going to go out singing” and she was able to do that almost to the end, sharing Russian songs with her caretaker Luba and Yiddish and other songs with me. She also loved to dance. She had many talents including being a world class seamstress able to make couture suits, drapery and just about anything, carrying on the tailoring tradition of her family…

May Schechter’s husband was Ben Schechter, the long time manager of the Folksbiene Yiddish theater in NY.

The poet Zishe Weinper (1893 – 1957) came to America in 1913. He was a central figure in the Yiddish left and a number of his poems appealed to composers, among them “Toybn” and “A pastekhl, a troymer”. His song Zingendik, music by Paul Lamkoff, was another American Yiddish children’s song that became popular in Eastern Europe.

The composer Nathan Zaslavsky (1885 – 1965) immigrated to the US in 1900 and composed a number of other Yiddish songs. Sarah Gorby recorded this song twice we are attaching the MP3 of the version on:  Sarah Gorby – Yiddish et Judeo-Espagnole (Arton Records).

One verse of the  song was also recorded by Masha Benye and Workmen Circle school children on the LP Lomir zingen lider far yidishe kinder. Since May Schechter and Sarah Gorby both came from Bessarabia one has to wonder whether the play Der bafrayter was especially popular there.

Special thanks to Naomi Schechter for this week’s post, as well as Lorin Sklamberg and the YIVO Sound Archive.

TRANSLITERATION

Eyns un tsvey, eyns un tsvey
eyns un tsvey iz dray.
Zun bahelt undzer velt.
Leybn iz keday.

Zum, zum, zum?
Zum, zum, zum?
freygt ba mir a flig.
Tra-la-la, tra-la-la
entfer ikh tsurik.

Tsvey un tsvey, tsvey un tsvey
tsvey un tsvey iz fir.
Vintl bluz afn gruz,
bluzt es oykh af mir.

Tri-li-li, tri-li-li
zingt a vaserfal.
Blyasket blendt, glit un brent.
Iber im a shtral.

Fir un fir, fir un fir
fir un fir iz akht.
Af a kark fun a barg
hot zikh ver tselakht.

Kha-kha-kha, kha-kha-kha
ver zhe lakht es dort?
Kha-kha-kha, kha, kha, kha
Me hert dort nisht keyn vort.

Finf un finf, finef un finf
finef un finf iz tsen.
kling klang klingt
Foygl zingt.
Vazt mir, vos er ken.

Foygl flit, taykhl tsit
Ikh tsi oykh mit zey.
Eyns un eyns, eyns un eyns.
Eyns un eyns iz tsvey.

TRANSLATION

One and two, one and two
one and two is three.
Sun light up our world,
It’s worth living.

Zum, zum, zum, zum, zum, zum?
A fly asks me.
Tra-la-la, tra-la-la
Is my reply.

Two and two, two and two
two and two is four.
Breeze blows on the grass
and so too it blows on me.

Tri-li-li, tri-li-li
sings a waterfall.
Shines and dazzles, glows and burns
A beam of light above.

Four and four, four and four
four and four is eight.
On the neck of a hill
someone was laughing.

Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha
who is laughing there?
Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha
Not a word is heard.

Five and five, five and five
Five and five is ten.
Kling-klang rings, the bird sings
Shows me what he can do.

Bird sings, river attracts,
and I am drawn to them.
One and one, one and one
One and two is three.

A Second Melody for “Katshke grin” Performed by Abba Rubin

A Second Melody for “Katshke grin”
Performed by Abba Rubin, recorded by Rachel Rubin 1991.

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.

The Yiddish children’s song “Katshke grin”, also known as “Geyt arum a grine katshke” and “Grine katshke”,  has been recorded but with a different melody. This week we present a previously unknown melody for the song. The singer, Abba Rubin, was recorded by his daughter Rachel Rubin at the same field recording session as the previously posted Burekes af Peysekh in 1991.

The words to Katshke grin were written by artist and writer Zuni Maud (1891 – 1956) and printed in Kinder Zhurnal, a monthly Yiddish children’s magazine published by the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute in NYC, where he often contributed poetry and drawings.

Zuni Maud’s frequent collaborator was artist/writer Yosl Cutler and together they created the first successful Yiddish puppet theater Modicut (1925 – 1933) in NY. According to Edward Portnoy who wrote on the radical Modicut troupe, Mikhl Gelbart and Moyshe Rappaport wrote much of the music for Modicut, so perhaps one of them was the composer of one or both of the melodies.

Mariam Nirenberg sings Grine katshke with another melody on her record Folksongs in the East European Tradition: Mariam Nirenberg (Global Village GV M117).  You can hear Niremberg’s version on iTunes. She only sings one verse and the duck has a red nose, not a broad one as in Rubin’s version. Nirenberg emigrated from her town Czarnawcyce, Poland (Yiddish = Tsharnovtshits) to Canada in 1932.

The song, with Nirenberg’s melody, become more popular recently thanks to the CD recording Di grine katshke/The Green Duck (Living Traditions, 1997).  There it is sung with four verses by Henry Sapoznik.

Thanks for their help for this week’s post go to Abba Rubin, Edward Portnoy and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. 

TRANSLITERATION

Katshke grin, breyte noz
un keyner veyst nisht vos iz dos.

Geyt arum a grine katshke,
geyt arum un trakht.
volt zi davenen shakhris
falt shoyn tsu di nakht.

Katshke grin, breyte noz
un keyner veyst nisht vos iz dos.

Geyt arum a grine katshke
geyt arum un kayt.
Volt zi brokn lokshn
hot zi nit keyn tsayt.

Katshke grin, breyte noz
un keyner veyst nisht vos iz dos.

Geyt arum a grine katshke
mit a breyter noz.
Volt zi shmekn tabak
hot zi nisht mit vos.

Kashke grin, breyte noz
un keyner veyst nisht vos iz dos.

TRANSLATION

Green duck, wide nose,
and no one knows what this is.

A green duck wanders,
wanders and thinks:
She would pray the morning prayers
but night has just fallen.

Green duck, wide nose,
and no one knows what this is.

A green duck wanders,
wanders and chews.
She would cut up the noodles,
but she doesn’t have the time.

Green duck, wide nose,
and no one knows what this is.

A green duck wanders,
with a wide nose.
She would smell tobacco,
but she doesn’t have with what.

Green duck, wide nose,
and no one knows what this is.

“Krakovyake-vyane” Performed by Tsunye Rymer

Krakovyake-vyane
Mocking Yiddish song to accompany the
Polish dance Krakowiak

Sung by Tsunye Rymer,
recorded by Itzik Gottesman, 1985 NYC
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.

Krakowiak by Zofia Stryjeńska, 1927

Rymer sings:
Krakovyake-vyane
shtup aroys di pani.
Di pani tor men nisht shtupn.
Zets ir oys di tseyn.

Di tseyn tor men nit zetsn.
Dos ponim tor men nisht netsn.
(Rymer spoken) Un azoy vayter.

TRANSLATION of Rymer’s Version:

Krakoviake-vyane
Push out the lady.
You shouldn’t push the lady;
Knock out her teeth.

You shouldn’t knock out her teeth,
You shouldn’t soak the face.
(Rymer spoken) …and so on.

In the spirit of Purim this week, we present a parodic dance song. Tsunye Rymer sings this fragment of a Yiddish song to accompany the Polish Krakowiak dance. This particular tune is known as Krakowiaczek jeden. Here is a version on Youtube of this melody, which is considered a children’s song:

To read about the Krakowiak dance, costume and music click here.

The Krakowiak was a complicated dance and often someone had to lead the dance (אוספֿירן דעם טאַנץ) and call out the moves, so it makes sense that a Yiddish parodic text would be created. Mariza Nawrocka was kind enough to identify which Krakowiak Rymer sang and to translate the Polish song for us; here are the first two verses.

1. Krakowiaczek jeden / one Krakowiaczek (little habitant of Kraków)
   miał koników siedem, / had 7 horses
   pojechał na wojnę, / he went on a war
   został mu się jeden. / only 1 remained
2. Siedem lat wojował, / He was fighting 7 years
   szabli nie wyjmował,  /  he was not takeing out his sabre
   szabla zardzewiała,  / the sabre got rusty
   wojny nie widziała. / it didn’t see the war.

Though Rymer’s version is incomplete we can add more verses from other sources.

In I. L. Cahan Yidishe folkslider mit melodyes (NY YIVO, 1952) there are more stanzas and versions, originally Cahan had all of these versions under the category “Krakovyanke”. Attached at the end of this post are scans of the songs in Yiddish as published in Cahan. (Cahan1, Cahan2).

He did not publish any music with these texts:

From Chudnov, (YID – Tshidnev) Volhynia,Ukraine:

Krakoviak, herits,
Shtup aroys dem porets.
Az er vil nisht geyn
Zets im oys di tseyn!

 Krakoviatska ane,
shtup aroys di pani.
Az di pani vil nit geyn,
Hak ir oys di tseyn!  (#225, page 227)

From Brailov, (YID – Bralev) Podolya, Ukraine:

Yakov, yakov-yane,
shtup aroys di pani!
Di pani vil nit geyn.
Zets ir oys di tseyn!

Di tseyn tor men nit zetsn,
Dos ponim tor men nit netsn.
Azoy vi in Ades,
Azoy in Bukarest!  (#227, page 228)

From Priluk, (YID – Priluk)  Poltaver region, Ukraine:

Krako-krako-vyana,
Shlep arayn di pani;
Di pani vil nit geyn.
Shlep ir far di tseyn!   (#228, page 228)

From Bessarabia or Odessa:

From Zalmen Rosenthal’s collection in Reshumot vol. 2, 1926/27 in his category “Children’s Songs”

Nake, nake, nitse
shtup aroys di pritse.
Di pritse vil nit geyn.
Zets ir oys di tseyn.

Di tseyn tor men nit zetsn.
un dos ponim tor men nit netsn.

I. L. Cahan also considered a song about Beylke, though textually different and with no mention of Krakowiak, to be part of this parodic Krakowiak tradition. I assume he determined this by the melody. Versions of this “Beylke” Krakowiak song can be found in Cahan 1952, Bastomski 1923 and Tsaytshrift volume 2-3, Minsk, 1928.

Special thanks for this post to Mariza Nawrocka and  Paul Glasser.

From I. L. Cahan Yidishe folkslider mit melodyes (NY YIVO, 1952):

“Af a shteyn zitst a reytekh mit a khreyn” Performed by Khave Rosenblatt

Af a shteyn zitst a reytekh mit a khreyn
On a Stone Sit a Turnip and a Horseradish
performed by Khave Rosenblatt

Text by Eliezer Shteynbarg, music by “Prof. Kohn”.
Recorded in Jerusalem by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, 1970s.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman.

Illustration by Arthur Kolnik in Eliezer Steinbarg’s Mayn alef-beys (My Alphabet), Chernovitz, 1921

TRANSLITERATION
(in Khava Rosenblatt’s dialect)

Of a shteyn, of a shteyn
zitst a reytekh mit a khreyn.
Eytekh – beytekh! zugt der reytekh
Vus s’iz der himl azoy reyn?
Eytekh – beytekh! zugt der reytekh
Vus s’iz der himl azoy reyn?

Lomir beyde tontsn geyn.
Lomir beyde tontsn geyn.
Bald gevorn iz a freyd
in gelofn s’kind un keyt.

S’tantst a reytekh mit a khreyn!
Vi zhe loyft men dus nit zeyn?
Meshiakhs tsat hot men gemeynt
in me hot far freyd geveynt.

Eykh bin oykhet dort geveyn
Eykh bin oykhet dort geveyn
tsigeshtipt hob ikh mikh shver
in kh’ob oykh gelozt a trer!

TRANSLATION

On a rock, on a rock
sit a turnip and a horseradish.
I beg of you, says the horseradish:
Why is the sky is so clear ?
I beg of you, says the horseradish:
Why is the sky is so clear ?

Let’s both go dancing!
Let’s both go dancing!
Soon there was such a celebration
and everybody ran over.

A turnip dancing with a horseradish!
How could you not run to see?
The Messiah has come we all thought
and for joy we all cried.

I was also there.
I was also there.
With difficulty I pushed myself through
and I too let fall a tear!

The text of this song is slightly altered from Mayn alef-beys (My Alphabet) by Eliezer Steynbarg (1880 – 1932) published in 1921, Chernovitz, Romania; a classic work of Yiddish children’s literature with illustrations by Arthur Kolnik, Ruven Zelikovitsh (later known as Reuven Rubin) and Solomon Lerner. The original text in Yiddish is attached below.

Khave Rosenblatt was born in a Shatava, a Ukrainian town near Kamenets-Podolsky.  In 1917 the family moved to briefly to Khotin (Khotyn/Chotin) in Bessarabia and then to Chernovitz, Bukovina. There she was a kindergarten teacher in a Hebrew school and emigrated to Israel with her husband and child in 1934. Her husband had been a famous eye doctor in Romania but became a natural healer in Israel saying he would no longer spill blood. He died in 1945. In Israel Khava Rosenblatt worked for the Kupat Kholim, the national health care agency in Israel.

Rosenblatt’s family was very close to the poet laureate of Chernovitz, Eliezer Steynbarg, and she helped proofread the first volume of his Mesholim (Fables) published in Chernovitz in 1933 which appeared posthumously. She recalls that the composer of this song, and others by Steinbarg, was someone named Prof. Kohn.

In the small collection Eliezer Shteynbarg: gezungene lider edited by Hersh Segal, Rekhovot, 1977, the editor writes that except for one song in the collection, none of the composers are known. Attached is the music to this text from that 1977 collection which is similar.

Another song from Mayn Alef-beys – “Der ber” (aka – “Af di aksl mit tsvey kanen”) – was recorded on the Living Traditions CD “Di grine katshke“.

Thanks to Dr. Paul Glasser for assistance with this week’s post.

“Di veverke” Performed by Chana Szlang Gonshor

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

Currently on YouTube, one can hear “Bobe Chana” (Grandmother Chana) sing several Yiddish children’s songs, some less familiar than others. This week we present her song Di veverke (The Squirrel).

We obtained biographical information about Chana Szlang Gonshor from her daughter-in-law, the Montreal Yiddish teacher and scholar, Chana (Anna) Gonshor.

Chana Szlang Gonshor was born in Warsaw in 1919 where her family was very poor. As a young child there she attended the Borochov school and attended the Medem Sanitorium at least 10 times. Anna Gonshor believes she learned her repertoire from these sources. She currently lives in Montreal.

Chana Szlang Gonshor

A video interview with Chana Szlang Gonshor conducted by Jordan Kutzik and Anna Gonshor for the Wexler Oral History Project of the Yiddish Book Center can be found by clicking here.

The song Veverke was composed, both text and melody by Rive Boiarskaia [Boyarski], and we are attaching the music as it is found in her song collection for small children – Klingen hemerlekh (Moscow, 1925). There are some textual changes as Gonshor sings it. The entire book can be downloaded here.

In a vald af a sosneboym –
a veverke gezesn.
Zi hot zikh niselekh geknakt,
di yoderlekh gegesn.

Tants zhe, tants zhe veverke.
Mir veln ale zingen.
Varf arop a nisele,
mir veln ale shpringen.

Un az di veverke derzet
kinderlekh in krantsn.
Aropgevorfn a nisele,
genumen mit zey tantsn.

Tants zhe, tants zhe veverke.
Mir veln ale zingen.
Varf arop a nisele,
mir veln ale shpringen.

In the woods on a pine tree
there sat a squirrel.
She cracked nuts,
and ate the kernels.

So dance, dance squirrel,
We will all sing.
Throw down a nut,
and we will all jump.

And when the squirrel sees
the children in circles,
It threw down a nut
and began to dance with them.

So dance, dance squirrel,
We will all sing.
Throw down a nut,
and we will all jump.

“Oy, kh‘bin gegangen eyns‟ Performed by Mordkhe Schaechter

In connection with my uncle Mordkhe Schaechter‘s (MS, 1927 – 2007) yortsayt a couple of weeks ago, I am featuring a short children‘s song, “Oy, kh‘bin gegangen eyns‟ (“Oy, I Went One”) that he sang for the collector Leybl Kahn in 1954. (see the earlier post of another song performed by him).

Mordkhe Schaechter at Yiddish Vokh, Circle Lodge, NY 1985.
Photo by Itzik Gottesman

A longer version of this cumulative song involving animals “Tsimba-rimba‟ was recorded on the CD Di grine katshke (Living Traditions 1801) in 1997 produced by Living Traditions. Lorin Sklamberg is the lead singer and according to the notes, he learned this song from “Inna Slavskaya, a Soviet immigrant singer now living in Berlin, Germany. Inna learned the song from her mother‟.

Unfortunately, MS only sings three verses because, as he says later in the recording for Kahn, he only wanted to make sure he got the melodies down before he forgot them, and wasn‘t concerned with the words.

It is possible that in a 1953-54 issue of Der seminarist, a journal of the Yidisher lerer-seminar in NYC, he printed all the words. I hope to find the issue and if the words are found, we will add them to the blog.

Click here to play Oy ikh bin gegangen eyns

Mordkhe Schaechter – spoken –

S’iz a kinderlidl vos ikh hob fartseykhnt fin a froy fin zlotshev, mizrekh-galitsye.

It’s a children’s song that I recorded from a woman from Zlotshev, Eastern Galicia (Today, in Ukraine – Zolochiv).

Oy, ikh bin gegangen ayns, far vuz zhe nisht keyn tsvay?
ikh hob gezeyn a hin. Vi azoy zhe makht di hin?
dun de de dundun makht di hin.

Oy, I went one, so why not two?
I saw a chicken. What sound does a chicken make?
Dundedundun makes the chicken.

Oy ikh bin gegangen tsvay, far vuz zhe nisht keyn dray?
Ikh hob gezeyn a hun, vi azoy zhe makht der hun?
kikariki makht der hun.
dun de de dundun makhe di hin.

Oy, I went two; so why not three?
I saw a rooster; What sound does a rooster make?
Kikariki makes the rooster.
Dundedundn makes the chicken.

Oy, ikh bin gegangen dray, far vuz zhe nisht kayn tsvay? [fir?]
ikh hob gezen a ganz, vi azoy zhe makht di ganz?
SPOKEN un azoy vayter, un azoy vayter.

Oy, I went three, so what not two?
I saw a goose. What sound does the goose make?
SPOKEN etc. etc.