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.
Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn / We were ten brothers A Holocaust adaptation. Text by Israel Ashendorf. Sung by Molly and Josef Lubelski. Recorded by Abraham Lubelski, Bronx 1967
The Lubelski Troupe performing in a German D.P. camp
Transcription and Translation (Yiddish text after the commentary below)
Spoken by Josef Lubelski: “Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn. An alt folkslid ibergearbet fun Ashendorf un Zigmund Taytlboym.” “We Were Ten Brothers”, an old folksong adapted by Ashendorf and Zigmund Taytlboym
Tsen brider zenen mir geveyzn in frayd in in payn. Iz eyner gefaln inter Kutne zenen mir geblibn nayn.
Ten brothers were we in joy and in suffering. When one of us fell near Kutne we remained nine.
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas, zingen aykh a lidl, oy, in mitn gas. Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas.
Yidl and his fiddle, Berl and his bass sing a song for you in the middle of the street.
Nayn brider zenen mir gevezn yeder bay zayn mi in fakh. Iz ayner gefaln inter Varshe zenen mir geblibn akht.
Nine brothers were we we traded in cargo. One fell in Warsaw and eight remained.
Akht brider zenen mir geveyzn tsezayt in tsetribn farpaynikt eynem in Oshvyentshin [Oswiecim] zenen mir geblibn zibn.
Eight brothers were we, scattered and driven off. One was tortured in Auschwitz so seven remained.
Zibn brider zenen mir gevezn in groylteg un in shrek. en eynem in Vin gehongen, zenen mir geblibn zeks.
Seven brothers were we in the days of horror and fear. When one of us was hanged we remained six.
Zeks brider zenen mir geveyzn fartribn vayt in Krim. Iz eyner dortn imgekimen zenen mir geblibn finf.
Six brothers were we driven away to the Crimea. When one of us died we remained five.
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas zingen aykh a lidl, oy, in mitn gas. Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas
Yidl and his fiddle, Berl and his bass sing a song for you in the middle of the street. Yidl and his fiddle; Berl and his bass.
Finf brider zenen mir gevezn un sonim un a shir. hot men eynem in Prag geshosn zenen mir geblibn fir.
Five brothers were we with countless enemies. When they shot one in Prague we remained four.
Fir brider zenen mir geveyzn in teyg fin bombes in blay. Iz eyner gefaln in Vilner geto zenen mir geblibn dray.
Four brothers were we during days of bomb and lead. One died in the Vilna ghetto, leaving three.
Dray brider zenen mir gevezn eyner in der bafrayter armey. iz er gefaln vi a held, zenen mir geblibn tsvey.
Three brothers were we, one in the liberated army. He died a hero and two were left.
In di tsvey ver zay zenen vilt ir avade hern: Ayner fun zey is Yidl in der tsveyter Berl.
And who the two remaining are you know of course: one of them is Yidl and the second one Berl.
Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas zingen aykh a lidl, nokh der tsayt fun mord un has. Yidl mit dem fidl, Berl mitn bas.
Yidl with the fiddle, Berl with the bass sing for you a song in the time of death and hatred. Yidl with his fiddle, Berl with his bass.
O-ho, o-ho, o-ho o-ho o-ho o-ho ho ho ho hoh hohhoho hoh hoho hoho hohohoho
Zoln ale itstert hern, un zoln ale visn mir veln nokh vi frier shpiln af khasenes un brisn.
Let everyone now hear, let everyone should know: we will still play for you as before at weddings and circumcisions.
Oy veln mir nokh kindlen. frukhtbarn zikh in mern, vi di zamd in yamen, un oyf dem himl shtern.
Oh will we have children, be fruitful and multiply, like the sand in the seas and the stars in the sky.
Yidl mitn fidl. Berl mitn bas Yidl with his fiddle. Berl with his bass.
Nor a kleyne bakushe hobn mir tsu aykh yidn. in der heym gedenken zolt ir undz in fridn.
Just a minor request we ask of you all. In your homes you should remember us in peace.
A khasene, a simkhe betn undz tsu gast. mikh – yidl mit dem fidl in mir [mikh] – Berl mitn bas
For a wedding, a party invite us as guests. Me – yidl with his fiddle. and me – Berl with his bass.
Oy, vet men in ayer hayzer gertner vet men flantsn. Vider vet men lider zingen vider vet men tantstn.
O in your houses gardens will be planted. Once again we’ll sing songs, once again we’ll dance.
oy, veln mir nokh shpiln, vayzn vos mir kenen. Az far veytik veln platsn di strunes in di sonim.
O, will we play, and show what we are capable of. Let our enemies and music strings explode out of pain [envy].
Yidl mitn fidl, Berl mitn bas. Yidl with his fiddle; Berl with his bass.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is the third song that our blog is presenting from the repertoire of Molly (Male/Minska) and Josef Lubelski who traveled to Displaced Persons (D.P.) camps in Germany after the war to perform songs, skits and recitations. For more on their biography see their previously posted songs.
Versions of the popular folksong “Tsen brider zenen mir geven”, upon which this version is adapted, can be found in the Ginzburg/Marek Collection of 1901 and a short history of the folksong, words and music, can be found in the Mlotek collection Perl fun der yidisher poezye, p. 121 (see scans below).
Itzik Manger used the refrain for his song “Yidl mitn fidl”. In the Lubelski version, the music changes from the folk version when the number of brothers is reduced to two. The text at that point becomes more explicit on the plight and future of the Jews, rather than the demise of the brothers. Singer and compiler Shoshana Kalisch included a different Holocaust adaptation of “Tsen brider” in her collection of Holocaust songs – Yes, We Sang! – with words and music. One can hear that song at this link.
The author of this Lubelski version is Israel Ashendorf (1909 – 1956) but I could not find the text in his printed collections. In his introduction, Josef Lubelski mentions Sigmund Teytelboym as the musical adapter but I could not find any details on him. There is a 78 RPM recording of the Ashendorf song entitled “Yiddl [sic] mitn fidl” sung by I. Birnbaum and E. Zewinka, arranged by R. Solomon on the “Le Disque Folklorique Yiddish label”. There Ashendorf is credited as the author, spelled “Aschendorf”. A link to listen to the recording is here.
Israel Ashendorf (1909 – 1956)
I. Birnbaum and E. Zewinka recording
The Lubelski version is very close to the Birnbaum/Zewinka version but without instrumental accompaniment the Lubelski duo surely captures the sound and feeling closer to what the performance was like in the D.P. camps. One interesting change is that on the Birnbaum/Zevinka recording they sing “Royte armey” [Red army] and the Lubelskis sing “Bafrayte armey” [Liberated army]. Thanks this week to Alex Ashendorf, Abraham Lubelski for the recording and photo and to Eliezer Niborski for transcription help.
Es dremlt in geto / The ghetto is sleeping A Holocaust song sung by Sara Rosen, recorded by Itzik Gottesman, 1989 NYC.
………[Es dremlt in geto]
Mir zenen farriglt mit drut un mit krad. Ikh hob a shtetele, s’iż azoy sheyn. Ven ikh derman mekh, es benkt zikh aheym.
…….[The ghetto is sleeping.]
We are locked in with wire and with chalk. I have a small town, it’s so beautiful. When I think of it, I long to go home.
Levune, levune, vus kiksti mekh un? Az ikh bin hingerik, dus geyt dikh nisht un. Ikh hob a shtetele, s’iz azoy sheyn. Ven ikh derman mekh, es benkt zikh aheym.
Moon, moon, why are you looking at me? That I am hungry: you don’t care. I have a small town, it’s so beautiful. When I think of it, I long to go home.
Az m’et kimen fin arbet, hingerik in mid, Ervart indz dus esn, kartofl mit gris. Ikh hob a shtetele, s’iż azoy sheyn Ven ikh derman zikh, es benkt zikh aheym.
When we’ll come from work, hungry and tired, Food awaits us: potato and grits I have a small town, it’s so beautiful. When I think of it, I long to go home.
Biography of the Singer Sara Rosen by Mickey Rosen:
Sara Landerer Rosen was born in Krakow, Poland in 1925 into a Chasidic family. She experienced an idyllic childhood until September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, initiating World War II. The war truncated Sara’s formal education at the end of eighth grade but it didn’t stop her thirst for learning. Sara took advantage of every opportunity available; in the ghetto, in British Mandate Palestine and later, in the State of Israel and finally in the USA. In 1977, Sara graduated from Fordham University with a BA in Philosophy.
Sara Rosen
Sara was a prolific write, publishing her memoir My Lost World in 1993. In 2008, she published Prisoner of Memory, the life story of Itka Greenberg. Itka saved about 50 Jews during World War II, with Sara and her mother being two of the fortunate survivors. In between these two books, Sara translated the songs of Mordechai Gebirtig from Yiddish to English. Sara loved speaking and singing in Yiddish and remembered many of poems and songs from her youth.
Sara emigrated to the USA in 1956 with her husband, Joseph and two sons. Her family grew in the USA with the birth of a daughter.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:
Es dremlt in shtetl
This song is a Holocaust adaptation of the popular 1920s-30s song “Ven es dremlt in shtetl” (also known as “Es dremlt/drimlt dos shtetl” or “Es dremlt dos shtetl”); text written by Yoysef Heftman (1888 – 1955), music by Gershon Eskman. There are several recordings of this song, among them by Sarah Gorby, Michele Tauber, Willi Brill, Violette Szmajer, Sheh-Sheh, Zahava Seewald. Here is a link to a recording by the singer Rebecca Kaplan and tsimbler Pete Rushefsky from their CD On The Paths: Yiddish Songs with Tsimbl.
Ruth Rubin recorded a version from a “Mrs. Hirshberg” in 1947. It is called “Es dremlt a shtetele” and here is the link to the song in the Ruth Rubin Legacy: Archive of Yiddish Folksongs at the YIVO Institute.
Es dremlt in turme
Before the war, there already was a “parody” version of this song about languishing in prison. “Es dremlt in turme” [The prison is sleeping]. The words and music are printed in the “Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs” edited by Sinai Leichter, scans of this song are attached.
Sara Rosen learned this song in Bucharest after she escaped from the Bochnia ghetto near Krakow. Though she forgets the first two lines, it is cleary an adaptation of “Es dremlt in shtetl”. There are several versions of this song using the same melody, but they all differ so significantly from each other, that to call them versions of the same song is a stretch. Meir Noy wrote down a version “Shtil is in geto” in his notebooks that can be found in the National Library in Jerusalem. Another version can be found in the collection “Dos lid fun geto: zamlung” edited by Ruta Pups, Warsaw, 1962. A scan of this version is attached. A third version was printed in the collection “We Are Here: Songs of the Holocaust”, edited by Eleanor G. Mlotek et al, 1983.
Special thanks for this post to Mickey Rosen, Rachel Rosen, Michael Alpert, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, her grandchildren the musicians Benjy Fox-Rosen, Avi Fox-Rosen.
I was introduced to Sara Rosen in 1989 by the Yiddish/Hebrew singer Tova Ronni z”l (d. 2006) who lived in the same Upper West Side apartment building in NYC. That same day she introduced me to another singer in the building, David Shear, who sings “An ayznban a naye” on this blog.
From Anthology of Yiddish Folksongs” edited by Sinai Leichter:
From Dos lid fun geto: zamlung, edited by Ruta Pups, Warsaw, 1962:
Badkhn Toyvye Birnbaum’s Improvisation of “Yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn” Recorded in Brooklyn circa 1982 by Itzik Gottesman
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Birnbaum sings the refrain of the popular song “Yidish iz dokh azoy sheyn” and then improvises the verses in the tradition of a badkhn, the Jewish wedding entertainer. Birnbaum referred to these improvisations as “shtey gramen“, rhymes created at the moment, while standing.
Toyvye (Tobias) Birnbaum was born in Nowy Sacz, Poland, (Yiddish = Tsanz) in 1916. I met him in 1981 in Brighton Beach, NYC in the street. I was was walking with Yiddish actor Zvi Scooler, and Birnbaum recognized Scooler and came over. When he told us that he was a badkhn in Eastern Europe, I took his phone number and we became friends.
Toyvye Birnbaum, Collection of the Museum at Eldridge Street
The song “Yiddish redt zikh azoy sheyn” was written by Isidore Lillian and the music composed by Maurice Rauch. The original text and music were printed in the Mlotek collection Songs of Generations and we are attaching those scans. But it seems that just about no one sings the words as originally written. This is also reflected in this performance during which the guests sing along with different words.
Among those who have recorded this song are Ben-Zion Witler, Henri Gerro, Johnny Grey, and more recently Myriam Fuks, the Klezical Tradition, Clarita Paskin, Harold Goldfarb and Mirele Rozen. The texts of their versions vary, especially in the verses. Witler’s and Gerro’s versions were particularly popular and Birnbaum’s way of singing owes quite a bit to them. His punctuation of the word “Yiddish” in the refrain is a nice touch.
Here is a link to Gerro’s version:
This song was recorded at a “fraytik-tsu-nakhts” (friday night, sabbath eve) at my apartment in Park Slope, Brooklyn, approximately 1982. Among the people at this event that I recall or can be hear are Michael Alpert, Joshua Waletzky, Zwi Kanar. One of Birnbaum’s rhymes refers to two Germans in attendance that evening who had come to study Yiddish (at YIVO/Columbia). I do not remember who that was.
The Yiddish scholar Vera Szabo interviewed Birnbaum, and her papers and recordings are at YIVO. Klezmer musican and researchers Joshua Horowitz and Michael Alpert have also worked or interviewed with Birnbaum.
Thanks this week to Joshua Horowitz and Vera Szabo.
Yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn
Ikh gedenk di kinder-yurn, sheyninke kinder-yurn. In hartsn ayngekritst zenen zey bay mir. Di yinge zikhroynes, di sheyne khaloymes leygn in hartsn bay mir.
I remember my childhood wonderful childhood. They are inscribed in my heart. The memories of youth, the sweet dreams lay deep in my heart.
Freyg ikh aykh tsi besers iz den farhan? Ven di khaveyrim fun Itziklen kimen zikh tsuzam? Men est, me trinkt, keyad hameylekh, der oylem fraylekh. Vil ikh aykh, zayt zeh azoy git, Lernt aykh os dus lidele un zingt zhe mit mir mit. Vus?
So I ask you, is there anything better? When friends come together to Itzik’s place? We eat, we drink, as if we were kings. The people are happy. So I ask you please, learn this song and sing along with me. What?
REFRAIN Yidish redt zikh azoy gring. Yidish leygt zikh oyf der tsing Yidish redn ales Zaydes, tates mames Oy, adarebe, zug oyf goyish “Git shabes”. Yidish iz dekh azoy sheyn Yidish hot a toyznt kheyn. Vus toygn mir leshoynes, fun fremde zikhroynes. Az yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn.
Speaking Yiddish is so easy. Yiddish is easy to pronounce. Yiddish is spoken by everyone Grandfathers, fathers, mothers. Just try to say in any foreign tongue – “gut shabes” [good sabbath] Yiddish is so beautiful Yiddish has a thousand charms. What do I need languages from other memories When Yiddish sounds so sweet.
Tsi iz den epes besers farhan, ikh miz aykh zugn nokh a mol ven me kimt zikh tsizam, Durkh deym vil ikh aykh nisht dertserenen un ikh vel aykh a lidele oyslernen zayt zhet ale azoy git, lern akykh oys dus lidele zingt zhe mit mir mit.
Is there anything better, may I repeat, when we all get together? With this I don’t want to make you angry and I will teach you a song. So please learn the song and sing along.
Yidish iz dokh azoy sheyn. Yidish hot a toyznt kheyn. Yidish redn ales” Zaydes, tates, mames Oy, adarebe zug af goyish: “Git shabes” Yidish iz dokh azoy gring. Yidish leygt zikh oyf der tsing. Vus toygn mir leshoynes fun andere mikoymes. Az Yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn.
Yiddish sounds so sweet. Yiddish has a thousand charms. Yiddish spoken by all, grandfathers, fathers and mothers. Just try to say “Gut shabes” in another language. It’s so easy to speak Yiddish. It’s so easy to pronounce Yiddish. What do I need languages from far other places. Yiddish sounds so sweet.
Yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn yidish hot a toyznt kheyn. yidish redn ales zaydes, tates, mames Oy, adarebe zugt af goyish: “Git shabes” Yidish iz dokh azoy gring. Yidish leygt zikh oyf der tsing. vus toygn mir leshoynes fun andere mikoymes. Az yidish redt zikh azoy gring.
Yiddish sounds so sweet. Yiddish has a thousand charms. Yiddish is spoken by all, grandfathers, fathers and mothers. Just try to say “Gut shabes” in a foreign tongue. It’s so easy to speak Yiddish. It’s so easy to pronounce Yiddish. What do I need languages from far other places. When Yiddish sounds so sweet.
Oy az yidn redn yidish, vus iz den du der khidesh? yidish vet azoy sheyn klingen, say bam redn, un shener bam zingen. Duz iz klur vi der tug. Duz beyt’ ekh der batkhn un hert zhe vus ikh zug.
Oy, that Jews speak Yiddish, what’s the big deal? Yiddish will sound wonderful both when you speak it, and evern more so when you sing it. This is clear as day. So the badkhn asks you and hear what I say.
Yidish redt zikh azoy sheyn. Yidish hot a toyznt kheyn. Yidish redn ales, Zaydes, tates, mames Oy, adarebe zugt af goyish: “Git shabes”. Yidish iz dokh azoy gring. Yidish leygt zikh oyf der tsing. Vus toygn mir leshoynes fin andere mikoymes? Az yidish redt zikh azoy gring.
Yiddish sounds so sweet. Yiddish has a thousand charms. Yiddish is spoken by all, grandfathers, fathers and mothers. Just try to say “Gut shabes” in a foreign tongue. It’s so easy to speak Yiddish. It’s so easy to pronounce Yiddish. What do I need languages from far other places, when Yiddish sounds so sweet.
Di gantse velt zugt az yidish hot azoy fil kheyn. Ven yidish i’ nisht geveyn git, volt yidish nisht gekimen tsu Itziklen tsi geyn. Un nokh deym vil ikh aykh nisht dertserenen. Ir mizt dokh hobn a fink fin yidish, vus ir vilt zikh yidish oyslernen. S’iz nisht keyn kharpe, s’iz nisht keyn shand. Tsvay mentshn zenen gekimen zikh lernen yidish azsh fin Daytshland. Nokh deym vintsh ikh aykh ale du, hatslukhe un a shir. Dus letste zug ikh zingt zhe mit mit mir.
The whole world says that Yiddish has so much charm. If Yiddish weren’t good, then Yiddish would not come to Itzik. And after all I don’t want to enrage you. You must have a spark of Yiddish to want to learn it. There’s no shame, no disgrace. Two people came to study Yiddish all the way from Germany. So after all, I wish you all success without end. For the last time, sing along with me.
Yidish iz dokh azoy sheyn. Yidish hot a toyznt kheyn. Yidish redn ales Zaydes, tates, mames Oy, adarebe zugt af goyish: “Git shabes” Yidish iz dokh azoy gring. Yidish leygt zikh oyf der tsing. Vus toygn mir leshoynes fin andere mikoymes? Az yidish redt zikh azoy gring.
Yiddish sounds so sweet. Yiddish has a thousand charms. Yiddish is spoken by all, grandfathers, fathers and mothers. Just try to say “Gut shabes” in a foreign tongue. It’s so easy to speak Yiddish. It’s so easy to pronounce Yiddish. What do I need languages from far other places, when Yiddish sounds so sweet.
Az ikh hob aykh du gezugt gramen s’hot aykh afile farshaft a bisele tamen. Her zhe Itzikl tsi zikh tsi mayn shmis der mentsh iz shoyn geveyn in der gantser velt un oykhet in Pariz. Lomir nor zan gezint in shtark. Men iz gekimen hern a yidishe drushele keyn Prospekt Park. Mit deym vil ale zugn aykhץ Un zayt aykh matriekh un dus lidele lernt zikh oys vus gikh. Dus hob ikh ale simunim ven ir zingt yidish keyn-hore laytish shaynt af ayer punim. Atsindert vil ikh aykh tsvingen Dus letste mul, beyt ikh aykh, nokh a mol mit mir mittsuzingen.
And so I have said some rhymes here. It even gave you some pleasure. So listen Itzik to my converstion. He has gone all over the world, and also Paris. Let us all be healthy and strong. People came to hear my talk to Prospect Park. And with this I say to you. Please try to learn this song quickly. For this I have all the signs: when you sing Yiddish right, no evil eye, your face shines. So now I demand of you all to sing for the last time, I ask you, to sing along with me.
דער בדחן טובֿיה בירנבוים זינגט „ייִדיש רעדט זיך אַזוי שיין” רעקאָרדירט פֿון איציק גאָטעסמאַן אין ברוקלין, אַן ערך 1982
.איך געדענק די קינדעריאָרן, שיינינקע קינדעריאָרן .אין האַרצן אײַנגעקריצט זענען זיי בײַ מיר די יונגע זכרונות, די שיינע חלומות .לייגן [ליגן] אין האַרצן בײַ מיר ?פֿרעג איך אײַך, צי בעסערס איז דען פֿאַרהאַן ?ווען די חבֿרים פֿון איציקלען קומען זיך צוזאַם ,מען עסט, מע טרינקט, כּיד־המלך .דער עולם פֿריילעך ,וויל איך אײַך, זײַט אַזוי גוט לערנט אײַך אויס דאָס לידעלע און זינגט זשע ?מיט מיר מיט. וואָס
Di Shpanishe Kholere / The Spanish Contagion Lyrics by Harry Boens (Bennett), Music by Nathan Hollandar. Performance by Cantor Sam Weiss.
Commentary by Cantor Sam Weiss
Around 15 years ago my friend Michael Bennett discovered his grandfather’s name (see Michael Bennett’s post about his grandfather, Harry Boens / Bennett) listed as lyricist on a piece of Yiddish sheet music about the 1918 Spanish flu. As there were no extant recordings or performances of the song, in 2010 he emailed me to see if I could arrange to get it recorded. I glanced at the lyrics and was quickly captivated by their colloquial directness and interesting vocabulary. In short order I printed out the file, placed the sheets on my electronic keyboard, ran through the song, and emailed the mp3 to Michael.
Image courtesy of Michael Bennett; all rights reserved.
The song remained our private little adventure until COVID-19 reared its head and Michael reached out to me again: “…Maybe it’s an appropriate time to release to the public your rendition of my grandfather’s lament.” I hesitated, not really thinking of that quick take as a “performance, “and his idea remained dormant. Right before the High Holidays, however, it occurred to me that the Yiddish Song of the Week website would be an appropriate vehicle for sharing this gem, and Itzik Gottesman agreed to host it along with Michael’s back story on his grandfather.
Cantor Sam Weiss by Robert Kalfus
As the song is equal parts humor and pathos, I adopted a theatrical singing style along with the “stage Yiddish” dialect suggested by the printed notation. The initial sound in the Yiddish word for “Spanish” is clearly intended to be pronounced “S” rather than “Sh,” being spelled here with a samekh in place of the standard shin, and that is how I sang it.
In the case of the word for “heart” I vacillated between the standard pronunciation harts and the printed word hertz. In these two cases the transcription reflects standard Yiddish spellings rather than the pronunciations heard on the recording; the remaining words are transcribed as sung. Although the notation indicates a repeat of the final phrase in the verses, these repeats were skipped in verses 3-6.
I was struck by an interesting word that occurs three times, neveyre, which I have translated as “plague.” Strictly speaking neveyre is simply the colloquial version of aveyre, meaning “sin” (the “n” resulting from conflating the two words anaveyre), but in this context neveyre implies a divine punishment that may have come about as a result of our sins. Although I have yet to find this particular meaning in any Yiddish dictionary or thesaurus, the usage is amply supported by Jewish lore from the Ten Plagues onwards. The song itself, moreover, expresses a plea for God’s compassion (to reverse the punishment, as it were) as well as the darkly comical idea of the Spanish flu as Woodrow Wilson’s vengeance for Germany’s role in World War I.
The title word kholere is especially noteworthy. Unlike the English word “cholera,” it has a much broader connotation than any specific type of illness. Indeed, the technical name of the disease appears only on the Yiddish lyrics back cover page as the title—but nowhere in the song—as DiShpanishe influentsiye. In verse 5 kholere appears unmodified by Shpanishe; I therefore translate it as “contagion.” Kholere is found in a great number of Yiddish curses where the speaker is not particularly concerned with which krenk befalls the victim, as long as it is grueling and punishing. Indeed “punishing” is the word’s operative intention, as in the case of neveyre. Note the antiquated spelling of the word on the title page with a khes instead of the standard khof. This older Yiddish orthography hints at a presumed Hebrew origin, as if kholere were a retributive disease related to kadokhes (biblical kodokhas), which is always spelled with a khes. The back cover lyrics are below.
TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATIONbyCantor Sam Weiss
1. Ikh gey mir arim in strit fartrakht Say bay tug in say bay nakht. In mayn hartzn kokht dus blit, Ze’endik vi mentshn faln in strit.
REFRAIN:
Vayl di gantse velt iz yetst in trobl, In yeder eyner zikht dem knobl.
I walk the streets deep in thought, Be it day, be it night. The blood is seething in my heart As I watch people collapsing in the street.
REFRAIN:
Because the whole world is now in trouble, And everyone is searching for garlic.
2. Mentshn zitsn in hoyz mit der neveyre, Zey hobn moyre far der Shpanisher kholere. Nemt mayn edvays in seyft zikh fin dem trobl, Trinkt a glezl vayn in est dem knobl.
REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…
Everyone is stuck at home with this plague, They’re all afraid of the Spanish flu. Take my advice and save yourself from trouble, Drink a glass of wine and eat some garlic.
REFRAIN: Because the whole world…
3. Der Daytsh iz oykh a groyser diplomat! Er hot gevolt farnikhtn di velt vi a rats; Wilson hot ober genimen zikh di ere In geshikt dem Daytsh di Shpanishe kholere.
REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…
The Germans are some diplomats… Seeking to destroy the world as if it were a rat; But Wilson stepped right up And sent the Germans the Spanish flu!
REFRAIN: Because the whole world…
4. Sobveys, kars, gepakt oykh fil mit mentshn; Ikh bet bay dir, oy Got, di zolst indz bentshn! Nem fin indz oykh di neveyre In hit indz up fin der Shpanisher kholere.
REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…
Subways, cars, all packed with people; I beg you, God, please bless us! Remove the plague from us too, And shield us from the Spanish flu.
REFRAIN: Because the whole world…
5. Barbers loyfn arim azoy vi di nyankes; Fin hoyz tsi hoyz shteln zey ayedn bankes. Zey aleyn trugn arim di neveyre; Zey danken Got es halt on di kholere!
REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…
Barbers scurry about as if they were nurses, From house to house, with cupping glass treatments; They themselves are carriers of the plague, Thanking God that the contagion perseveres!
REFRAIN: Because the whole world…
6. Mikh tsi hern zingen is nisht kayn vinder; Mentshn, past nor oyf of ayere kinder. Di froyen in Eyrope zenen geblibn vi ofn yakor, In di mener in Amerike brenen vi a flaker
REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…
Don’t act surprised to hear me singing; Folks, just watch over your children. The wives are all marooned in Europe While their husbands are ablaze in America
REFRAIN: Because the whole world…
Below images courtesy of Michael Bennett; all rights reserved.
Mentshn zenen mishige / People are crazy A 1930s Yiddish parody of “Three Little Fishies” sung by Max Bendich. Recorded by Aaron Bendich in the Bronx
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman and Aaron Bendich
TRANSLITERATION/TRANSLATION Max Bendich version, in brackets are a couple of suggested grammatical corrections
Mentshn zenen meshige People are crazy Zey zingen nokh [nor?] fin fish. They sing still [only] of fish. Ikh bin a tsedreyter I’m a nutcase Zing ikh fin a heyser [heysn] knish. So I sing of a hot knish
A knish mit potatoes A knish with potatoes un a teler smetene. and a plate of sour cream. Lek ikh mayne finger So I lick my finers vi a kleyn ketsele. like a little kitten.
Hey! Um-bum petsh im, patsh im, Hey! Um-bum hit him, slug him Vey iz mir! Wow is me! Zol of Hitler May Hitler vaksn a geshvir. Grow a tumor.
Di college-boys ale All the college boys zey shlingen goldfish, na! are swallowing goldfish. Here! Ikh vil a heyser [heysn] knish, I want a hot knish. Ahhhhhh! [opens his mouth as if to swallow a knish]
מענטשן זענען משוגע געזונגען פֿון מאַקס בענדיטש
מענטשן זענען משוגע זיי זינגען נאָך [נאָר?] פֿון פֿיש איך בין אַ צעדרייטער .זינג איך פֿון אַ הייסער [הייסן] קניש
My zayde Max Bendich was born on March 25, 1915 in New York City to hardworking, politically active, recent immigrants from Podolia, Ukraine. He grew up on 136th Street between St Ann’s and Cypress Avenues in the Bronx. From a young age, he submerged himself in literature, cinema and music from innumerable world cultures, but he always favored Yiddish.
In 1941 he met Dorothy Matoren, whom he married weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack. He volunteered to join the army and served in Europe until 1945, fortunately missing the worst horrors of war. Back in the Bronx, Max purchased a laundry business which he managed until his retirement in his early 60s. On June 26, 1969 Max was shot on his laundry route in Harlem, and by a miracle survived.
Dorothy & Max Bendich
Fifty-one years later, at age 105, he’s alive and well in the Bronx, where he’s visited by a loving family of three children, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Every weekend for the past four years I’ve spent hours with my zayde, singing old songs, watching movies and talking about his life. This song about the 1930s goldfish-swallowing fad is the only song he’s sang for me that I’ve been unable to track down. Someday I hope to figure out where he got it from, but in the meantime I’m happy to consider it his mysterious contribution to a culture he loves so much.
Itzik Gottesman comments:
This is a wonderful example of Yiddish-American folklore capturing perfectly the late 1930s fad to swallow goldfish and growing hatred for Hitler.
The song “Three Little Fishies” was first released in 1939, words by Josephine Carringer and Bernice Idins and music by Saxie Dowell. It was recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Kay Kyser, and the Muppets (it is often sung as a children’s song) among many others. Here is a version by Spike Jones:
Here are the lyrics to the original “Three Little Fishies”:
Down in the meadow in a little bitty pool Swam three little fishies and a mama fishie too “Swim” said the mama fishie, “Swim if you can” And they swam and they swam all over the dam Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! And they swam and they swam all over the dam “Stop” said the mama fishie, “or you will get lost” The three little fishies didn’t want to be bossed The three little fishies went off on a spree And they swam and they swam right out to the sea Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! Boop boop dit-tem dat-tem what-tem Chu! And they swam and they swam right out to the sea “Whee!” yelled the little fishies, “Here’s a lot of…
No fish were harmed during the writing of this post.
Of di grine felder/Dos fertsnte yor / On the green fields/The Year 1914
This week we are presenting two performances of this song:
1) Sara Nomberg-Przytyk (recorded by Wolf Krakowski, Way’s Mills, Quebec, Canada, 1986):
2) Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG), Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW) and Jonas Gottesman (recorded by Leybl Kahn, Bronx, 1954):
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:
Though we have chosen to feature two versions of the song that begin “Of di grine felder, velder”, the song is also commonly known as “Dos 14te yor” with variants that begin with “Dos 14te yor is ongekumen, oy vey” (“The 14th Year Has Arrived”). Among the singers who have recorded versions of this song: Sidor Belarsky, Majer Bogdanski, Leibu Levin and more recently Michael Alpert, “Psoy and the Israelifts” and Lorin Sklamberg/ Susan McKeown.
Michael Alpert’s a capella version of the song can be heard here. Plus, below is a contemporary interpretation of the song by Psoy and the Israelifts titled “1914” found on YouTube:
In YIVO’s Ruth Rubin’s Archive there are field recordings by Martn Birnbaum, Chinke Asher and Hannah Rosenberg. In the volume Old Jewish Folk Music: The Collections and Writings of Moshe Beregovsky (Mark Slobin, U. Pennsylvania Press, 1982; Syracuse University Press, 2000) there are 7 versions with melodies!
The song became very popular over a wide area of Eastern Europe during and after the first world war. So popular that it was recalled with amusement in a chapter in B. Kuczerer’s [קוטשער] Yiddish memoirs of Warsaw Geven a mol varshe, (Paris, 1955). He begins the chapter on the 1914 German occupation of Warsaw in this way:
“The 14th year has arrived – oy vey!
And soon it [the song] enveloped everyone and everything as if by magic… Day and night. Wherever you go, wherever you stand. In every street, in every courtyard, in every corner.
Who sang it loudly to arouse pity. Who sang it quietly, for oneself, to get it off your chest. And everywhere the same song. Everywhere the same melody, the same moan, the same tears.
‘The 14th year has arrived – oy vey!'” (p. 59)
But some versions of the song are about later years. In the Sofia Magid collection Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin, Basya Fayler sings about the “Dos akhtsnte yor” (“The18th year” p. 277 – 79). The linguist Prof. Moshe Taube remembers his father singing this song about “Dos 19te yor” referring to the Polish violence against Jews at that time (oral communication).
THE UKRAINIAN CONNECTION
This song can ultimately can be traced back to a Ukrainian song of the 1830s. In a review of a lecture by the Polish folklorist Jan Byston written by Max Weinreich, published in Yidishe filologye heft. 2/3, March-June, 1924, Weinreich refers to the first publication of this Yiddish song in the periodical Der Jude (n.1-2, April-May 1917 p. 123-124) in which the collector Anshl (Anselm) Kleynman remembers how in the trenches of 1914-1915 some Ukrainian soldiers sang their version, and Jewish soldiers heard it, translated it and it spread from there. In this lecture that Weinreich attended, Bystron pointed out that the song in Ukrainian was sung as far back as 1833.
Prof. Robert Rothstein found two versions of the Ukrainian song from 1834. He writes: “One stanza was found among Aleksander Pushkin’s papers, written on the back of a letter from Nikolai Gogol. Pushkin died in 1837.” He adds “It’s also known as Чорна рілля ізорана (Chorna rillia izorana – The Black Farm Field Has Been Dug Up). The reference is to the chornozem, the rich black soil of Ukraine.” [communication via email]
Inspired by the song, the Polish folk/death metal band Kryvoda uses a stark image of a crow on a dead soldier for their 2014 album entitled “Kruki”. Below you can hear their performance of Чорна рілля [“Chorna rillia”]:
The website “Yidlid.org” has written out a long version of the words in Yiddish, transliterated Yiddish, French and English and included the melody from Belarsky’s book
Longer versions can also be found in Shloyme Bastomski’s Yiddish folksong collection Baym kval pages 132-133 and Immanuel Olsvanger’s Rosinkess mit mandlen, 1920, pp. 259-261.
A note on the LSW/BSG version of “Oyf di grine felder, velder”: This is the only recording I have found which features my father, Jonas Gottesman (1914 – 1995), a physician born in Siret, Romania, singing along with Lifshe, his mother-in-law, and wife Beyle. He was a wonderful baritone singer and was the only one in the family who could harmonize, as can be heard on this recording.
Special thanks with help for this post to Wolf Krakowsky, Eliezer Niborski and Prof. Robert Rothstein.
TRANSLITERATION OF NOMBERG-PRZYTYK’s VERSION (Translation is on the video)
Of di grine felder un velder, oy vay, oy vay.
Of di grine felder un velder
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
Shvartse foygl kimen tsi flien oy vay, oy vay.
kumt tsu flien a shvartser foygl
un dlubet im oys di bayde oygn, oy vay, oy vay
dlubet im oys di bayde oygn, oy vay, oy vay.
Ver vet nukh im kadish zugn oy vay, oy vay
Ver vet nukh im kadish zugn?
Ver vet nukh im vaynen un klugn oy vay, oy vay
Ver vet nukh im vaynen un klugn oy vay, oy vay
Of di grine felder un velder, oy vay, oy vay.
Of di grine felder un velder
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner oy vay, oy vay
TRANSLITERATION and TRANSLATION OF LSW/BSG/JG VERSION
Of di grine, felder velder, vey, vey
Of di grine, felder velder,
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner, vey, vey,
ligt mit koyln badekt a zelner, vey, vey.
On the green fields, woods, vey, vey!
On the green fields, woods
Lays covered with bullets a soldier, vey, vey
Lays covered with bullets a soldier, vey, vey
Kim tse flien shvartser foygl, vey, vey
kim tse flien shvartser foygl,
dzhibet oys bay im di oygn, oy vey.
dzhibet oys bay im di oygn, vey, vey.
Come fly here black bird, vey, vey
Come fly black bird
and peck his eyes out, vey, vey.
and peck his eyes out, vey, vey.
Sheyner foygl, shvartse vorone vey, vey
Sheyner foygl, shvartse vorona,
fli avek tsi mayn mame, vey vey,
fli avek tsi mayn mame, vey vey.
Black bird, black crow, vey, vey
Black bird, black crow
fly away to my mother, vey, vey.
fly away to my mother, vey, vey.
Zolst ir fin mayn toyt nisht zugn, vey, vey,
zolst ir fin mayn toyt nisht zugn,
anit vet zi nit oyfhern klugn vey, vey.
anit vet zi nit oyfhern klugn vey, vey.
Do not tell her of my death, vey vey
Do not tell her of my death
for she will cry and lament, vey, vey
for she will cry and lament, vey, vey.
Ver vet nukh mir veynen in klugn vey, vey
ver vet nukh mir veynen in klugn,
ver vet nukh mir kadish zugn? vey, vey.
ver vet nukh mir kadish zugn? vey, vey
Who will cry and lament for me? vey, vey
Who will cry and lament for me?
Who will say Kaddish for me? vey, vey.
Who will say Kaddish for me? vey, vey.
Nor dus ferdl, dus getraye, vey, vey
nur dus ferdl dus getraye
vet nukhgeyn nukh mayn levaye, vey, vey.
vet nukhgeyn nukh mayn levaye, vey, vey.
Only my faithful horse, vey, vey.
Only my faithful horse
Will follow at my funeral, vey, vey.
Will follow at my funeral, vey, vey.
Der vasermentsh / The Waterman Sung by Sara Nomberg-Prztyk, recorded by Wolf Krakowski at Way’s Mills, Quebec, Canada 1986
Information on this song and Yiddish text contributed by Eliezer Niborski, Jerusalem:
“Der vasermentsh” is a Yiddish version of German composer Robert Schumann’s (1810 – 1856) composition. The original German text is entitled – “Der Wasserman” – written by the German poet Justinus Kerner (1786 – 1862.) The translation is probably the one Peysekh Kaplan (1870 – 1943) published in the weekly Hayntige tsayt, Bialystok, 1914. Click here for a link to a performance of the original German composition.
Klezmob – the contemporary klezmorim of Tübingen, the setting of Kerner’s original text
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman:
This creepy gothic Romantic-era song will perhaps follow the fate of Zalmen Scheour’s song “Margaritklekh” which is unsingable today because of its disturbing treatment of women at the hands of men. Demons and spirits in the water are part of international folklore, though usually it is a female demon, such as the Slavic Rusalka.
It is interesting that the Vilbig choir conductor in Vilna, Avrom Sliep, chose works with German/Austrian classical musical pedigree: last week“Farges dem tsar” with Strauss ll music and this week with Robert Schumann’s music.
What follows is a transcription of the Yiddish the way Sara Nomberg-Prztyk sings it and then the text in Yiddish submitted by Eliezer Niborski. The English translation by Wolf Krakowski is included on the video. Finally, we have included the original German poem by Kerner.
Der vasermentsh (transliteration):
Spoken introduction by Sara Nomberg-Prztyk: Der vasermentsh iz a lid fun repertoir fun Vilner, a Vilner khor, ver hot gehat hindert mitglider der khor. “Der vasermentsh” iz, glayb ikh, nisht kayn…ikh vays nisht fin vanen s’iz antshtanen di lid, vayl s’iz nisht keyn traditsye fun di yidishe geshikhte, fin di yidishe dertseylungen. Kh’ob dus ershte mul zikh getrofn mit deym Vasermentsh. Ober s’iz zeyer a sheyne lid un ikh vil zi du far aykh forshteln. Kho’ zi oykh nisht gehert nukh deym vi me zol zi zingen.
A mol in a zumertog sphetlekh bay nakht,
di zun geyt shoyn unter,natur shteyt fartrakht.
Farklaybn zikh meydlekh hinter der shtot, un zingen un tantsn in eyn karahod.
Kumt plutsling a bokherl oysgeputst fayn,
di tentserkes zet er, klaybt eyne oyx glaykh,
geyt tsu un tut on ir a grininkn krants,
nemt ir georemt, un firt ir tsum tants.
– Bokher, zog, vos yogt fun dir a kelt?
– in tifn vaser iz a kalte velt.
– hey, bokher, zog, vos bistu azoy blas?
– In tifn vaser iz dokh kalt un nas.
Er tansts mit ir, un firt ir in a zayt.
– Hey, bokher, loz! es past dokh nisht far layt!
Er tantst mit ir tsum vaser tsu.
– Hey, bokher, zog, vuhin geystu?
Er nemt arum ir shlankn layb:
– Mayn kind, du bist dem vasermentshns vayb. Er nemt un er tantst in vaser arayn. – Hey, bokher, vos tustu? mayn mame mayn!
Er firt ir tsum palats fun reynem krishtol.
– Adye mayn velt, tsum letstn mol,
Adye, adye…
Der Wassermann (original German):
Es war in des Maien [mildem]1Glanz,
Da hielten die [Jungfern]2von Tübingen Tanz.
Sie tanzten und tanzten wohl allzumal
Um eine Linde im grünen Tal.
Ein fremder Jüngling, [in stolzem]3Kleid,
Sich [wandte]4[bald]5zu der schönsten Maid;
Er [reicht ihr dar die Hände]6zum Tanz,
[Er]7setzt ihr auf’s Haar einen meergrünen Kranz.
“O Jüngling! warum ist so kalt dein Arm?”
“In Neckars Tiefen da ist’s nicht warm.”
“O Jüngling! warum ist so bleich deine Hand?”
“Ins Wasser dringt nicht der Sonne Brand!”
Er [tanzt]8mit ihr von der Linde weit:
“Lass’, Jüngling! horch, die Mutter [mir]9schreit!”
Er [tanzt]10mit ihr den Neckar entlang:
“Lass’, Jüngling! weh! mir wird so bang!”
Er fasst sie fest um den schlanken Leib:
“Schön’ Maid, du bist des Wassermann’s Weib!”
Er [tanzt]10mit ihr in die Wellen hinein:
“O Vater und du, o Mutter mein!”
Er führt sie in [seinen]11krystallenen Saal: “Ade, ihr Schwestern [allzumal]
The Waterman (translation of the German text):
Once in the mild brightness of May, The young maidens of Tübingen had a dance.
They danced and danced all together
About a lime tree in the green valley.
A stranger, a lad in a proud garment, Soon attached himself to the most beautiful maiden;
He stretched out his hands to lead her into the dance, He placed a sea-green wreath upon her hair.
“Oh young man, why are your arms so cold?” “In the depths of the Neckar (river) it is not warm.”
“Oh young man, why are your hands so pale?” “The burning rays of the sun do not penetrate into the water.”
He dances away with her, far from the lime tree:
“Stop, young man!Listen, my mother is calling me!”
He dances away with her along the banks of the Neckar (River):
“Stop, young man!Woe, I am becoming so frightened!”
He seizes her tightly about her slender body:
“Lovely maiden, you are the waterman’s bride!”
He dances away with her right into the waves:
“Oh father, and you, oh mother mine!”
He leads her into his crystal hall: “Adieu, to you, my sisters all!”
In this week’s blogpost, Esther Korshin sings a version of Rokhl mevako al boneho[Rachel Weeps for Her Children] by Elyokem Zunser, first published in 1871. It was contributed by her granddaughter Jennifer E. Herring. Herring’s neighbor – cantor, singer and musicologist Janet Leuchter – heard about the recording and contacted us. The recording was made in 1946. Herring writes the following about the singer:
“Esther Yampolsky Korshin was born on 12/28/1886 in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk), Ukraine. Her father was a cantor, as was her brother Israel. She idolized her father. Her husband was Louis (Lev) Korsinsky, a cobbler. Esther left Russia in 1903 with her one-year-old daughter Etta. She left illegally because Louis was escaping the draft for the Sino-Russian War. Her name was changed to Korshin at Ellis Island. Children Jack, Nathan and Sylvia were born in the US. She knew Russian, Yiddish, English; read in Russian & English. Always bettering herself. No formal education. She spent six months auditing the tutoring of a Russian child in whose home she was a domestic. To earn money she did piecework sewing at home. Neighbors would gather to hear her sing. “
Esther Yampolsky Korshin, 1930, courtesy of Jennifer Herring
Zunser’s song is inspired by the Prophet Jeremiah’s words (Jeremiah 31:14) “Rachel weeps for her chidren” רחל מבכה על בניה which has been understood as the biblical matriarch Rachel lamenting over the tragic fate of the the Jews throughout history. Zunser applies this view to his own times, and the troubles that Jews were facing at the end of the 19th century.
Korshin sings all five verses of the original text, 16 lines each. We have transcribed and translated the text of the singer’s version. We included the original line of text from Zunser’s printed version in brackets when it differed significantly. Korshin stays remarkably true to Zunser’s words. It is a remarkable performance.
Since Esther Korshin’s father and brother were cantors, it seems reasonable to assume that they had learned this moving song for performances and she learned it from them.
There are not many Zunser songs on popular recordings. The only record dedicated to his songs, a 1963 Folkways recording “Selected Songs of Eliakum Zunser” by Nathaniel Entin, which includes this song, does not capture the spirit of a folk performance. This is the third Zunzer field recording on the blog Yiddish Song of the Week.
In addition to the transcription, translation and yiddish transcription of Korshin’s version we are attaching scans of the original music, and words as found in Eliakum Tsunzers verk: Kritishe oysgabe 2 volumes (YIVO, NY 1964) Mordkhe Schaechter, editor.
1)
Di zin hot ungevizn in mayrev-zayt
mit ir royte shtraln, zi nemt opsheyd.
In di nakht mit ir fintserkayt
hot ungetun di erd in ayn shvarts kleyd.
Di velt mit ire layt shvaygn shtim
Es shvaygn shtim, say berg, say tol.
In di levune geyt zikh gants shtil arim
Fin di shtern hert men oykh kayn kol.
Nor a shtime di shtilkayt tseshlugt.
A kol fun a fru veynt un klugt.
In ir yumer un fil geveyn
kenen di kreftn oysgeyn.
Mit ir fidele shpil ikh zikh tsi.
A troyerike melodi
Zi shrayt nebekh fun ir getselt.
“Farvuglt bin ikh fin der velt.”
2)
Ayn kirtse tsayt hob ikh nakhes gehat.
Ven Got hot aykh in ayer land geshtitst.
Der mizbeyekh iz geveyn mit karbunes zat.
Di kruvim mit di fliglen hobn aykh bashitst.
Duvids kinder in der kroyn gekleydt.
Der koyen-godl in zayn kostyum.
In di sanhedrin vi ayn geflantser beyt,
in der beys-hamikdosh vi a frilingsblum.
Dray mol a yur in der tsayt.
Gekimen fin nuvnt, fin vayt.
Der brengt karbunes fun shlakht.
Un der hot bikurim gebrakht.
Di Leviyim hobn geshpilt.
Der yid hot zikh heylik gefilt.
Di gasn mit freylekhkayt zat
Oy dan hob ikh nakhes gehat.
3)
Ober tsiyon hot ongevoyrn ir fargenign.
Ir mayontik farshpilt in kon.
Dos ort beys-lekhim vi mayne beyner lign,
geyt in aveyles ungetun.
Di barg levunen, di giter-fraynd,
Oy, vos far a fis treytn oyf dir haynt?
Di barg Moriyo, di heylik ort
A Makhmedaner metshet shteyt yetst dort!
Di gasn zaynen shoyn pist.
Di veygn zaynen farvist.
In Karmel kayn blumen blit.
Di turems zey glantsn shoyn nit.
Di kohanim vos hobn geshtitst.
Di leviyim vi zaynen zey itst?
Vi’z ayer kroyn ayer rakh?
In vus iz gevorn fin aykh?
4)
Ikh kik of yerushelayim fin mayrev-zayt
Dortn ze ikh mayne kinder vi koyln shvarts.
Zey shparn on dem kop af der darer hant
In veynen az ez farklemt dos harts.
Es iz nishtu in yerushelayim kayn beyn, kayn shteyn
Vos iz nit geveyn nas fin mayn kinds geveyn,
Mayn kind tsi drikn iz a kindershpil
vi me treft im un – dort iz der tsil.
Fin Moldaviye her ikh ayn geshrey
Mayn kind shrayt dort “oy vey”
Fin Rumenyen shrayt er “nit git”
nor fargist men vi vaser zayn blit.
Fin daytshland shrayt er “S’iz shlekht”
Vayl dortn bakimt er kayn rekht.
Fin oystralyen baveynt er di erd.
Dort kikt men af im vi oyf ayn ferd.
5)
In himl di toyznter shtern
baveynen oykh mayn kinds geveyn.
un di boymer, zey gisn trern
di feygelekh zey entfern mit ayn geveyn.
Ober dos harts fun dem faynd iz farshteynt.
Dos umglik hot im zayn harts farshpart.
Der shlekhter akhzer zeyt vi men veynt
[original – der krokodel, der akhzer, treft oykh er veynt]
in zayn harts iz im vi ayzn hart…
A! Got entfer shoyn mir!
zug di vi lang nokh iz der shir
tsu laydn, a dor nokh a dor?
Tsures bay tsvey toyznt yor.
Ir shtern, zogt mir, oyb ir veyst.
tsi di host shoyn farlorn mayn treyst?
oy, neyn, ikh shpir shoyn, ikh shpir!
Az mayn Got vet nokh helfn mir.
[original – “Akh Got entfer shoyn mir.]
Spoken in English at the end of the recording: “Recorded by Esther Korshin, on April 10, 1946 at the age of 59”
1)
The sun appeared in the west
with her red rays, she bids farewell.
And the night and her darkness
dressed the earth in a black dress.
The world and her people are silent.
Still are the mountains and the valleys,
and the moon quietly moves around
and no call from the stars is also heard.
But a voice breaks the silence
a voice of a woman who cries and laments.
In her sorrow and cries
you could lose all your strength.
With her fiddle she accompanies herself
with a sad melody.
She cried from her grave –
“The world has discarded me”.
2)
“For a brief time I had pleasure
when God aided you in your land.
The alter was full of sacrifices.
The cherubs with their wings protected you.
David’s children wore the crown.
The High Priest in his garments.
And the Sanhedrin was like a planted bed of flowers
and the Holy Temple was like a spring flower.
Three times a year at a certain time
They came from near and far.
This one brings sacrifices to battle
And that one brings the first fruits.
The Levites were playing,
the Jew felt the holiness
The streets overflowed with joy.
O, then did I have such pleasure!
3)
But Zion lost her joy.
Her treasure gambled away.
The place Bethlehem where my bones lie,
wear the clothes of mourning.
You moutain Lebanon, my dear friend,
whose feet tread on you today?
You mountain Moriah, you holy place,
A Moslem mosque now stands there!
The streets are abandoned
The paths are all destroyed
On Carmel no flowers bloom.
The towers no longer shine.
The Kohamim who were a support,
The Levites – where are they now?
Where is your crown, your kingdom? What has become of you?
4)
I look at Jerusalem from the western wall
There I see my children, black as coal.
They rest their heads on their emaciated hands
and cry till it pains your heart.
In Jersusalem there’s no bone, no stone
that did not get wet from my child’s tears.
It’s become like a children’s game to oppress my child –
Wherever you find him – that is the goal.
From Moldova I hear a scream
My child there yells out “oy vey!”
From Romania he yells “no good”
and his blood is spilled like water.
From Germany he yells “It’s bad!”
For there he has no righs.
In Australia he laments the earth
He is looked down upon as if he were a horse.
5)
In heaven the thousand stars
also lament my child’s cries.
And the trees they pour with tears
and the birds answer with weeping.
But the heart of the enemy has turned to stone
This tragedy has caged in his heart.
The evil monster sees how we cry
[Original – the crocodile, the monster, also cries]
In his heart it is as hard as iron.
Oh God answer me now!
Say how long can this go on?
To suffer generation after generation,
Sorrows for two thousand years!
You stars, tell me if you know.
Has my comfort been lost among you?
Oh, no, I feel it now, I feel it –
That my God will yet help me
[original – O God answer me now]
Spoken in English after the song:
“Recorded by Esther Korshin, on April 10, 1946 at the age of 59”
Klezmob – the contemporary klezmorim of Tübingen, the setting of Kerner’s original text
Esther Yampolsky Korshin, 1930, courtesy of Jennifer Herring
Yiddish Song of the Week 