Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/I and My Darling Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], Recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954
Painting by Yosl Bergner (1920-2017) “The Wedding”
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This song has the same melody as the folksong “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” recorded by Ruth Rubin and can be heard as a field recording sung by her in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO.
The melody and text of “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” is printed on p. 94, in the collection Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive. Scans of those pages are attached.
The melody also begins the “Rumshinsky Bulgar” recorded by a number of klezmer groups including Marilyn Lerner on her recording “Romanian Fantasy”
LSW’s daughter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman who heard the song from LSW many times, typed out the words in the 1970s and moved the first fragmented verse of LSW to the last verse. I suggest any singer of this song follow this change which makes sense logically: the couple are married at the end
Thanks to Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, Christina Crowder, Josh Horowitz, Joel Rubin, Martin Schwartz and many others who pointed out similar variants.
Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/My Darling and I [Ikh vel zayn dayn ]…tabele. [This should be the last verse not the first] Gliklekh veln mir beyde zan. Az ekh vel zayn dayn vabele un di vest zayn mayn tayerer man
[I will be your dear] dove. How happy we will be, When I am you dear wife And you will be my dear husband.
Ikh un mayn lyubitshke; mayn mame in der mit. Ikh vil mayn lyubitstshke. Mayn mame vil zi nit.
I and my sweetheart; my mother in the middle. I want my sweetheart My mother does not.
Her ikh nisht oys mayn mames reyd Un nem mir mayn lyubitshke Vi’zoy zi shteyt un geyt.
I do not heed what my mother says. And I take my sweetheart Just as she is.
Vayl gelt iz dokh kaylekhik Un gelt geyt avek. Nem ikh mir mayn lyubitshke Un kh’fur mit ir avek.
Because money is round And money rolls away. So I take my sweetheart And go away with her.
Ekh fur mit ir avek biz keyn odes. Shtel mit ir a khipe s’gedoyert a mis-les
I go away with her All the way to Odessa. I stand under the khupe [wedding canopy] with her in less than a day.
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.
די זון פֿאַרגייט פֿאַר נאַכט / Di zin fargeyt far nakht / The Sun Sets at Dusk Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman at a NY bungalow colony, 1950s
TRANSLITERATION
Di zin fargeyt far nakht. Dus meydele shteyt in drosn. Di bekelekh vern ir nas. Di koykhes geyen ir os. Zi shteyt in vart af deym ort,vi zi fleygt im tumid zeyn. Itst shteyt zi azoy lang in vart du aleyn.
Du vi ikh shtey in mayne trern tien gisn. O du, o du iz dus ertele vi mir fleygn mir beyde shmisn. Ot du o iz do iz dus ertele vi mir fleygn beyde shteyn. Itstert bin ikh nebekh geblibn aleyn.
Mamenyu getraye, vus eksti mir mayn leybn. Di ‘ost bay mir tsigenimen mayn khayes, mayn gold. Host bay mir tsigenemen mayn rekhte hant. Host im farshikt in a fremd land.
Sheyn bisti lyube af deym tuvl tse muln. Se nishtu aza keyser dayn sheynkeyt tsi batsuln. Sheyn bisti lyube tsi sheyn iz dayn numen. Dayne sheyne bekelekh vi di sheyne blumen.
Mamenyu, ikh beyt ‘ekh breng im tsirik. Breyng mir mayn leybn breng mir mayn glik.
TRANSLATION
The sun sets at dusk. The girl is standing outside. Her cheeks are getting wet. Her strength is weakening. She stands and waits at that place where she always saw him. Now she stands, alas, so long waiting alone.
Here where I stand and my tears gush. Oh, here is the place where we always used to talk. Here is the spot where we used to stand. Now I , alas, am left alone.
Mother dear, why do you shorten my years? You took away my life, my gold. You took away my right hand. And sent him away to a strange land.
Beautiful, you are my love to paint on the tablet. There is no emperor who can pay for your beauty. Beautiful, you are my love, too beautiful is your name. Your beautiful cheeks, like the beautiful flowers.
Mother, I beg you, bring him back. Bring me my dearest, bring me my happiness.
I have found 3 other variants of the song which I am attaching: one from Zhitomir (Ukraine) in Skuditski’s Folklor-lider (1936) p.153; one from the Kovensk region in Lithuania in the Ginzburg and Marek collection Yidishe folkslider in Rusland (1901) p. 168; and one in Nukhem (Natan) Shakhnovskiy’s Lider gezungen funem folk (1948) p. 20. Shakhnovsky was from Kremenchuk in the Ukraine and it seems most of the songs were heard there. In Shakhnovsky is there a printed melody similar to LSW’s. The texts of the two versions from the Ukraine are quite similar while the Lithuanian one has a refrain not found in the others. All of these variants are attached below.
The folk poetry of this song is quite striking and I believe it is quite old. I translated “tovl”, which usually means blackboard, as “tablet”, but “slate” or “board” are also possible translations. The emphasis on the place where they met and spent time together is beautiful in its simplicity.
Skuditski’s Folklor-lider (1936) p.153:
Nukhem (Natan) Shakhnovskiy’s Lider gezungen funem folk (1948) p. 20:
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!
Kegn gold fun zun (Toward the Golden Sunrise) Performance by Chaim Berman
Recording by Rabbi Victor Reinstein
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The words and music for the Soviet-Yiddish song Kegn gold fun zun have been published in Ruth Rubin’s Treasury of Jewish Folksong and Chana and Joseph Mlotek’s Songs of Generations (see below). The words were also included in Sam Liptzin’s collection Zingen mir (1974). Apparently it was a well-known song in the 1930s- 1960s; however, the only recording of the song that we are aware of is on Ruth Rubin’s 1940s 78 rpm recording Ruth Rubin: Jewish and Palestinian Folksongs and among the field recordings in Ruth Rubin’s collection (tape 81) found in YIVO and other archives.
The composer is unknown, but the text was written by the Soviet Yiddish poet Shloyme Lopatin (Lopate). According to Chaim Beider’s Leksikon fun yidishe shrayber in ratn-farband, (pp.194 – 195) Shloyme Lopatin was born in Belinkove, Ukraine in 1907. He settled in a Jewish colony in the Kherson area for several years and became a colonist. In 1929 he came to Odessa to further his studies. He published his first songs in 1928 in the Kharkov Yiddish journal Prolit, and among these first published writings was the poem Ikh, der yidisher muzhik (I, the Jewish Russian Peasant). Beider writes that this poem “immediately became so popular that people began to sing it as if it were a folksong, and it was then included as such in anthologies”. Lopatin died fighting on the Russian front in 1941.
This week’s recording of folksinger Chaim Berman (d. 1973) was made by Rabbi Victor Reinstein in the 1970s. Berman’s words vary from the printed texts in the second verse, where he repeats the first two lines from the first verse.
I do not know this short drinking song, which Getsl Ribak sings with much gusto. According to Chana Mlotek, collector, YIVO archivist and author of Yiddish songbooks, the song originates from the early Yiddish stage, and she will write about this version in her next column in the Forverts newspaper.
Ribak’s melody and rhyming schemes seem a little off. In parentheses I wrote what I believed to be the “correct” ending, grammatical form or dialect pronunciation. Clearly “glik” should rhyme with “kik”, not “kuk” for example.
After the original posting, Cheryl Cohen wrote to provide some additional biographical information:
My grandfather George (Getsel) Ribak was born in Dvinsk, Latvia. He fled before being drafted in the Czar’s Army to Capetown, South Africa. He became a British citizen while working in the shoe making trade. He later fled to avoid the Boer War. He was in England, then in Canada, then finally to the United States. He lived with his wife Rose (Rochel Swirsky) in Chattanooga, TN, where he was in the meat market business. I think he also did house painting in Detroit. He and his wife finally settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he had a second hand clothing store. He would take the train into New York and make his purchases there, I believe.
He and his wife raised 3 children, one of which was my mother. I remember spending weekends in their apartment, listening to WEVD, and seeing the Foverts newspaper. He loved to sing songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English with me for fun but he really enjoyed performing at the Jewish Community Center in Bridgeport for various events. He was not a professional singer but had a very strong and pleasant voice. He even performed at the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, CT. while he was a resident there. He wanted everyone to be freylach!
In dir, in dir, du glezele vayn,
In dir, in dir, mayn gantser (gantse) glik.
Ven ikh vil mir freylekh zayn
Damolts gib ikh af dir a kuk.(kik)
In you, in you, you glass of wine,
In you, in you, my whole fortune.
When I want to be happy
Then I take a look at you.
Tsu dir tsu dir, hob ikh lust.
Du bist di nekhome
fun mayn neshome.
For you, for you I lust,
You are the comfort
of my soul.
Af kapores darf ikh gelt
A riekh in dos (dem) gelt arayn.
Ikh lakh mir oys fun der gantser velt.
Nor tsulib dir du glezele vayn.
I have no use for money
The devil take the money!
I laugh at the whole world,
because of you my glass of wine.
Yiddish Song of the Week 