Vi iz dus meydele? / Where Is The Girl? A Yiddish children’s game song from Bukovina. Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.
Image: YIVO Institute
Leybl Kahn (spoken): Vi heyst dos lid?
LSW: (spoken) A kindershpil. Kinder hobn zikh arimgenemen in a rud. In m’ot eynem tsigebin’en di oygn; geveyntlekh a yingele hot men tsigebinen di oygn in er fleygt arimgeyn in zingen.
LSW: A children’s game. Children held each other in a circle and they blindfolded someone; usually a boy was blindfolded. And he went around singing this:
LSW sings:
Vi iz dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt. Ikh vel ir geybn a shisele mit gold. Efsher shteyt zi dort bay der tir. Meydele, oy meydele, kim arayn tse mir.
Where is the girl that I wanted. I will give her a golden plate. Maybe she is standing there at the door. Girl, o, girl come inside to me.
Vi i’dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt? Ikh vel ir geybn a ringele fin gold. Kim shoyn meydele, kim arayn tsi mir. Meydele, oy, sheyne, shtey nisht bay der tir.
Where is the girl that I wanted? I will give her a golden ring. Come already girl, come inside to me. Girl, o, pretty one, don’t stand by the door.
LSW (spoken) Azoy fleygt men arimloyfn biz m’ot gekhapt dos meydele un dernokh iz men gegangen mit an andern.
LSW: In this way they ran around till they caught a girl and then they chose another
This is a shtetl version of Blind Man’s Bluff or “Blinde ku”(Blind cow) sung by the boy. In the collection of Ginzburg and Marek Yiddish Folksongs in Russia, 1901, there is a one verse song that might be what the girl would sing when it is her turn (No. 208, page 168)
Vu iz dus bokherl vos hot mikh gevolt? Vos hot mir tsugezogt a “fazeile” [fatsheyle] mit gold? Dortn shteyt er unter der vant. Halt di “fazeile” in der hant.
Where is the boy who wanted me? Who promised me a kerchief full of gold. There he is standing at the wall. Holding the kerchief in his hand.
Ziser Got, vi dank ikh dir? / Sweet God, How Can I Thank You? Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW), recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954, with another version, Reboyne-shel-oylem vi dank ik dir? / Master of the Universe How Can I Thank You?sung by Freda Lobell, and recorded by Ruth Rubin 1948
This song, in which a mother gives thanks for the marriage of her mezinke (youngest daughter), is not the first time and not the last time that these two singers will be paired together. And it is not surprising: Freda Lobell came from Chernovitz, Bukovina (today Ukraine) and LSW came from a small town in the same Bukovina region and later lived in Chernovitz. In the song “Vus a mul brent dos fayer greser” previously posted on this blog, one can also hear their two versions of the same song.
A Wedding in Cuba
In addition to Lobell’s recordings in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, she can also be heard on Rubin’s Folkways record “The Old Country”. The printed collection “Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive” includes three of her songs, words and music, but not this one.
The melody of this song is used by the Breslover/Broslover/Bratslover Hasidim with the words “Mitsve gedola lehiyot besimkhe tomid” (מיצווה גדולה להיות בשׂימחה תּמיד).
Here is a version with a Middle Eastern beat:
In LSW’s joyous version I believe that part of the fun is trying to intentionally squeeze in too many words into one line. The line beginning with “Shnirelekh….” As you hear she does not succeed but laughs at the attempt.
The klezmer fiddler Ilana Cravitz found the nigun in Moshe Beregovski’s writings, No. 187 (Skotshne) in Jewish Folk Music Vol. 4 Tish-Nigunim. It is to be found in Part II – the section with dances (see attached). She adds, “Definitely pre-WWI. The background note in Beregovski about the source is: No. 187. Sound recording No. 268/1 from Sh. Kulish in the town of Lyudmir [Ukraine] on July 17, 1913. Alternative version: auditory record K-888 from A.-I. Berdichevsky in the town of Bogopol [Ukraine] in 1913. The performer reported that he had borrowed this tune from the clarinetist, who performed it like a skotshne.”
Thanks this week to Ilana Cravitz, Jordan Hirsch, Hankus Netsky, Yelena Shmulenson and the YIVO Sound Archive.
TRANSLITERATION – LSW’s “Ziser Got”
Ziser Got vi dank ikh dir vus di host geholfn mir; aza gedile tse derleybn. Di host mekh tse shtand gebrakht haynt hob ekh khasene gemakht. Kh’ob shoyn mayn mezinke oysgegeybn. Ikh o’ dekh mir ayngehandlt skhoyre: Shnirelekh, blit in milekh, eydem fil mit toyre. Mayn harts iz fil mit freyd Di eyniklekh shlepn mikh baym kleyd. in eykh tsishn zey in der mit. Ekh bin dekh vi der keyser rakh. Mir iz haynt keyner glakh. Lomir tantsn ale drit.
TRANSLATION – “Ziser Got”
Sweet God how do I thank you for helping me; to live to see such a big event. You brought this about: today to marry off my youngest daughter. I have obtained my wares: Youthful daughters-in-law and sons-in-law full of Torah. My heart is full of joy. My grandchildren pull at my dress, and I in the middle of them. I am as rich as the emperor. Today no one equals me. Let’s dance us three.
זיסער גאָט ווי דאַנק איך דור וואָס דו האָסט געהאָלפֿן מיר .אַזא גדולה צו דערלעבן ,דו האָסט מיך צו שטאַנד געבראַכט הײַנט האָב איך חתונה געמאַכט .כ’האָב שוין מײַן מיזינקע אויסגעגעבן .איך האָב דאָך מיר אײַנגעהאַנדלט סחורה .שנירעלעך, בלוט און מילעך, איידעם פֿול מיט תּורה ,מײַן האַרץ איז פֿול מיט פֿרייד .די אייניקלעך שלעפּן מיך בײַם קלייד .און איך צישן [צווישן] זיי אין דער מיט איך בין דאָך ווי דער קייסער רײַך ,מיר איז הײַנט קיינער גלײַך .לאָמיר טאַנצן אַלע דריט
Reboyne shel-oylem vi dank ekh dir vu’ di ‘ost geholfn mir aza gdile tse derleybn. Az ikh ‘ob dus tsi shtand gebrakht der [di] mezinke khasene gemakht. nagidemlekh mit zey’r farmeyg. ikh lakh shoyn fin der gantser velt. ikh ‘ob mane kinderlekh tsufridn geshtelt; negidimlekh mit zeyer farmeygn. Bin ikh mir a shviger ‘ob ikh mir an eydem. tants ikh mir in intershtibl [hintershtibl] shoklt zikh der boydem.
TRANSLATION– Freda Lobell’s Reboyne-shel-oylem
Master of the universe how I thank you for helping me to live to see such a big event. I made this happen: married off my youngest daughter with Jews of wealthy means. I can laugh at the whole world. I have made my children happy. Rich men with their possessions. And so I am a mother-in-law and have a son-in-law. So when I dance in the backroom the attic shakes.
רבונו-של-עולם ווי דאַנק איך דיר וואָס דו האָסט געהאָלפֿן מיר .אַזאַ גדולה צו דערלעבן אַז איך האָב דאָס צו שטאַנד געבראַכט ,די מיזינקע חתונה געמאַכט .ייִדעלעך מיט זייער פֿאַרמעג .איך לאַך שוין פֿון דער גאַנצער וועלט איך האָב מײַנע קינדערלעך צופֿרידן געשטעלט נגידעלעך מיט זייער פֿאַרמעגן ,בין איך מיר אַ שוויגער ,האָב איך מיר אַן איידעם טאַנץ איך מיר אין הינטערשטיב .שאָקלט זיך דער בוידעם
No. 187 (Skotshne) in Jewish Folk Music Vol. 4 Tish-Nigunim, by Moshe Beregovski:
Me geyt shoyn tsi der khipe / They’re Already Walking to the Khupe!
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954 NYC.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Though Lifshe Schaechter Widman (LSW) introduces the song by saying it used to be sung on the way to the khupe (wedding canopy), it is a song mocking the wedding, not a part of the ceremony by any means.
Image of a Wedding Procession by Isaak Ashknaziy, 1893
The melody to this song was probably inspired by the klezmer tune known as the “Odesser Bulgar” found in Kammen collection “Dance Folio No.1 #18. (Thanks to Michael Alpert for pointing this out). Here is a link to the Alexandria Kleztet from the D.C. area and their version of the Odesser Bulgar:
In addition to LSW’s, two other texts to this song can be found in the Shmuel Zanvel Pipe song collection Folklore Research Centre Studies, Volume 2, Jerusalem, 1971, (edited by Meir and Dov Noy). They have been scanned and attached. The first version is in the body of the text and includes the melody. The second is in the end notes and includes different words and a second section of the melody as Meir Noy, also a Galitsyaner from Kolomyia (Yid = Kolomey) remembered it. LSW’s melody also has a second section or the begining of one.
The image of the fiddle “speaking” at the wedding (in essence warning the young couple) reminds one of the Itzik Manger poem “Der badkhn”, music by Henekh Kon.
Nor vos zogt der fidl, zog fidele zog!
¨Di sheynkayt iz sheyn, nor sheynkeyt fargeyt.¨
Azoy zogt der fidl un vos zogt di fleyt?
What does the fiddle say, tell us fiddle!”
“Beauty is nice, but beauty fades.”
So says the fiddle and what says the flute?
The only word in LSW’s version that is still not clear is “sekl” or “seke”; a word not found in the Yiddish dictionaries but “seke” does also appear in the second version in the notes of the Pipe collection. Michael Alpert suggests it could be a klezmer term for the sekund; the rhythmic and harmonic fiddle in klezmer music.
The word “opgeklogt”, pronounced by LSW as “u’geklugt” is open to interpretation, but I believe she means “good riddance, the parents have suffered enough”. In Pipe’s versions the line is “A yingl hot a meydl ongeklogt” which has a completely different meaning, but also open to interpretation.
Special thanks for helping with the blog post this week: Eliezer Niborski who transcribed LSW’s version, Michael Alpert, Josh Waletzky, Mark Slobin, Pete Rushefsky.
TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION
LSW speaks: “A lid vus me fleyg zingen az me geyt tsi der khipe in Galitsye, in Bukovina.”
A song that used to be sung on the way to the khupe [marriage canopy] in Galicia and Bukovina.
[Un] Me geyt shoyn tsi der khipe, me geyt!
Me trasket un me fliasket, s’iz a freyd!
Herts nor vus der fidl zugt:
“A bukher mit a moyd u’geklugt” [opgeklugt]
[And] They’s already walking to the khupe!
People are banging and celebrating, what a joy!
Listen to what the fiddle says:
“Good riddance to the bride and groom”
Un dort der bas mit der sekl (seke?):
Niech będzie na długo i na wieki’ [Polish]
And there the bass and the sekund (fiddle)
[Polish]: May it be for long and forever.
Un aykh makhuteyniste – git-morgn!
Ir hot shoyn frishe zorgn:
Me bayt di rayneshlekh af kronen.
Me zikht a voynung vi tse voynen.
And you my mother-in-law – good morning!
You have fresh worries:
You have to exchange the Rhenish for Kronen [currency]
and find a place to live.
REPEAT FIRST VERSE
Instrumental klezmer version of the melody found in J. & J. Kammenś collection Dance Folio No.1, #18:
Version found in Shmuel Zanvel Pipeś song collection Folklore Research Centre Studies, Volme 2, Jerusalem, 1971, (edited by Meir and Dov Noy):
Fun vanen nemen zikh di libes? / How do romances begin? Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954, The Bronx, New York City
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Though once fairly well-known and found in field recordings and several printed collections, I do not believe this lyric love song was ever recorded commercially other than on the CD Bay mayn mames shtibele, sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s (LSW’s) daughter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman. Here we present a version by LSW herself.
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, 1972
In the I. L. Cahan collection (1957) there are three versions of the song (#26, 27, 28) from the Kiev region, the Vilna region and Podolia region; so the song has been “traveling” over a wide area for a while. One of the verses in those versions (#27) continues the counting of excuses:
Dem dritn terets zolstu zogn,
du host dikh gelernt shvimen.
Dem fertn terets zolstu zogn,
az du host dayn tsayt bakumen [bakimen]
The third excuse you should give
is that you were learning how to swim.
The fourth excuse you should give
is that you are having your period.
Thus making this the only Yiddish song I have found so far that mentions menstruation.
YIDDISH TRANSLITERATION & TRANSLATION
Fun vanet nemen zikh di libes
fin deym shpeytn in fin dem lakhn.
Indzer libe hot zikh geshlosn,
in eyne, tsvey of der nakhtn.
How do romances begin?
From mocking and from laughing.
Our love was sealed –
during one, two evenings.
Tsvelef shlugt zikh shoyn der zeyger.
Fir mekh up aheym.
Vus far a terets vel ikh zugn
Bay mayn mamen in der heym?
The clock has already rung twelve.
Take me home.
What excuse will I say
at my mother’s at home?
Dem ershtn teyrets zo’sti zugn,
az di host geneyet shpeyt.
Dem tsveytn teyrets vesti zugn –
az di host geblondzet dem veyg.
The first excuse you should give
is that you sewed late.
The second excuse you should give
is that you got lost on the way.
Vus toyg mir dayne teyritsem.
Fir mekh up ahem.
Di mame vet dus tirele farshlisn,
in droysn vel ikh blaybn shteyn.
What do I need your excuses for?
Take me home.
Mother will lock the door
and I will be stuck outside.
In this posting, we examine three Yiddish Songs set to the tune of the Italian pop classic Return to Sorrento:
1) Fil gelitn hob ikh miter sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded in 1954 by
Leybl Kahn
2) Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets sung by Reyzl Stalnicovitz, and recorded by Itzik Gottesman in Mexico City, 1988.
3) Sore-Yente a song found in Meyer Noy’s collection at the National Library in Jerusalem, and performed by Sharon Bernstein, piano and vocal, and Willy Schwarz on accordion, Florence, Italy 2001.
This week we highlight three Yiddish songs that use the melody of an Italian pop classic Torna a Surriento (Return to Sorrento) music by Ernesto De Curtis (1875 – 1937), copyright 1905. The original lyrics were by his cousin Giambattista De Curtis. Here is a Dean Martin recording of the Italian song which we chose because it has a translation of the Italian lyrics (click here to listen).
There are even more Yiddish songs that use this melody, among them: in 1933 after the murder of Haim Arlosoroff in Tel-Aviv, a song was composed to this melody and a song sheet was published (A tragisher mord in Tel-Aviv/A Tragic Death in Tel Aviv). A song about the Polish Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbard (1883 – 1925) also uses a version of the melody (see Mlotek, Songs of the Generations, page 147-148 ).
Thanks this week to Aida Stalnicovitz Vda Fridman and Sharon Bernstein.
1) Fil gelitn hob ikh miter (I Have Suffered Much Mother)
Performance by Lifshe Schaechter Widman, recorded in 1954 by Leybl Kahn in NYC.
Lifshe introduces the song by saying “S’iz a lidl vus me hot gezingen in der ershter milkhume (It’s a song that was sung in the First World War).” The four verses are entirely in the mother’s voice, apparently addressed to her mother, as indicated in the first line.
TRANSLITERATION
Fil gelitn hob ikh miter
bay der as[ent]irung fun mayn kind.
Gearbet hob ikh shver in biter
Far vus lad ikh nokh atsind.?
Iz mayn zin nokh mayn nekhome
Vi iz er fin mir avek?
Afarshundn iz er in der milkhume.
Un a seykhl in un a tsvek.
Ziser Got ikh beyt ba dir
loz mikh nokh a nes gesheyn.
Eyder eykh vel shtarbn
Vil eykh mayn kind nokh eyn mol zeyn.
Dentsmult vel ikh riyik shtarbn.
Got tsi dir keyn tanes hubn.
Loz mayn kind khotsh eyn mul mir
nokh, “mamenyu” zugn.
TRANSLATION
Much have I suffered mother,
from the drafting of my child.
I worked hard and bitter.
Why do I still suffer?
My son is still my comfort
Where did he go and leave me?
Disappeared into the war,
for no logic, for no reason,
Dear God I pray to you
May another miracle take place.
Before I die,
I want to see my son once more.
Then I would calmly die
God, have no complaints to you..
Let my child say to me –
just once more “my mother dear”.
2) Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter)
Performance by Reyzl Stalnicovitz, recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Mexico City, 1988.
Reyzl Stalnicovitz, photo by Itzik Gottesman
Reyzl Stalnicovitz was born in 1935 in Xalapa, district of Vera Cruz, Mexico. She was a teacher at the I. L. Peretz shul (“Di naye yidishe shul”) in Mexico City, and passed away in 1996.
Of the three songs presented in this post, this song was by far the most popular and has been printed in several collections and can be found in the field recordings of Ben Stonehill, Sarah Benjamin and at the National Library in Israel. As for commercial recordings: Lea Szlanger sings it on her CD Lea Szlanger In Song.
The text was originally a thirteen verse poem by Zusman Segalovitch (1884 – 1949) that first appeared in the periodical Der shtrahl, Volume one, #2 Warsaw, 1910 (see below). There it was titled Dem shoykhets tokhter: balade (The shoykhet’s daughter: ballad) followed by the inscription – Dos hobn kinder in shtetl dertseylt (This Was Told by Children in Town).
The plot – Reyzl wants to marry Motl but the father, a shoykhet (kosher slaughterer) boils with anger as she combs her hair because she refuses the match he made. He then cuts her golden locks. Then it gets “weird”: she swims into the Vistula (Yiddish = Vaysl) river and builds a little shelter for herself along the bank until her hair locks grow again.
Stalnicovch sings four verses. This ballad was almost always shortened when sung. For example in the Arbeter Ring’s extremely popular songbook Lomir zingen (1939, NY), only five verses are printed (that scanned version, words and music, are attached below).
TRANSCRIPTION
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets.
Zi hot a yunge harts on zorgn.
Zi tants un freyt zikh mit ir lebn.
Vi a shvalb mitn frimorgn.
Es bakheynen ir di oygn
Es bakreynen ir di lokn.
Un a shtoltse iz zi shtendik.
Zi vet far keynem zikh nit beygn.
Un ir tate iz a frumer
un dertsu a groyser kaysn.
Ven di tokhter kemt di lokn
Heybt er on di lipn baysn .
Un der tate veyst nokh gornisht
Vos in shtetl veysn ale:
Az Reyzl hot shoyn a khosn.
Un me ruft ir Motls kale.
TRANSLATION
Beautiful is the shoykhet’s daughter Reyzl
She has a young heart with no worries.
She dances and is joyful with her life
as a swallow is with the morning.
Her eyes make her pretty
Her locks are a crown on her;
And she is always proud.
She will bow for no one.
Her father is religious
and also quick to anger.
When he combs her locks,
he starts to bite his lips.
And her father doesn’t know anything
what everyone knows in town:
that Reyzl has a groom,
and they call her Motl’s bride.
Spoken (transliteration):
Dos iz vos ikh gedenk. Ober di mame flegt mir dertseyln az s’iz geven epes a gantse tragedye, vayl der tate hot nisht gevolt az zi zol khasene hobn. Vayl er iz geven a sotsyalist, a yingl, un er iz geven a frumer yid. Er hot gevolt zi zol khasene hobn mit a yeshiva bokher. Un zi’s antlofn mitn bokher.
Spoken (translation): That’s what I remember. But the mother used to tell me that it was a whole tragedy because the father did not want her to get married. Because he (the groom) was a socialist boy and he (the father) wanted him to marry a Yeshiva student. And she ran away with the boy.
3) Sore-Yente
Performance by Cantor Sharon Bernstein, Florence, 2001 (accompanied by Willy Schwarz on accordion)
The third song that uses the melody of Sorrienta is Sore-Yente – a word play on the original Italian title. This was collected by Meir Noy in Israel in 1962 from Shmuel Ben-Zorekh, who learned it from an immigrant from Minsk. A scan of Meir Noy’s original notation, words and music are attached below.
TRANSLITERATION
Mit a nign fun akdomes
shteyt baym fentster Yosl-Monish,
Far der sheyner Sore-Yente
Zingt er dort tsu ir a lid:
Kum tsu mir mayn sheynes benken,
Eybik vel ikh dikh gedenken.
Kh’vel mayn lebn far dir shenken.
Vayl ikh bin in dir farlibt.
Azoy lang iz er geshtanen
vi der groyser pipernoter
un zi hert im vi der koter
un geyt derbay af gikh avek.
TRANSLATION With a melody from Akdometh stands at the window Yosl-Monish
For the beautiful Sore-Yente
there, he sings this song:
Come to me my longed for beauty
I will long for you eternally.
I will give you my life
For I am in love with you.
He stood there for so long
like a giant dragon.
She totally ignores him
And walks quickly by him.
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter) by Zusman Segalovitch (1884 – 1949) in the periodical Der shtrahl, Volume one, #2 Warsaw, 1910:
Sheyn iz Reyzele dem sheykhets (Beautiful is Reyzele, the Shokhet’s Daughter) from the Arbeter Ring’s songbook Lomir zingen (1939, NY):
Az in droysn geyt a reygn vern di shteyner nas
When It Rains Outside the Stones Get Wet
Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman and Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
BSG recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx, 1980s; LSW recorded by Leybl Kahn 1954.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG) learned this lyrical love song from her mother Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW), and LSW probably learned it in her hometown of Zvinyetshke, Bukovina. At this “zingeray” (song sharing session) in the Gottesman home, one can hear other singers featured on “Yiddish Song of the Week” – Tsunye Rymer and Ita Taub –joining in:
Leybl Kahn had years earlier recorded LSW singing the same song; so we have a rare opportunity to compare the singing of the same song by mother and daughter:
In this performance BSGleaves out the second verse which she usually included. LSW does include that verse.I have transcribed and translated both versions though they are very similar.
Both versions have the wonderful rhyme of “khipe” (wedding canopy) with “klipe” (shrew or an evil spirit that won’t leave you alone).
At the beginning and end of the LSW recording the collector Leybl Kahn sounds confused because LSW had just sung for him another song beginning with the same line “Az in droysn geyt a reygn”.
BSG TRANSLITERATION
Az in droysn geyt a reygn,
vern di shteyndelekh nas. Un az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ire bekelekh blas.
Second verse that she left out: Un az zi shpilt shoyn oys di libe
farlirt zi dokh ire farbn.
Un az zi shpilt nisht oys di libe,
miz zi dokh yingerheyt shtarbn]
Vos dreysti dikh mame far mayne oygn?
Dreyst dekh nor vi a klipe.
Kh’vel mit im avekforn in an anderer medine
un vel mit im shteln a khipe.
Oy, un a shadkhn, oy vey iz der mamen, vet ir zikh beyde nemen?
Say ez vet dir git geyn, say es vet dir shlekht geyn – far keyn kind vil ekh dikh mer nisht kenen.
Az in droysn geyt a reygn,
vern di shteyndelekh nas. Un az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ire bekelekh blas.
BSG TRANSLATION
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl falls in love
her cheeks get pale.
Second verse that she left out: And if the love is successful
she loses her colors.
And if the love is unrequited
then she must die
Why are you always before my eyes, mother.
You’re clinging to me like an evil spirit. I will run away with him to a foreign land
and marry him under a canopy.
“Without a matchmaker, woe is to your mother, you will take each other?
I don’t care if things go well, or bad with you.
I will no longerconsider you as my child”
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl falls in love
her cheeks get pale.
LSW VERSION TRANSLITERATION
Az in droysn geyt a reygn
vern di shteyndelekh nas.
In az a meydele shpilt a libe
vern ir di bekelekh blas.
In az zi shpilt di libe
vert zi dokh un di farbn
In az zi shpilt nisht oys di libe
miz zi dekh yingerheyt shtarbn.
Vus dreysti dikh, mametshkele, far mayne oygn.
Di dreyst dekh arim vi a klipe.
Ikh vel mit im avekfurn in a fremder medine
un vel mit im shteln a khipe.
Un a shadkhn oy vey iz der mame
vet ir aykh beyde nemen. Say es vet aykh git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zan
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen.
Say es vet aykh git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zayn
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen. Say es vet dir git zayn, say ez vet aykh shlekht zayn
Far keyn kind, vil ikh dekh mer nit kenen.
LSW TRANSLATION
Outside, when it rains the stones get wet.
And when a girl has a love
her cheeks get pale.
And if the love is successful
she loses her colors.
and if the love unrequited
then she must die
Why are you always before my eyes, mother.
You’re clinging to me like an evil spirit. I will run away with him to a foreign land
and marry him under a canopy.
“Without a matchmaker, woe is to your mother, you will take each other?
I don’t care if things go well, or bad with you.
I will no longer consider you as my child”
In Odes af a shteyn / In Odessa on a Stone
A song about the 1905 Kiev Pogrom Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
Recorded in 1960s Bronx by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
In Odes af a shteyn is a variant of the previously posted pogrom ballad In Kiever gas. Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW) tells us in her spoken introduction to this song that she learned it from a survivor of the Kiev pogrom of 1905 (October 31 – November 2, 1905) who came to her Bukovina town, Zvinyetchke. Lifshe was then 12 years old.
So the earlier version, In Kiever gas, which was sung soon after the 1881 Kiev pogrom, was reused for the second Kiev pogrom which took place almost 25 years later.
1905 Kiev Pogrom
In Ruth Rubin’s archive a “Mr. Auslander” sings In Ades af der gas, a combination of the two versions:
And here is another performance of the song by LSW from her 1954 recording session with Leybl Kahn. (The first few seconds have been cut off). Some of the lyrics are different in that earlier recording:
The featured LSW version that we have transcribed (the sound recording presented at the top of this posting) is from the 1960s and recorded by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman in the Bronx. Though this version is shorter than Braginski’s, it also contains, as do almost all the versions, the rhyme katsapes (derogatory term for Russians) and lapes and the appeal to God in the last verse “to take her away from this world.”
Thanks to Lorin Sklamberg and YIVO Sound Archives for help with this week’s blog post.
TRANSCRIPTION
SPOKEN by LSW: Nokh di Kiever pogromen inem yare [yor] finef, fir, finef, zenen gekimen tsi loyfn fin Kiev tsi indz mentshn, hot eyner mikh oysgelernt dus lidl.
In Odes af a shteyn, zitst a meydele aleyn. Zi zitst in zi veynt. Zi zitst in zi veynt, ir harts iz farshteynt. A neduve bay yeydn zi beyt.
Di Kiever katsapes mit zeyere lapes hobn getin mayn faters hoyz tsebrekhn. Dus hoyz tsebrokhn, deym tatn geshtokhn. Di mame iz far shrek imgekimen.
Vi groys iz mayn shand oystsushtrekn di hant un tsu beytn bay laytn gelt, un tsi beytn bay laytn gelt. Oy, Got derbarem, shtrek oys dayn arem. un nem mekh shoyn tsi fin der velt.
TRANSLATION
In Odessa on a rock, sits a girl alone. She sits and she weeps. She sits and weeps, her heart has turned to stone. For alms from everyone she begs.
The Kiev “lousy Russians” and their paws, Did destroy my father’s house. The house destroyed, my father stabbed. My mother died of fright.
How great is my shame to hold out my hand and to beg for money from people, and to beg for money from people. O, God have mercy, and stretch out your arm, and take me away from this world.
Vi halt ikh dus oys? – How Can One Stand It?
Words and Music: Mark Varshavski
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
Recorded by Leybl Kahn NYC 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Vi halt ikh dus oys is surely one of the saddest songs from a composer, Mark Varshavski (aka Warshavsky) known for his classic nostalgic and upbeat songs such as Oyfn pripetshok, Milner’s trern and Di mezinke oysgegebn.
In her brief discussion with Leybl Kahn before and after she sings, LSW connected the -message of the song to the Zionist movement; a commentary on the eternal wandering of the Jews. She also affirms that she learned it from an aunt in her small town of Zvinyetshke in the Bukovina.
For a full biography of Mark Varshavski (1848 – 1907) see the YIVO Encyclopedia.
Mark Varshavski in Berdichev, 1900 (YIVO)
In her very emotional performance, the singer Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW] stays remarkably close to the original text which is attached at the end of the post from the volume “Yidishe folkslider fun M. M. Varshavski” One interesting textual change, however, is in the line where LSW sings:
Farentfer di kashe, Got di bist groys
[Answer the question – God you are vast/supreme]
In Varshavski’s original text it reads: S’farenfert di kashe, Got du bist groys
[The question is answered by – God you are vast/supreme]
The folklorized words by LSW address God directly, reflecting a more intimate relationship with God than in Varshavki’s version.
I could not find a previous recording of this song, neither on record, CD nor in field recordings. However, a song about Mendel Beilis and his infamous trial (1911-1913), accusing him of a blood libel is based on this Varshavski song. Lorin Sklamberg, YIVO sound archivist and lead singer for The Klezmatics, sang Dos lid fun Mendel Beilis at YIVO in 2013:
Thanks for help with this week’s post to Lorin Sklamberg.
TRANSLITERATION
Vi halt men dus oys? Farshtey ikh nisht kh’lebn.
Es iz shoyn fin Got azoy mir bashert.
Bay veymen s’iz a yontif dus shtikele leybn:
Bay mir iz dus leybn shvarts vi di erd.
Far vus un far ven, fregt mekh nit eyner.
Farentfer di kashe – Got di bist groys.
Es triknt in mir der marekh fun mayne beyner,
un ikh halt dus nit oys; ikh halt dus nit oys.
Vi halt men dus oys? Es iz avade a vinder.
Vi ikh shlep mayne krank, geshvolene fis.
Ikh blondze arim mit mayne ureme kinder
un vi ikh kim iz finster in vist.
A du ken ikh nisht shteyn, a du tor men nit lign.
azoy tsit men fin mir mayne koykhes aroys.
Vu ikh gey her ikh eyn nign –
Ikh halt dus nit oys; ikh halt dus nit oys.
A yeder fin aykh, say rakh say urem,
hot dus alte beys-oylem shoyn gezeyn.
Dort lign alte, tsebrokhene kvurim,
un fun dort hert men a geveyn.
Azoy iz tsebrokhn iz mir yeder eyver,
di velt iz mir fintster khotshe zi iz groys.
Oy, dek dikh af gikher, di fintserer keyver.
Vayl ikh halt dus nit oys, ikh halt dus nit oys.
TRANSLATION
How can one stand this? I swear I don’t understand.
It must be decreed from God.
For those who enjoy a little of life –
For me is life black as the earth.
Why and for what reason? No one asks me.
Answer the question, God you are supreme.
The marrow of my bones is drying
and I can no longer stand it, I can no longer stand it.
How can I stand it? It is truly a wonder.
I drag my sick, swollen legs.
I wander aimlessly with my poor children
and wherever I come, I feel dark and deserted.
There I may not stand; here I may not lay.
And in this way my strength disspipates.
Wherever I go I hear only one tune –
I cannot stand this; I can no longer stand this.
Each of you, the rich and the poor
has surely seen out Jewish cemetery.
There lay old, broken graves
and from deep in the graves one hears a cry.
Thus is broken in me every limb.
The world is as dark as it is vast.
O, cover me up you dark grave
Because I can no longer take it, I can no longer take it.
Mame, a kholem (Mother, A Dream)
Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
recorded by Leybl Kahn, NY 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The motif of the lover who returns as a beggar is as old as Homer’s Odyssey and is found in ballads throughout the world. In this Yiddish ballad version, the former lover is not disguised as a beggar but has indeed become one because of his “character”.
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
I consider this ballad to be one of Lifshe Schaechter-Widman’s [LSW] masterpieces. Not only because it is certainly among the older songs in her repertoire, but because of the deeply emotional way she performs it, concluding with the dramatic last verse in which the woman reveals to her mother who is at the door.
In typical old ballad style, the dialogue prevails: first between mother and daughter, then between daughter and beggar (former lover) and finally, again, between daughter and mother. There is a break in the narrative after the third verse when the dialogue changes and at this point Leybl Kahn, who is recording the song, feels compelled to ask LSW to continue.
This transition from third to fourth verse is noteworthy. A new plot/scene develops at this point. It leads me to believe that originally there might have been two ballads that were combined to form one.
Supporting this idea are the awkward transitions between the two scenes in all the versions. We also have examples of separate ballads. Singer/researcher Michael Alpert recorded Fanya Moshinskaya, (born 1915 in Babyi Yar, Kiev), singing a ballad of the first scene – ‘Oy a kholem’. And he has recorded Bronya Sakina (1910 – 1988) from Olvanisk (Holovanivsk/Golovanevsk, Ukraine) singing a ballad – “Derbaremt aykh”- depicting the beggar/lover scene. Alpert currently sings both of them and sometimes combines them.
In addition, there are two other versions of just the beggar/lover ballad with no first “kholem” part in the Soviet Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe” and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”. The singer for #62 was Rive Diner from Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, 1926. The singer for #63 was Yekhil Matekhin from Sobolivke, Ukraine, recorded in 1925.
A nine-verse Odessa variant without music of the LSW combined ballad – “Oj, a xolem hot zix mir gexolemt” – can be found in Folklor-lider volume 2 1936, page 201-202 song# 61. This was republished by Moyshe Beregovski with music in his Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34 pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355. The singer was Dine Leshner from Odessa, 1930.
In Leshner’s ballad, the transition verse between the two scenes, verse four, is presented in first person from the beggar’s viewpoint, not in dialogue. It would be quite confusing for the listener to figure out who is speaking, and I imagine the singer would almost be required to stop singing and indicate who is speaking (as LSW does at this transition point!).
Another variant of the combined version was collected by Sofia Magid in 1934 in a Belarus kolkhoz “Sitnya”, from the singer Bronya Vinokur (PON 103, full text on page 580, “Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008. The audio recording can be heard on the accompanying DVD). The initial dialogue is between a man and his mother. He then travels to the rebbe, and comes to her as a beggar. She curses him in the last verse.
Oyb du host a froy mit a kleyn kind, Zolstu zikh muttsen [mutshn] ale dayne yor. Oyb du host mir frier nit genumen, Konstu sheyn nit zayn mayn por.
If you have a wife and child, May you suffer all your years. If you did not take me before, Then you can no longer be my match.
Hardly the romantic ending we find in the LSW version.
I would like to take the liberty of suggesting some word changes in LSW’s version for any singers out there thinking of performing the song. These suggestions are based on the other versions and on the way LSW’s daughter, Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG] sang the song.
1) Clearly the last line in the first verse of LSW’s ballad, which doesn’t rhyme with “gedakht”, is a mistake. BSG sang instead the rhymed line –
“Az mayn gelibter shteyt baym bet bay nakht” [“That my lover is standing at my bed at night”]
But in Magid’s version and in the Alpert/ Moshinskaya’s version this line reads – “un fun mir hot er zikh oysgelakht” (and he laughed at me”) And in the Folklor-lider version the line reads “un fun mir hot er khoyzek gemakht” (“and he mocked me”) So the mocking of the girl is the “character” flaw that results in his becoming a beggar.
2) Instead of “futerland” Bronya Sakina sang “geboyrn-land” which strikes me as folkier and more appropriate, though in one of the Folklor-lider versions, the daughter does use “foterland” as well.
3) Instead of LSW’s “derkh mayn kharakter”, – “because of my character”, – others sing “durkh a libe” and “durkh a gelibter– “because of a love”, “because of beloved”. This also strikes me as the older concept and more in line with the whole song.
4) Instead of LSW’s “untershtitsung” – “nedove” is more traditional. Both mean “alms”, “donation”.
5) LSW sings “iftsishteln di hant” – “to raise up the hand”. Usually that would be “oystsushtrekn di hant” – “to reach out your hand”.
6) For the last line she sings “vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.” (“because this is the one who was my lover”) but shorter and to the point is “vayl dos iz mayn gelibter geveyn” (because he was my lover”). BSG sang it this way.
TRANSLITERATION
1) Mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
Oy, mame, a khulem hot zikh mir gedakht.
Oy, a khulem hot zikh mir gekhulemt,
az man gelibter shteyt leybn mayn bet.
2) Oy a khulem tokhter tur men nit gleybn
Vayl a khulem makht dem mentshn tsim nar.
Morgn veln mir tsi dem rebe furn.
A pidyen veln mir im geybn derfar.
3) Vus ken mir den der rebe helfn?
Tsi ken er mir geybn deym vus eykh hob lib?
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
In mayn hartsn vet er mame blaybn.
Biz in mayn fintsern grib.
Spoken: Leylb Kahn says “Dos gantse lid”
LSW: “Es geyt nokh vater.”
Leybl: “Lomir hern vayter.”
Spoken: LSW – “Es dakht zikh ir, az der khusn
kimt aran..”
4) Hots rakhmunes af mir libe mentshn
hots rakhmunes af mir in a noyt.
mit alem gitn zol nor Gotenyu bentshn.
Hots rakhmones un shenkts a shtikl broyt.
5) “Far vus zhe geysti azoy upgerisn?
Shemst zikh nisht iftsishteln di hant?
Fin vanen di bist bin ikh naygerik tsi visn.
Rif mir un dayn futerland.
6) Geboyrn bin eykh in a groys hoz.
Dertsoygn bin eykh eydl un raykh,
derkh mayn kharakter bin eykh urem gevorn
in intershtitsing beyt eykh du fin aykh.
7) Tsi vilt ir mir epes shenkn?
Git zhet mir in lozts mekh du nisht shteyn.
Tits mikh nit azoy fil krenken,
Vayl dus hob eykh mir mitgenemen aleyn.
8) Oy, mamenyu gib im shoyn a neduve.
Gib im shoyn un loz im do nisht shteyn.
Gib im avek a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
Gib im shoyn a halb fin indzer farmeygn,
vayl dos iz der velkher iz mayn gelibter geveyn.
TRANSLATION
1) Mama, I dreamed a dream,
oh mame, a dream i had imagined.
Oh a dream i had dreamed,
That my love was near my bed.
[..stands near me at night]
2) O daughter, a dream should not be believed.
Because a dream can lead you astray.
Tomorrow we will travel to the Rebbe
and give him payment for this.
3) O, how can the Rebbe help me.
Can he give me the one I love?
In my heart he will always remain.
Till my dark grave.
SPOKEN:
Leylb Kahn: The whole song
LSW: There is more.
Leybl: Let’s hear more.
LSW: She thinks that her groom has entered…
4) “Take pity on me dear people.
Take people on me in my need.
May God bless you with all good things.
Take pity and give a piece of bread.”
5) “Why are you going around in rags?
Are you not ashamed to hold out your hand?
Where are you from? I would like to know.
Tell me your fatherland.”
6) “I was born in a big house,
Raised noble and wealthy.
Because of my character, I became poor,
and for a donation from you I now beg.”
7) “Do you want to give me some alms?
Then give me and don‘t leave me standing here.
Don‘t torture me so,
For I have already suffered enough.”
8) “O mother give alms right now,
Give him now, and don‘t let him stand there.
Give him away a half of our fortune,
For he was once my beloved.”
Folklor-lider Volume 2 1936, pp. 202-204,. Song #62 – “Shoyn dray yor az ikh shpil a libe”:
and #63 – “Vi azoy ikh her a lirnik shpiln”:
Jewish Folk Songs (1962) #34, ed. Moyshe Beregovski, pp. 75-77, reprinted in Mark Slobin’s Beregovski compendium Old Jewish Folk Music 1982, p. 353 – 355:
“Unser Rebbe, unser Stalin” edited by Elvira Grozinger and Susi Hudak-Lazic, 2008:
Af mayn tatns dakh (On My Father’s Roof)
Performed by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG)
recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx 1991.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
From 1947 to 1951 Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (BSG) lived in displaced persons camps in Vienna. Two of them were Arzberger and Rothschild Hospital where her husband, Jonas Gottesman was the chief physician. She arrived there after two years in Bucharest. Since she was born in Vienna in 1920 (but grew up in Chernovitz) she could legally leave Bucharest at that time, while her husband, mother and brother had to cross into Austria illegally.
In Vienna circa 1949, from left: Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (mother), Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman (daughter), friend Mitsi Weininger.
BSG believed she learned this song in Vienna during this time and wrote down the words in a notebook. In 1991 we found that notebook and I asked her to sing the songs she had written down in it.
The first line of the refrain “Sheyn bikh ikh sheyn, sheyn iz oykh mayn nomen” and text of the second verse are better known with a different melody in a children’s song. Ruth Rubin includes it in her print collection Jewish Folk Songs and recorded it. More recently it can be heard on the CD “Voices of Ashkenaz”, featuring the singing of Svetlana Kundish and Deborah Strauss.
TRANSLITERATION:
Af mayn tatns dakh hengt a gildener krants
hant oder morgn, vu’zhe darf ikh zorgn?
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun same rabunim.
Bay di rabunim iz di Toyre groys,
ikh vel zan a kalele – a bliendkie royz.
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun loyter rabunim.
Holtz in der kamer, a vaser in hoz.
Ale mise bukhirim fun shteytele aros.
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun loyter rabunim.
Eyner vet zan maner, a sheyner, a faner,
Zetst zikh nor nit leybn mir, bist nokh nit mit mane.
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun loyter rabunim.
Got vet dir bashern vesti mane vern,
Vesti zetsn leybn mir, vet keyner dikh nisht shtern.
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun loyter rabunim.
Fli feygele fli, fli zhe tsi man khusn!
Vet er mir shikn a halbn livyusin.
Sheyn bin ikh sheyn, sheyn iz mayn numen,
Vel ikh nemen a khusndl fun loyter rabunim.
TRANSLATION:
On my father’s roof hangs a golden wreath.
Today or tomorrow: so why should I worry?
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
For the rabbis the Torah is great:
I will be a bride – a blossoming rose.
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
Wood in the shed, water in the house
All ugly boys – get out of town.
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
One will be mine – a handsome and a fine one.
But don’t sit next to me – you’re not mine yet.
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
God will destine it for you and become mine.
If you will sit next to me, then no one will bother you.
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
Fly, birdie, fly, fly to my groom.
And he will send me half of the Leviathan.
Pretty, I am pretty and pretty is my name.
I will only choose a groom from among the rabbis.
Image of a Wedding Procession by Isaak Ashknaziy, 1893
Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, 1972
Reyzl Stalnicovitz, photo by Itzik Gottesman
Mark Varshavski in Berdichev, 1900 (YIVO)
“Jewish Beggar” by Rembrandt
Yiddish Song of the Week 