Za górami, za lasami / Inter di berglekh A Macaronic Polish Yiddish dance song sung by Sara Rosen. Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, 1989. NYC photo.
Dancing a Polka
Spelled in Polish
English translation
Za górami, za lasami, Tańcowała Małgorzatka z Góralami. Tańcowała Małgorzatka z Góralami. Przyszedł ojciec, przyszła matka, Chodź do domu, chodź do domu, Małgorzatka! Chodź do domu, chodź do domu, Małgorzatka! Ja nie pójdę. Idźcie sami! Ja tu będę tańcowała z Góralami. Ja tu będę tańcowała z Góralami. I nie poszła. I została.Tańcowała z Góralami. Aż do rana. Tańcowała z Góralami Aż do rana.
Over, beyond mountains and forests, Margaret danced with the Highlanders (click here info on Polish Highlanders). Father came, and mother came. Come home, Margaret! I won’t go. Go by yourselves! I’ll dance here with the Highlanders. And she didn’t go. Instead she stayed. She danced until dawn with the Highlanders.
Yiddish words: (H)Inter di berglekh, (H) inter di felde hot getantsn Malke-Zlata mit di zelners.
[talks]
Behind the hills, behind the fields, danced Malke-Zlata with the soldiers
Gekimen di mame, gekimen der tate “Kim ahaym, kim ahaym Malke-Zlate”
Her mother came, her father came, “Come home, come home, Malke-Zlate”
“Ikh vil nisht gayn, gayts aleyn. Ikh vil du tantsn, ikh vil du hotsken mit Dragayn.”
“I don’t want to go, go by yourselves. I want to dance, i want to with the Dragoons.”
Iz zi nisht geganen, iz es geblibn. Z’hot getantsn, z’hot gehotsket biz a zeyer zibn.
So she didn’t go and it stayed the same. She danced and shook till seven o’clock.
הינטער די בערגלעך, הינטער די פֿעלדער .האָט געטאַנצן מלכּה־זלאַטע מיט די זעלנערס ,געקומען די מאַמע, געקומען דער טאַטע „.קום אַהיים, קום אַהיים מלכּה־זלאַטע” „איך וויל נישט גיין, גייט אַליין” “.איך וויל דאָ טאַנצן, איך וויל דאָ האָצקען מיט דראַגײַן” .איז זי נישט געגאַנגען, איז עס געבליבן .ז’האָט געטאַנצן, ז’האָט געהאָצקעט ביז אַ זייגער זיבן
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
The old Polish folksong “Małgorzatka” also known as ” Za górami” is well known. Less known is this macaronic version with Polish and Yiddish. Sara Rosen, born in Krakow, sings it in a polka rhythm. According to Polish music websites, the song in Polish has roots going back to the 16th century and might have started out as a beggar’s song. A Polish website with many versions in Polish can be found here, and additional information on the song is at this Polish website.
Gila Flam, director of the Music Department of the Jewish National and University Library, recorded a Lodz ghetto adaptation written in Polish by Miriam Harel. She discusses the song in her work Singing for Survival: Songs of the Lodz Ghetto 1940-1945, pages 121-22. Here is the recording:
Thanks to: Polish singer and researcher Mariza Nawrocka for information and the links to the Polish song; to Gila Flam for her recording; to Paula Teitelbaum who printed the words in Polish and the translation from the Polish. Also thanks to Karolina Koprowska.
Der yold iz mir mekane / The fool envies me A song from the Jewish underworld sung by Yetta Seidman Recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg, Baltimore 1979, collection of Jewish Museum of Maryland
TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION (Yiddish transcription at the end of this post)
Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane. Der yold iz mir mekane far mayn urem shtikele broyt. Er vil fin gurnit visn, vi ikh ver oysgerisn Es kimt mir un biter vi der toyt.
The sucker/fool/patsy envies me. The fool envies me. The fool envies me because of my dismal piece of bread. He doesn’t want to know how I suffer. It is as hard for me as death.
Mayn mame in mayn tate, zey zenen geveyzn blate. Fin kayn tsuris hob ikh bay zey keyn mol nit gevist. Ven ikh bin gevorn elter, zenen zey gevorn kelter in ganvenen hot zikh mir farglist.
My mother and my father; they were in the underworld. I did not know of any troubles with them. When I got older, they became colder, And I got the desire to steal.
Ikh gey aroys in market, in khap zikh tsi a pocket. A mise-matn [mase-matn] hob ikh zikh dortn ungemakht. Es kimt tsi geyn a yenta, in brengt mit zikh a mente in in “Steyshun-hoyz” hot men mir gebrakht.
I go out into the market, and pick a pocket, I committed a theft [literally – transaction] over there. A trouble-making woman comes over and brings with her a cop and to the Station House I was brought.
In droysn geyt a reygn, in droysn geyt a reygn. Se iz zikh shoyn ongefaln a kleyn bisele shney. Ale mayne yurn in “prizin” upgezesn, Az yeder eyver tit zikh mir shoyn vey.
Outside it’s raining; outside it’s raining. A small bit of snow has already fallen All of my years I spent in prison So every part of me hurts.
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
Probably the most popular of the Jewish underworld songs, there is an East European version and an American version. Seidman sings the American version which includes the English language words “market” “pocket” “station house” and “prison”.
Those words are not found in the East European version. But on both sides of the Atlantic the Yiddish underworld slang words are kept – “mente” (policeman), “blate” (criminal) “mase-matn” (a theft, a criminal act but literally “transaction”).
Image: M. Leizerowicz in the play “Motke Ganef” by Sholem Asch from the Yizkor (Memorial) Book of Piotrkow Trybunalski
The song often begins with the verse “In droysn geyt a regn mit a kleyn bisele shney” and for those grammarians out there – the first line is usually sung “Der yold iz mikh mekane”.
Another version of the song, with a slightly different melody can be heard in the YIVO Ruth Rubin archive. On this 78 rpm record Morris Goldstein sings the original (?) American version (1922):
The song is featured in the film “Image Before My Eyes” (1980) sung by Lillian (Leyele) Klempner. According to Lehman in his collection Ganovim-lider (1928), the song was written during the German occupation of WW1. Scans of Lehman’s version from Poland, words and music, are attached. Also see Jane Peppler’s comments on the song:
Shabes nukh dem kigel /Sabbath, after the kugel [potato pudding] Sung by Malka/Molly Lubelski, recorded by Abraham Lubelski, Bronx 1967
Malka Lubelski with son Abraham in Post-WWII Germany
COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN A love song from the 19th century apparently in the repertoire of the Broder zingers, itinerant singers and actors who often performed in taverns and wine cellars. A different version of this song can be found in the collection Broder zinger (1960) by Shlomo Pryzament (scan attached), with text and music. The singer Masha Benya recorded this Pryzament version which is sung from the man’s point of view. Here is the link to Benya’s recording from her LP record Jewish Song Treasury, Volume 2.
Molly Lubelski’s version differs significantly textually and is sung from the girl’s point of view. Her referring to her “Madam” implies that the singer works for her in some capacity or the Madam is her landlady, or perhaps it’s an ironic way to refer to her mother. There is another song from the Yiddish theater entitled “Shabes nokhn kugl” , which is a completely different song and has been recorded several times. The words and music to that theater song can be found in Jane Peppler’s Yiddish Songs from Warsaw 1929-193: The Itzik Zhelonek Collection.
For biographical information on Malka Lubelski see the previous post “Vi iz dus gesele”.
Shabes nukh dem kigl sung by Molly Lubelski
Shabes nukh dem kigl geyt mayn madam tsu gest. Es kumt tsu mir mayn khusn un drikt un kisht mikh fest.
Sabbath after the kugel, my madam goes out to visit. So my future husband then comes to me and squeezes and kisses me strongly.
Tsvay upgeglantste shtivl, dus hitl in a zayt er iz an oysgedinter, fardint un iz a layt.
With two shiny boots and his cap worn to the side, he has served in the military, and earns a reasonable living.
Bald nokh dem esn geyen mir paze taykh. Es zenen undz mekane say urem un say raykh.
Right after eating, we walk along the river. Everyone envies us, the poor and the rich.
Ikh trug a nay klaydl, tsvay oysgekemte tsep. Ikh bin a shayn maydl un ikh fardray di kep.
I’m wearing a new dress, and have combed my braids. I am a pretty girl and heads turn when I pass.
Nor im lib ikh un er hot dus der vert. Er iz der shenster bukher der shenster oyf der erd.
But he is the one I love, and he is worth it. He is the handsomest man, the best looking in the world
Er zugt er vet mikh nemen un shteln a khupe oykh. O, klezmer veln shpiln, oy, az s’vet geyn a roykh.
He says he will take me and marry me. O, klezmers will play so well oy, that smoke will rise.
Un mayn madam vet shenken tsvey kishn un a klayd. Oy, vet zayn a simkhe, oy, vet zayn a frayd.
And my madam will give as gifts – two pillows and a dress. Oy, there will be a celebration oy, there will be joy.
un mashke vet men trinken vifl s’vet arayn, un shabes nukh deym kigl kumt mayn madam tsu geyn.
We’ll drink whiskey as much as we can. Sabbath after the kugel my madam goes out to visit.
שבת נאָך דעם קוגל געזונגען פֿון מלכּה (מאַלע) לובעלסקי
שבת נאָך דעם קוגל .גייט מײַן מאַדאַם צו געסט עס קומט צו מיר מײַן חתן .און דריקט און קושט מיך פֿעסט
Vi iz dus gesele? / Where is the street? A Holocaust adaptation written and sung by Malka and Josef Lubelsksi recorded by Abraham Lubelski, Bronx 1967
On the Lubelski family by Abraham Lubelski
Malka (Male, Molly, Minska) Lubelski (1920 – 1996) was born in Lodz, Poland. She and her husband, Laibish Holcman, left Lodz in 1939, as the Nazis were invading, and headed East to the Soviet Union. With them was Malka’s sister, Chana, and her brother, Yasha. They were attempting to find Malka’s uncle in Ukraine.
They were diverted by Soviet authorities to Siberia, ending up in the town of Magnitogorsk. Here their son, Abram [Abraham], was born. They were finally given permission in 1941 to travel to their uncle’s home in Ukraine, arriving in Kharkov just as the Nazis invaded. They never reached their uncle and he was never heard from again. Laibish Holcman disappeared in 1941, soon after joining to fight with the defending Soviet Army.
They left behind their mother, a younger sister Ruth (Rivka) and three younger brothers, Motel, Laibel and Avrom. Malka, Chana, Yasha and Rivka survived the Holocaust. Their mother, Nacha, was taken from the Lodz ghetto and never heard from again. The three younger brothers also did not survive; one died in the ghetto and the other two died after being transported to Auschwitz. The four surviving siblings were reunited in 1946 in the Displaced Persons camp. All emigrated with their new families to the US in ’49-’50.
From Siberia, Malka and her son traveled on to Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where Malka met Josef Lubelski (1906 – 1972) originally from Kalisz, Poland. Malka’s siblings, Chana and Yasha, also were able to travel to Tashkent. From there they returned west at the war’s end, searching for surviving family, Malka, Josef and Abram eventually making their way to the DP camp in Berlin. They transferred and were reunited with Rivka in the Leipheim, Germany DP camp. In the camp, Josef established a troupe and directed an ensemble of friends and actors. Josef and Malka sang duets and performed Yiddish monologues and Shakespeare. They were legally married in the DP camp in 1948.
As their son (Abram) I remember sitting in the front row of the theater watching their vaudeville performances and dramas with awe. Josef did classic “retsitatsyes” [recitations] often dressed like Charlie Chaplin or as a Jewish peddler making the audience laugh as he magically pulled things out from his long black overcoat and tried to sell a chicken here, pots and pans there or a “valgerholts” [rolling pin] with which to beat husbands. They traveled to DP camps performing on week-ends and I cried if they left me behind so eventually they had me come along as the child actor in one or two Yiddish plays.
In 1950 they emigrated to the US. and performed their songs occassionaly at Workmen’s Circle gatherings. In 1967 I recorded Josef’s monologues and Molly and Josef singing duets. I remembered my mom sitting alone on the stage dressed in black mourning singing “Vu iz dos gesele,” “Tsen brider” and “Akhtszik er un zibetsik zi”, …. Never forgetting the warming spirit trying to revive the people around them.
More on the Lubelski family can be read in the two memoirs The Cage (1980) and To Life (2000) by Ruth Minsky Sender.
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
Today’s post is the first of three songs performed by Molly and Josef Lubelski that we will post. We thought it particularly appropriate to post “Vi iz dus gesele” to mark Kristallnacht on Nov. 9th. Though these songs were recorded in 1967, two decades after the war, they still convey the emotional performance of the artists.
The Lubelskis sing a Holocaust themed adaptation of a popular song “Vu iz dos gesele”. Their son Abraham believes they created the text. I have not found it in collections of Holocaust Yiddish songs. The words and music to the original song can be found in the Mlotek collection Songs of Generations. There are also Ukrainian, Russian and Hebrew versions of the older song.
Here is a link to an orchestrated version of the original song “Vu iz dos gesele” sung by Jan Peerce:
TRANSLITERATION, TRANSLATION & TRANSCRIPTION Folksong with new words by Malka and Josef Lubelski
Vi iz dus gesele? Vi iz di shtib? Vi iz mayn mishpokhe, vus ikh hob azoy lib? Nishtu shoyn dus gesl, tsebrokhn di shtib farbrent mayn mishpokhe vus ikh hob azoy lib. Nishtu shoyn dus gesl, tsebrokhn di shtib, farbrent mayn mishpokhe vus ikh hob azoy lib.
Where is my street? Where is my house? Where is my family that I onced loved? The street is no more.The house is broken. Burned up is the family that I loved so much.
Vi zenen di zingendike, tantsndike kinder? Vi zenen zey ale atsinder? Tserisn, tseshtokn, tsetsoygn. Der mamen, der mamen, der mamen in di oygn. Tserisn, tseshtokn, tsetsoygn. Der mamen, der mamen, der mamen in di oygn.
Where are the singing, dancing children? Where are they now? Torn, stabbed and pulled apart in their mothers’, their mother’s eyes.
Vi iz di shil? mitn gildenem orn-koydesh? Der shabes, der yontif? rosh-khoydesh? Farbrent iz di shil, farbrent oykh di sforim; fun gantsn shtetl, geblibn iz bloyz kvorim. farbrent iz di shil, farbrent oykh di sforim, fun gantsn shtetl, geblibn iz bloyz kvorim.
Where is the synagogue with the golden Holy Ark? The sabbath? The holiday? The beginning of each month? The synagogue is burned down, as well as the holy books. Of the whole town, only graves remain.
Gekumen iz der tug far nekume far dem blut far yedern gesl, far yederer shtub. Ot iz der tug – azoy zet er oys. Ober der khezbn, der khesbn iz tsu groys. Ot iz der tug – azoy zet er oys. ober der khezhbn, der khesbn iz tsu groys.
The day for revenge has come for this blood, for every street, for every house. The day has come – this is how it looks. But the reckoning, the reckoning is too great.
געזונגען און באַאַרבעט פֿון מלכּה און יוסף לובעלסקי
רעקאָרדירט פֿון אַבֿרהם לובעלסקי, בראָנקס 1967
?וווּ איז דאָס געסעלע? וווּ איז די שטוב ?וווּ איז מײַן משפּחה, וואָס איך האָב אַזוי ליב ,נישטאָ שוין דאָס געסל, צעבראָכן די שטוב .פֿאַרברענט מײַן משפּחה וואָס איך האָב אַזוי ליב ,נישטאָ שוין דאָס געסל, צעבראָכן די שטוב .פֿאַרברענט מײַן משפּחה וואָס איך האָב אַזוי ליב
?וווּ זענען די זינגענדיקע, טאַנצנדיקע קינדער ?וווּ זענען זיי אַצינדער ,צעריסן, צעשטאָכן און צעצויגן .דער מאַמען, דער מאַמען, דער מאַמען אין די אויגן ,צעריסן, צעשטאָכן און צעצויגן .דער מאַמען, דער מאַמען, דער מאַמען אין די אויגן
?וווּ איז די שיל מיטן גילדענעם אָרון־קודש ?דער שבת? דער יום־טובֿ? ראש־חודש .פֿאַרברענט איז די שיל, פֿאַרברענט אויך די ספֿרים .פֿון גאַנצן שטעטל געבליבן בלויז קבֿרים
The third line of this short children’s song was difficult to understand, but thanks to Yiddish teacher and researcher Eliezer Niborski, I believe we have the complete correct version.
A ben-zokher (“zukher” in LSW’s dialect) is a ritual on the Friday night following the birth of a boy. At the home of the new born, the parents serve guests and relatives wine and fruit. The phrase “ben zokher” is from Jeremiah 20:15. See Hayyim Schauss’ description of the tradition in his work The Lifetime of a Jew.
“Wedding” by Issachar Ber Ryback, c. 1930
Niborski also found the ben-zokher – bokher rhyme in two other sources. One in a children’s song that Ruth Rubin sings, “Tate, tate, gey afn ben-zukher”, as heard at YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive. The second he found in the essay by I. L. Peretz “Dos yidishe lebn loytn yidishn folkslid” (“Jewish Life as Depicted in Yiddish Folksong”)
Special thanks to Eliezer Niborski and the Ruth Rubin Archive at the YIVO Sound Archive.
Zay zhe mir gezint, zay zhe mir gezint / Fare thee well, fare thee well. A version of “Di goldene pave”, sung by Lifshe Schaecter-Widman (LSW), recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is LSW’s version of the old and popular song more commonly called “Di gildene/goldene pave”, the “Golden Peacock”. It seems that the song gave rise to the golden peacock as a symbol referring to Yiddish folksong and Yiddish artistic creativity in general.
Illustration by Shirley Knoring
The peacock, needless to say, has been a cross-cultural symbol for millenia. On her blog “Jewish Folk Songs” Batya Fonda discusses the various interpretations of the golden peacock and has transcribed and translated into English a couple of versions of the Yiddish folksong.
In YIVO’s Ruth Rubin Archive collection, Mary Michaels sings a version, recorded in 1956. Click here to listen.
More recently, Ruth Levin, accompanied by Alexei Belousov on guitar sings it on her recording Atlandish (2019):
LSW’s version makes no mention of the gildene pave, but a bird does remain as the central character along with the unhappy daughter/daughter-in-law. The line about having one hand appears in no other versions, and seems to me to be improvised at the moment of performance. The verses about “shver un shviger’s kest” and “a shlekhtn man” appear in all versions.
Interestingly, Moshe Beregovski pointed out the similarity of the melody of the song’s first line to a Ukrainian song (Old Jewish Folk Music, Slobin, p. 514) But LSW starts off the song with a different melody than other versions.
The song is included in many collections: to name a few with musical notation: Yidishe folks-lider, Beregovski and Fefer, 276-77; Die Schonsten Lieder Der OstJuden, Kaufmann, 80-81; Thesaurus of Hebrew Oriental Melodies, vol. 9, Idelsohn, #33, page 12; Jewish Folksongs from the Baltics, Karnes, p. 20-21; Mir trogn a gezang, Mlotek, 106-107.Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, Mlotek and Slobin, p. 45-46.; just text – Yidishe folkslider in rusland, Ginzburg and Marek, #264-265, p. 215 – 217
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Zay zhe mir gezint Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman
Zay zhe mir gezint, zay zhe mir gezint mayn tayere mame, Ekh fur fin dir avek Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn Kimen vel ekh mer nisht tsirik. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn Kimen vel ekh mer nisht tsirik.
Farewell, farewell, my dear mother. I am going away. Whether it will be good, whether it will be bad I will not be coming back.
Azoy vi s’iz biter mayn mame, miter A feygele oyf deym yam. A feygele oyf deym yam. Azoy i’ dekh biter, mayn mame, miter, az me hot a shlekhtn man.
Just as it is bitter mother dear, for a bird over the sea, so it is bitter mother dear to have a cruel husband.
Azoy vi s’iz biter, mayn tayere miter, a feygele in a fremd land. a feygele in a fremd land. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter az m’ot nor eyn hant. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter az men hot nor eyn hant.
Just as it’s bitter dear mother for a bird in a strange land, so it is bitter mother dear, when you have just one hand.
Azoy vi s’iz biter mayn tayere miter a feygele un a neyst. a feygele un a neyst. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter shver un shvigers kest. Azoy iz biter mayn mame, miter shver un shvigers kest.
Just as it’s bitter my dear mother a bird without a nest, so it is bitter my dear mother to live with my in-laws.
Zay mir gezint mayn tayere mame, ikh fur fun dir avek. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn. ikh vel nit kimen tsirik. Say es vet mir git zayn, say es vet mir shlekht zayn. Ikh kim nit mer tsurik.
Farewell, farewell my dear mother, I am going away. Whether it will go well for me, or go poorly, I will not be coming back.
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:
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:
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!”
Klezmob – the contemporary klezmorim of Tübingen, the setting of Kerner’s original text
Yiddish Song of the Week 