Kale lebn, kale lebn A badkhn parody sung by Dora Libson Recorded by Lionel Libson, 1977
Transcribed by Eliezer Niborski, English translation by Itzik Gottesman.
Kale-lebמ, kale-lebn Kale-lebn, kale-lebn, Meyn darfsti veynen un shrayen. Az zolst hobn aza velt azoy zis vi borsht fun klayen. Un zolst darfn geyn borgn un layen. Un zolst keyn mol nit aroys funem rov un funem dayen.
Dear bride, dear bride, You should cry and scream some more. You should have a world so sweet as borsht made with bran. You should rely on borrowing and lending. And may you never get out from the rabbi and his assistant.
Oy, a ber un a shver un a shlimazelnitse zenen dokh oykhet darbay. A ber hot a langn veydl un a shver hot lib a sheyn meydl. Un az a shlimezalnitse geyt in mark – fardripet zi dus kleydl.
Oy, a bear and a father-in-law and an unlucky woman are also present. A bear has a long tail, and a father-in-law loves a pretty girl. And when an unlucky woman goes to market she spatters her dress
Oy, a bukher un a meydl un a shlimezalnitse zenen dokh oykhet darbay. A bukher az er geyt avek heyst men zikh im nit (h)aylen. un a meydl, az zi geyt avek heyst men zikh ir nit zamen. Un az me shikt a shlimezalnitse nokh fleysh brengt zi plyamen.
Oy, a young man and girl and an unlucky woman are present as well. A young men when he leaves is told not to hurry and a girl, when she leaves is told not to wait. And when you send an unlucky woman to buy meat she comes back with stains.
In the spirit of Purim this week, we present a parody of a badkhn’s bazetsns. Before the ceremony of veiling the bride, the wedding entertainer, the badkhn, used to address the bride, reminding her of the youth that she leaves behind and how to lead an observant Jewish life with her husband. Sometimes the rhymes would be a stretch, almost non-sensical and that is at the heart of the parodies.
I believe the repeated lines in our parody “…are also present” are mocking the lines of the badkhn when he reminds the bride that although her parents or grandparents may have died, they are with her today at this happy occassion.
The badkhn parodies are usually of the bazetsns, the seating, and the badekns, the veiling; two emotional moments before the marriage under the khupe/canopy. The bazetsns is strickly a women’s ceremony, except for the badkhn, and a time of much weeping. I have added below two pages from Hayyim Schauss’s work The Lifetime of a Jew (1976) in which he discusses these moments at the wedding. Schauss was a Litvak from Lithuania so much of what he describes is particularly true of his region. It is worth reading.
This is a link to a “real” badekns, not a parody, as sung by Majer Bogdanski, born 1912 in Piotrkow-Tribunalsky, Poland, from the CD Yiddish songs / Yiddishe liders:
One can also see the badkhn perform in such Yiddish films “Yidl mitn fidl” “Uncle Moses” and “The Dybbuk”. The badkhn tradition has made a comeback in today’s Hasidic world and many examples can be found on YouTube. As far as I can tell, they have become mainly comics, and do not paricipate in other wedding ceremonies.
To get a feel for the type of music that might be played at the bazetsn, here is violinist Jutta Bogen playing an example (from Pete- this one has the structue of a Romanian doina):
Many such bazetsn/ badekn parodies were recorded on 78 RPMs in the 1910s- 1930s, and even later. Here is Henri Gerro’s Kolomeyer badchn. The badkhones parody begins at 1:00.
Further reading on the badkhn:
1) Article by Joel Rosenberg “Badkhones in Life and Cinema” on the website In geveb 2) “Badkhonim” in the YIVO Encyclopedia by Jean Baumgarten. 3) Book: הבדחן (in Hebrew) by Ariela Krasney
Special thanks this week to Eliezer Niborski who transcribed the recording.
Excerpt from Hayyim Schauss’s work The Lifetime of a Jew (1976):
Tort un vayn / Cake and wine
A Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” sung by Tillie Fishman, recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg , Baltimore, 1979
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
This is a Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s song “Pie in the Sky” originally called “The Preacher and the Slave”. Here is Cisco Houston’s version of the Joe Hill song.
Joe Hill
Joe Hill (1879 – 1915) was a labor activist , songwriter and member of the IWW – Industrial Workers of the World. He was executed for the murder of a grocer and his son in Utah, despite international protests and appeals for clemency. His memory has been preserved in the song “Joe Hill” which was recorded by Paul Robeson, Joan Baez, among others.
Hill’s song was itself a parody of the Christian hymn “Sweet Bye and Bye” written in 1868. Here is country singer, Loretta Lynn with her version of the original hymn.
This Yiddish version of Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” appeared in the songbook Mit gezang tsum kamf, songs composed and arranged by Jacob Schaeffer, 1932. Fishman sings two verses, but the songbook has five.It does not say who translated or adapted the songs. We are attaching the music, the Yiddish text from that book, and including below a transcription of the longer version found in Schaeffer’s book. In Schaeffer’s collection the song is called “Der prister un der nar” (“The Priest and the Fool”).
Did you know that Ethel Raim, Yiddish singer and teacher, founder and artistic director emeritus of CTMD,composed a melody to “Joe Hill’s Last Will”? You can find it in the magazine “Sing Out!”, volume 11, #3, p. 29.
Special thanks with help for this week’s post to Emily Socolov.
TRANSLITERATION (Tillie Fishman’s version)
“Prist” un “preacher” haltn droshes umetum.
Vus me zugt undz, heyst men indz zayn frum. Es mont der galakh un es shtroft der rov.
Zol shoyn nemen tsi di tsores a sof.
Refrain
Me redt undz ayn es vet zayn. Es vet zayn.
In gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn. Broyt un vayn. Un dervayl shteyt in “line”. Es vet zayn
in gan-eyden tort un vayn; tort un vayn!
Fun dem eltstn biz dem klenstn kind,
vus me zogt im, zogt men as s’iz zind.
Es shtruft der galakh un es munt der rov.
Zol shoyn nemen tsu di tsores a sof.
Refrain
Me redt undz ayn es vet zayn. Es vet zayn
In gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn. Broyt un vayn. Un dervayl shteyt in “line”. Es vet zayn
in gan-eyden tort un vayn; tort un vayn!
TRANSLATION
Priest and preacher give speeches everywhere.
They are always saying that we should be religious.
The priest demands, the rabbi punishes. May an end to our troubles come soon.
Refrain
They assure us that there will be, in heaven fresh bread and wine. Bread and wine.
In the meantime get in line. There will be
in heaven cake and wine. Cake and wine.
From the oldest to the smallest child,
They are told that everything is a sin. The priest punishes and the rabbi demands.
May an end to our troubles come soon.
Refrain
They assure us that there will be, there will be, in heaven fresh bread and wine. Bread and wine.
In the meantime get in line. There will be
in heaven cake and wine. Cake and wine.
TRANSLITERATION OF SCHAEFFER VERSION
Pristers haltn droshes umetum
In Gots nomen heyst men undz zayn frum.
Laydn mir hunger, laydn mir noyt. Viln mir esn, monen mir broyt.
Refrain:
Redt men undz ayn es vet zayn in gan-eydn frishe broyt un vayn un dervayl shteyt in “layn”, Es vet zayn in gan-eydn tort un vayn.
Eyder mir derzen a por sent
rayst men es oys fun undzere hent. Prist un pritsher, yeder shvindler nemt
biz men tut undz oys dos letste hemd.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Shafn far raykhe un nit far zikh.
Shteyt men in “layn” far der tir bay der kikh.
Fresn di raykhe, s’platst zey der boykh. Volt men darlangt khotsh a bisl undz oykh.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Fun dem grestn biz dem klentstn kind
vos mir tuen af der erd iz zind.
Shtroft der galakh un es mont der rov.
un beshas mir tsoln undzer shtrof.
REFRAIN: Redt men undz ayn…
Joe Hill’s “Pie in the Sky” in the songbook Mit gezang tsum kamf, songs composed and arranged by Jacob Schaeffer, 1932
Reb Tsudek Sung by Itzik Gottesman, recorded Nov 2018, Austin TX
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
I was asked to post the song “Reb Tsudek” as sung by the Yiddish poet Martin Birnbaum. He sang it to Michael Alpert and me in 1984-85 in NYC. But, alas, I cannot find the original recording so I have recorded it myself.
Birnbaum was born in 1905 in Horodenke when it was Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian empire. Now it is in the Ukraine – Horodenka. According to a NY Times obituary he came to the US in 1923 and died in 1986. In the YIVO Institute’s Ruth Rubin Legacy Archive, Birnbaum sings four songs but not this one. Those recordings were done in 1964.
I believe there is more Yiddish folklore to be discovered about this shlimazel (bad luck) character Reb Tsudek. When I asked the Yiddish poet Yermye Hescheles about him he affirmed that there was such a comic figure in Galicia, where both he and Birnbaum were from.
The song mocks the Hasidic lifestyle – absurd devotion to the rebbe, irresponsibility, staying poor. The word “hiltay” – defined by the dictionaries as “libertine” “skirt-chaser” “scoundrel” – is really a cue that this is a 19th century maskilic, anti-Hasidic, song. The word is often used in such songs. The humor also hinges on the double meaning of tsimbl both as a musical instrument (a hammered dulcimer) and as a verb – “to thrash or scold someone”.
A tsimblist, about to be thrashed by his wife.
(courtesy Josh Horowitz)
In the song two towns are mentioned: Nay Zavalek remains a mystery but Grudek, west of Lviv, is Grodek in Polish and Horodok in Ukrainian.
Here is a clip of Michael Alpert singing the song, with Pete Rushefsky on tsimbl, Jake Shulman-Ment on violin and Ethel Raim singing at the Smithsonian Folkife Festival in Washington D.C., 2013:
TRANSLITERATION
Fort a yid keyn Nay-zavalek,
direkt bizn in Grudek.
Fort a yid tsu zayn rebn – Reb Tsudek.
Tsudek iz a yid, a lamden.
Er hot a boykh a tsentn,
Un s’iz bakant, az er ken shpiln
of ale instrumentn.
Shpilt er zikh derbay (2x)
Fort a yid keyn Nay-zavalek
direkt bizn in Grudek.
Oy vey z’mir tatenyu!
Fort a yid keyn Nay-Zavalek
direkt bizn in Grudek.
Oy vey z’mir tatenyu!
Un Reb Tsudek, er zol lebn,
hot gehat a gutn shabes.
Tsudek hot gekhapt shirayem,
mit beyde labes.
Aheymgebrakht hot er zayn vaybl
a zhmenye meyern-tsimes.
Un dertsu, oy vey iz mir,
a tsimbl un strines.
“Hiltay vus iz dus!” (2x)
Oy hot zi getsimblt Tsudek
fun Zavalek bizn in Grudek.
Oy vey z’mir tatenyu!
Oy hot zi getsimblt Tsudek
fun Zavalek bizn in Grudek.
Oy vey z’mir tatenyu!
TRANSLATION
A man travels to Nay-Zavalek,
directly until Grudek.
The man is traveling to his rabbi,
Mister Tsudek.
Tsudek is a learned man,
and has a belly that weighs ten tons.
And everyone knows that he can play
on all the instruments.
So he plays as he travels –
A man travels to Nay-Zavalek
directly until Grudek,
Oh my, dear God!
A man travels to Nay-Zavalek
directly until Grudek,
Oh my, dear God!
And Reb Tsudek, may he be well,
had a good Sabbath.
Tsudek caught the Rebbe’s holy leftovers
with both paws [large, rough hands].
For his wife he brought home
a handful of carrot – tsimmes,
and in addition – oh no! –
a tsimbl with no strings.
Scoundrel! what is this? (2x)
Boy did she thrash Tsudek
from Zavalek until Grudek
Oh my, dear God.
Boy did she thrash Tsudek
from Zavalek unti Grudek
Oh my, dear God
Az se kimen un di heylike sikes-teg / When the Holy Sukkoth Days Arrive Performance by Khave Rosenblatt, Recorded by Beyle Gottesman, Jerusalem 1975
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman
I have not yet found an author/composer of this song but to my mind, it hearkens back to the Broder zingers, the Singers of Brody, the Jewish wandering performers of comic, parodic skits and songs of the nineteenth century. Khave Rosenblatt remembered that she learned the song in Chernovitz, the capital of Bukovina where the Broder Singers often performed in the wine cellars. She also recalled hearing it sung by the Yiddish writer, critic Shloyme Bikl. Rosenblatt’s stellar interpretation turns this song into a little masterpiece.
The motif of a goat eating the covering on the roof of the sukkah is most famously known through Sholem-Aleichem’s short story “Shoyn eyn mol a sukkah” [What a sukkah!], in the volume Mayses far yidishe kinder [Tales for Jewish children].
Sukkot, Opatów (Apt), Poland, 1920s, as remembered by Mayer Kirshenblatt
This is the third song of Khave Rosenblatt that we have posted from the recording session with Beyle Gottesman and a couple of more will be added later. At the same time as this recording (1975/1976) Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett recorded Rosenblatt for the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife Research in preparation for the Bicentennial Festival of American Folklife in 1976 in D.C. This recording can be found on the website of the National Library of Israel (search: חוה רוזנבלט ). Israel was the featured country for the “Old Ways” in the New World section at the festival.
Special thanks to David Braun and Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett for this week’s post.
TRANSLITERATION
Az se kimen un di heylike sikes-teyg
kimt mir afn rayen.
Vi s’hot farmosert indzer sikele
Reb Shloymele der dayen.
Oy, az se kimen un di heylike sikes-teg
kimt mir afn rayen.
Vi s’hot geosert indzer sikele
Reb Shloymele der dayen.
Oy indzer dayen indzerer –
a lekhtiker gan-eydn im.
Hot eymetser farmosert
az in indzer sike indzerer gefoln tsifil zinen-shayn, nu?
Hot er zi geosert.
A sike, zugt er, an emes kusher yidishe
darf zayn a tinkele, darf zayn a fintsere
eyn shtral lekht makht nit oys.
Ober di zin zol shaynen khitspedik?! – fe!
Si’z gurnit yidish.
Az se kimen un di heylike sikes-teg
kimt mir afn rayen,
ven se heybt zikh on dos shpiln nis
in hoyf bay Yankl-Shayen
Oy, az se kimen un di heylike sikes-teg
volt geveyn a khayes,
ven me lozt indz nor tsiri
in hoyf bay Yankl-Shayes.
A yid, a beyzer, vu’ dus iz.
S’geyt im on, me shpilt in nis.
Hot er zikh lib tsi krign.
Staytsh! Me shpilt zikh far zayn tir
un krimt zikh nokh zayn shnir
vus nokh?
Men izbovet im di tsign.
“Un tsign” zugt er “tur men nisht zatshepenen
in di yontif-teg deroyf
ven di sike shteyt in mitn hoyf.
A hint, a kots topn di vont
ober a tsig!?
Aza min vilde zakh vus shtshipet un
dem gantsn skhakh
un lozt di sike un a dakh!
Fe! Hiltayes! Nit zatshepen!
TRANSLATION
When the holy Sukkoth days arrive,
this is what comes to mind –
How our sukkah was denounced
by Reb Shloymele the rabbi’s assistant.
When the Holy Sukkoth days arrive
this is what comes to mind –
How are sukkah was deemed unkosher
by Reb Shloymele the rabbi’s assistant.
Oy, our rabbi’s assistant,
may he have a bright paradise.
Someone denounced our sukkah to him because
too much sunshine fell inside, nu?
So he deemed it unkosher.
“A sukkah” says he “a true, kosher Jewish one
should be dark, should be dim.
One ray of light doesn’t matter
but if the sun should impudently shine in – Fe!
That’s not the Jewish way at all.”
When the holy Sukkoth days arrive,
this is what comes to mind –
The beginning of playing nuts
in the yard of Yankl-Shaye.
Oy, when the holy Sukkoth days arrive,
We could have had so much fun,
if they would only leave us alone
in the yard of Yank-Shaye.
A mean man (what’s the matter with him?!)
that gets upset when we play nuts,
and likes to quarrel with us.
“What’s going on!? Playing nuts on my doorstep
and mocking my daughter-in-law”
What else?
We were ruining his goats.
“And goats” he says “should not be bothered
during the holidays especially when
the sukkah is standing in the middle of the yard.
A dog, a cat will just touch the walls but a goat!
Such a wild thing that grazes
on the covering on the roof.
Fe! You with no morals, leave them alone!”
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.
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!
A tsimblist, about to be thrashed by his wife.
Yiddish Song of the Week 