“Eyns, eyns ver veyst vos dos iz eyns?” Performed by Professor David Fishman

Eyns, eyns ver veyst vos dos iz eyns? / One, one, who knows one?
A Passover Song sung by Professor David Fishman in NYC. Recorded through internet by Itzik Gottsman, Austin TX. March 25, 2020

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

The Corona virus lockdown did not deter us from recording this gem for Passover. Fishman learned this from Rabbi Herschel Schacter Z’L (1917 – 2013), long time rabbi of the Mosholu Jewish Center in the Bronx.

Rabbi Herschel Schacter

This version has eight verses but on Wiki Source.org we found a version with more verses extending to thirteen. Here is the link which is only the text in Yiddish. 

In this Wiki Source version all the previous verses get repeated each time, paralleling other “Ekhod mi yodea” (“Who Knows One”) types of Passover songs such as “Mu asapru, mu adabru”.

Illustration of song “Who Knows One” by painter Shalom of Safed (1887-1980). Reprinted in: A Feast of History by Chaim Raphael. London and Jerusalem: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1972.

At the end of this post we have given the translated and translated extra five verses of the Wiki Source song. Fishman’s version in Yiddish is also given at the very end.

The ethnomusicologist Michael Lukin has sent us additional information on this song including a discussion of it in the Yiddish Forverts newspaper and a similar melody found in a Ukrainian song from the former Yugoslav region.

TRANSLITERATION

Fishman, spoken: “Dos iz a lid vos ikh ken fun mayne kinderyorn. Ikh hob dos gehert fun dem rov, Harav Schachter fun undzer shil. S’iz aza yidishe ‘Ekhod mi yodea'” (This is a song from my childhood. I heard it from Rabbi Schachter from our synagogue. It’s a Yiddish ‘Ekhod mi yodea’).

1) Eyns, eyns ver veyst vos dos iz eyns?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz eyns.
Eyns iz hakodesh borekh hu.
Der eybershter in himl. Eyner bistu!
Eyns iz hakodesh borekh hu.
Der Eybershter in himl. Eyner bistu!

2) Tsvey, tsvey ver veyst vos dos iz tsvey?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, un ikh zog dir zey.
Tsvey lukhes fun sapirshteyn,
Geshribn hot af zey Der Eybershter aleyn.
Tsvey lukhes fun sapirshteyn.
Geshribn hot af zey Der Eybershter aleyn.

3) Dray, dray ver veyst vos dos iz dray?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, un ikh zing zikh tsu derbay.
Dray oves zenen bay undz do.
Avrom, Yitskhok, Yankev zikhroyno livrokho.
Dray oves zenen bay undz do.
Avrom, Yitskhok, Yankev zikhroyno livrokho.

4) Fir, fir ver veyst vos dos iz fir?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, un ikh zog zey dir.
Fir imoes zenen bay undz do.
Sore, Rivke, Rokhl un Leyo.
Fir imoes zenen bay undz do.
Sore, Rivke, Rokhl un Leyo.

5) Finf, finf ver veyst vos dos iz finf?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz finf.
Di Toyre iz tseteylt af finef sforim.
Breyshis, Shmoys, Vayikro, Bamidbor un Devorim.
Di Toyre iz tseteylt af finf sforim.
Breyshis, Shmoys, Vayikro Bamidbor un Devorim.

6) Zeks, zeks ver veyst vos dos iz zeks?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz zeks..
Af zeks khalokim efn uf un ze:
iz bay undz tseteylt di Toyre-shebal-pe
Af zeks khalokim efn uf un ze:
iz bay undz tseteylt di Toyre-shebal-pe

7) Zibn, zibn ver veyst vos dos iz zibn?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz zibn.
Zeks teg a vokh arbetstu,
Der zibeter tog iz shabes, shtel zikh op un ru!
Zeks teg a vokh arbetstu.
Der zibeter tog iz shabes, shtel zikh op un ru!

8) Akht, akht ver veyst vos dos iz akht?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz akht.
Akht teg vert a yingl alt.
Makht men im a bris un er vert gemalt.
Akht teg vert a yingl alt.
Makht men im a bris un er vert gemalt.

TRANSLATION

One, one who knows what is one?
I know, I know, I know what is one.
One is Blessed be his name.
God in heaven. You are one!

Two, two, who knows what is two?
I know, I know and tell you thus.
Two tablets made of sapphire,
written by God himself.

Three, three who knows what is three?
I know, I know, and I sing along.
We have three patriarchs:
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, may their memory be blessed.

Four, four, who knows what is four?
I know, I know and I’ll tell you who they are.
We have four matriarchs.
Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah.

Five, five who knows what is five?
I know, I know, I know what is five.
The Torah is divided into five books:
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy

Six, six who knows what is six?
I know, I know, I know what is six.
Six divisions, open up and see:
that is how our oral Torah is divided.

Seven, seven, who knows what is seven?
I know, I know, I know what is seven.
Six days a week you are working.
The seventh day is Sabbath, take a break and rest.

Eight, eight who knows eight?
I know, I know, I know what is eight.
When a boy becomes eight days old
he has a bris and is circumcised.

WIKISOURCE VERSION With five additional verses

9) Nayn, nayn ver veyst vos dos iz nayn?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos iz nayn.
Nayn monatn vert ayngeshtelt
eyder a kind kumt af der velt.

Nine, nine, who knows what is nine?
I know, I know, I know what is nine.
It has been established that Nine months
must pass for a child to come into this world

10) Tsen, tsen ver veyst vos dos iz tsen?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos is tsen.
Oyf barg Sinai hot undzer Got
Undz gegebn di tsen gebot.

Ten, ten, who knows what is ten?
I know, I know, I know what is ten.
On Mount Sinai our God
gave us the ten commandments.

11) Elf, elf ver veyst vos dos iz elf?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos is elf.
Akhod oser lozt unz hern
Yoysefs kholem un di elf shtern.

Eleven, eleven, who knows what is eleven?
I know, I know, I know what is eleven.
Eleven teaches us –
Joseph’s dream and the eleven stars.

12) Tsvelf, tsvelf ver veyst vos dos iz tsvelf?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos is tsvelf.
Yankevs kinder fun dor tsu dor.
Di tsvelf shvotim un Ruven iz der bkhor.

Twelve, twelve, who knows what is twelve?
I know, I know, I know what is twelve.
Jacob’s children from generation to generation:
the twelve tribes and Reuben is the oldest.

13) Draytsn, draytsn ver veyst vos dos iz draytsn?
Ikh veys, ikh veys, ikh veys vos dos is draytsn.
A Got fun rakhmones iz undzer boyre.
Draytsn mides lernt undz di Toyre.

Thirteen, thirteen who knows what is thirteen?
I know, I know, I know what is thirteen.
A God of mercy is our creator:
thirteen attributes teaches us the Torah.

“S’iz shvarts in himl” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

S’iz shvarts in himl / The Sky is Black by Avrom Goldfaden
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman.
Recorded by Leybl Kahn, Bronx 1954

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman: 

This song about Rebecca in the Bible is a folklorized version of a song written by Avrom Goldfaden. It appears, text only, in his volume Dos yidele, where it is called “Rivkes toyt” (Rebecca’s Death, see scans below). Before the poem, Goldfaden gives this introduction:

In the midrash it says: When Rebecca died, they had to bury her at night so that Esau would not see and follow her to the burial. For if he did so, she would be cursed for having such a son. Jacob had run away to Horon and Isaac was too old. So no one accompanied her at her funeral. 

“Rebecca at the Well”, painting by Corot, 1839

The midrash addresses the question – why was Rebecca’s death not mentioned in the Torah?

Goldfaden was a master of creating songs that resonated with Yiddish folklore. Though this song is about Biblical figures, it resembles a typical Yiddish orphan song. The second line “S’iz a pakhed af der gas aroystsugeyn” (It is a fright to go out in the street) is the exact same as the second line in the ballad “Fintser glitshik shpeyt ba der nakht“, the first song ever presented on Yiddish Song of the Week. And the last line “Elnt blaybsti du vi a shteyn” (Alone you remain like a stone) is found in other Yiddish orphan songs. In this case, biblical Jacob is the orphan. LSW, in her slow, emotional and mournful style, sings this song about Biblical characters as if it reflected a contemporary, local tragedy.

Two textual changes worth noting:

1) Instead of Goldfaden’s “A mes, a mes” א מת, א מת  (A corpse, a corpse), Lifshe sings “emes, emes” (true, true) אמת אמת. which just by combining the two words into one word, changes the meaning completely. This reminds us of the Golem legend in which “emes” אמת [truth] was written on the Golem’s forehead, but when he was no longer needed, the rabbi wiped off the first letter, the alef א and the Golem became dead מת

2) LSW sings “miter Rukhl” (mother Rachel) instead of “miter Rivke” (mother Rebecca). This can be explained, I believe, by the fact that the appellation “muter/miter Rukhl” is far more common than “muter Rivke”. I  did a Google Search in Yiddish to compare both and “muter Rukhl” won 453 – 65. The Yiddish folksinger would have found the phrase “muter Rivke” strange to the ear. In addition, the matriarch Rachel also had an unusual burial: she was buried far from home, on the road to Efrat, and therefore all alone, as Rebecca.

In the papers of the YIVO Ethnographic Commission there is a version of the song collected in the 1920s or 1930s, singer, collector and town unknown. There too the singer changed “a mes” to “emes” but sang Rivke not Rukhl.

TRANSLITERATION

S’iz shvarts in himl me zeyt nit kayn shtern.
S’iz a pakhid af der gas aroystsugeyn.
Shvartse volkn gisn heyse trern
un der vint, er bluzt mit eyn geveyn.

Emes, emes, ersht nisht lang geshtorbn.
Etlekhe mentshn geyen trit ba trit.
Me trugt deym toytn, ersht a frishn korbn:
indzer miter Rukhl, ver ken zi nit?

Yankl iz dekh fin der heym antlofn.
Er shluft dekh dort af deym altn shteyn.
Shtey of di yusem! Di host dekh shoyn keyn mame nisht.
Elnt blabsti du vi a shteyn.

TRANSLATION

The sky is black, no stars can be seen.
It’s a fright to go out in the street.
Black clouds gush hot tears
and the wind blows with a great cry.

True, true she died not long ago.
Several people walked step by step.
They carry the deceased, a fresh sacrifice:
our mother Rukhl, who doesn’t know her?

Jacob had run away from home.
He sleeps on that old rock.
Wake up you orphan! You no longer have a mother.
You remain alone like a stone.

From Goldfadn’s Dos yidele, 1891: