“Shabes nukh dem kigel” Performed by Malka Lubelski

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

,צוויי אָפּגעגלאַנצטע שטיוול
,דאָס היטל אין אַ זײַט
,ער איז אַן אויסגעדינטער
.פֿאַרדינט און איז אַ לײַט

באַלד נאָך דעם עסן
.גייען מיר פּאַזע טײַך
עס זענען אונדז מקנא
.סײַ אָרעם און סײַ רײַך

,איך טראָג אַ נײַ קליידל,
.צוויי אויסגעקעמטע צעפּ
איך בין אַ שיין מיידל
.און איך פֿאַרדריי די קעפּ

 נאָר אים ליב איך
.און ער האָט דאָס ווערט
,ער איז דער שענסטער בחור
.דער שענסטער אויף דער ערד

ער זאָגט ער וועט מיך נעמען
.און שטעלן אַ חופּה אויך
,אָ, קלעזמער וועלן שפּילן
.אוי, אַז ס’וועט גיין אַ רויך

און מײַן מאַדאַם וועט שענקען
.צוויי קישן און אַ קלייד
אוי, וועט זײַן אַ שׂימחה
.אוי, וועט זײַן אַ פֿרייד

מאַשקע וועט מען טרינקען
.וויפֿל ס’וועט אַרײַן
און שבת נאָך דעם קוגל
.קומט מײַן מאַדאַם צו גיין

From Broder zinger (1960) by Shlomo Pryzament, p. 86-87:

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“In a fektori lebn a mashin” Performed by Mary Roten

In  a fektori lebn a mashin (Khane, hayret mit mir) / In a Factory, Near a Machine (Hannah, Marry Me)
Sung by Mary Roten  (1900 – 1993), recorded by Gertrude Nitzberg in 1979, Baltimore, Maryland

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

“Khane Hayrat mit mir” is a typical song from the Yiddish theater of the 1910s when Mary Roten learned it. She sings it in a “Litvish” dialect – “em” instead of “im”, “farfleygn” instead of “farfloygn”  “di land” instead of “dos land” etc.

I have not yet found the composer, author or possible play where it was performed but I would bet the melody is taken from a popular American tune of the time period. Does anyone recognize it?

Photograph from the Jewish Museum of Maryland

The singer Mary Roten was born in 1900 and died in 1993. In the above photograph she is teaching her nursery class at the Baltimore Jewish Educational Alliance, circa 1930. 

The recording of this song was done by Gertrude Nitzberg who donated the recording to the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland, now part of the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Nitzberg was a teacher and collector of Yiddish folksongs, stories and life history. For more on Gertrude Nitzberg read her obituary here.

Nitzberg was 81 years old when she died in 2000.  In the Museum description of the collection, it mentions 20 tapes of field-recordings of singers. 

Note on the words to “Khane, heyrat mit mir”:
“Mashin” means sewing machine.
“COD” means Cash on Delivery
“Operator” = sewing machine operator

TRANSLITERATION

In a fektori lebn a mashin,
zitst a yunger-man,
in der land iz er grin.
Lebn em zitst a yunge meydele,
shtendik zi neyt.
Un zi trakht vegn dem operaterl
vos zingt ir dos lid:

Refrain:

Khane, heyrat mit mir.
Ales vel ikh ton far dir.
Mir veln lebn, sheyn, a prakht.
Ikh vel arbetn shver tog un nakht
far mayn frumer Khanele. 

Yorn hobn farfleygn,
heyrat hobn zey.
Got hot zey geshonken
mit kinderlekh tsvey.
Yetst haltn zey a “biznes” [ business],
a kleyn “groseri.”  [grocery]
un farkeyfn tsu ale kustomers
by COD. 

Fraytik tsu nakht
zitsndik baym tish,
iber di lange lokshn,
un iber di gefilte fish,
zogt zi tsu em:
“Tsi gedenkstu di tsayt ven
du host gezungen dos lid?”.

Refrain:

Khane, heyrat mit mir.
Ales vel ikh ton far dir.
Mir veln lebn, sheyn, a prakht.
Ikh vel arbetn shver tog un nakht
far mayn frumer Khanele. 

TRANSLATION

In a factory, near a machine,
sits a young man,
in this land he is “green”.
Next to him sits a girl
who always is sewing.
And she thinks about the operator
who sings her this song:

Refrain:

Khane, marry me.
I will do everything for you.
We will live wonderfully, a wonder.
I will work hard all day and night.
For my pious Khanele. 

Years flew by;
they were married.
God gave them a gift
of two children.
Now they have a business,
a little grocery store.
And all the customers pay
COD [cash on delivery]

Friday night, sitting at the table,
with the long noodles and with gefilte fish,
she says to him:
“Do you remember when
you sang me this song?”

Refrain:

Khane, heyrat mit mir.
Ales vel ikh ton far dir.
Mir veln lebn, sheyn, a prakht.
Ikh vel arbetn shver tog un nakht
far mayn frumer Khanele. 

“Iz Reyzele a meydl” Performed by Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman

Iz Reyzele a meydl
Reyzele is a Girl
Performance by Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman
Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

A student at University of Texas at Austin, Brooke Fallek video recorded her grandmother, Chaya Fiyzerman Friedman (b. 1929, Vilna) in New Jersey, Fall 2014, singing this song about a toy donkey (eyzele) which she learned by sneaking into the Yiddish theater in the Vilna ghetto.

Picture of a Jewish girl in Poland, 1930s

Fallek writes about her grandmother –  “Her mother hid her in a knapsack at the time of the selection at the closing of the ghetto. They were sent to the Stutthof concentration camp in Latvia. She had to hide in camp since she was a child and should have died A Nazi soldier found her and took a liking to her – he had a daughter her age.

Both she and her mother survived and went to Berlin after the war to a Displaced Persons camp. She came to New York, attended high school and married David Friedman – also a partisan survivor, in 1950. They were married for 53 years until his death. They have 3 children and 8 grandchildren.”

Iz Reyzl a meydl, a shtiferke a bren.
Hot Reyzl in a fentster an eyzele derzen.
Vert Reyzl tsetumlt, zi vil an eyzele vos lakht.
Hot papa ir anumlt fun yard aza gebrakht.

Ay, ay ay Reyzele hot zi an eyzele
mit fislekh kurtsinke, oyern lang.
A kvetsh a knepele, rirt zikh dos kepele,
Shoklen un viglen zikh af yo un neyn.

Oy, an umglik hot getrofn
shloft Reyzl nisht bay nakht.
Der eyzl iz tsebrokhn
iz Reyzl umgebrakht.

Ay, ay ay Reyzele,
hot gehat an eyzele.
mit fislekh kurtsinke, oyern lang.

Reyzl, a girl full of mischief and zeal.
Suddenly spotted in the window a donkey.
So Reyzl gets excited – she wants a laughing donkey.
So papa brought her one from the fair.

Ay, ay, ay Reyzele has a little donkey,
with short legs and big ears.
Push a button and the head moves,
and shakes and rocks to say yes and no.

Oy a catastrophe happened;
Reyzl can’t sleep at night.
The donkey is broken,
so Reyzl got upset.*
[*umgebrakht usually means “killed”, perhaps “oyfgebrakht” is what she meant?]

Ay, ay, ay Reyzele
once had a donkey.
with short legs
and long ears.

There are two professional recordings of this song, one by the singer and collector, Lea Szlanger in Israel on her LP “A Nig’n After My Heart – Mayn eygener nigun”. In Szlanger’s version the donkey “eyzele” becomes a rabbit “heyzele” (thanks to Lea Szlanger for sending the recording and words.)

Transliteration/Translation of Lea Szlanger’s performance:

Iz Reyzele a meydl, a shtiferke a bren.
Hot Reyzele in fentster a hezele derzen.
Un Reyzele zi vil nor, a hezele vos lakht.
Hot ir der foter fun yarid a hezele gebrakht.

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, hot zi a hezele
mit lange oyerlekh un fislkeh kleyn.
A kvetsh a knepele, shoklt zikh dos kepele;
Shoklt zikh un vigt zikh – yo, yo un neyn.

Men tut a kvetsh a knepele hert zikh a gezang.
Oyfn haldz a glekele, klingt es gling, glang, glang.
Dan fregt zikh Reyzele far vos dos hezele
hot fislekh kurtsinke un oyern lang?

Zi tsertlt im un tulyet; zi shloft mit im bay nakht.
Zi kusht im un zi haldzt im un Reyzele zi lakht.
Un kinderlekh in droysn fun Reyzelen makhn shpot
“Zet nor, zet nor sara groysn heyzl reyzl hot”

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, hot zi a heyzele
mit lange oyerlekh un fislekh kleyn.
A kvetsh a knepele, shoklt zikh dos kepele;
Shoklt zikh un vigt zikh yo, yo un neyn.

Men tut a kvetsh a knepele hert zikh a gezang.
Oyfn haldz a glekele, klingt es gling, glang, glang.
Dan fregt zikh Reyzele far vos dos heyzele
hot fislekh kurtsinke un oyern lang?

Reyzele is a girl, a scamp, a dynamo.
Reyzele saw a rabbit in the window.
And Reyzele, she only wants a rabbit that laughs.
So her father brought her a rabbit from the fair.

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, has a rabbit
with long ears and little legs.
Push a button and the head rocks,
Nods and rocks – yes, yes and no.

Just push a button and you hear a song.
On her throat a little bell that rings -gling, glang, glang.
Then Reyzele asks herself why does this rabbit
have such short legs and big ears?

She caresses it and cradles it; she sleeps with it at night.
She kisses it and embraces it and Reyzele, she laughs.
And children outside make fun of Reyzele –
“Just look what a big rabbit Reyzl has!”

Oy, oy, oy Reyzele, has a rabbit
with long ears and little legs.
Push a button and the head rocks,
Nods and rocks – yes, yes and no.

Just push a button and you hear a song.
On her throat a little bell that rings -gling, glang, glang.
Then Reyzele asks herself why does this rabbit
have such short legs and big ears?

The second recording of the song is by Henny Durmashkin on her LP  “Lider tsu gedenken” – “Songs to Remember” (thanks to Lorin Sklamberg of the YIVO Sound Archives for sending the mp3 and LP cover with photo of singer and biographical information – click image to enlarge). Her version is very close to Szlanger’s.

Durmashkin was also from Vilna; her father Wolf Durmashkin was a Vilna conductor before the war and in the ghetto. Henny’s sister Fanny Durmashkin accompanies her on piano. A film on these remarkable sisters was made in 2007 – “Creating Harmony: the Displaced Persons Orchestra at St. Otillien.” An article from the New Jersey Jewish Standard tells the story.

A shortened printed version of the song appears in the Parisian collection, 1948  – “Mir zingen” published by Gezelshaft kinder-fraynt, p. 109. An even shorter recorded version is found in the Ben Stonehill collection.

So this song about a rocking toy donkey (or rabbit) is clearly from Vilna/Vilnius, 1930s or perhaps created in the ghetto; but the author and composer are unknown. Fiyzerman sings a verse, or part of a third verse, that the other versions do not include, about the toy being broken.

“Shluf mayn kind in a gliklekhn shluf” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Shluf mayn kind in a gliklekhn shluf
Performance by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW)
Recorded by Leybl Kahn, Bronx, NY, 1954

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

This song smells, tastes and sounds like an Avrom Goldfaden (1840 – 1908) song from one of his plays, but I cannot find the original text yet. The sentimentality, the lament of the Jew in the Diaspora – all are in the style of the “father of the modern Yiddish theater”. Goldfaden had a talent for composing a memorable lullaby, as in Rozhinkes mit mandlen and as we see here. LSW sings this powerfully with her slow, emotional style.

Chernovitz,Romania 1937: from left – Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman, cousin Lusye (Gottesman) Buxbaum, brother Mordkhe Schaechter, mother Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (Beyle’s mother), father Binyumin Schaechter, grandmother Taube Gottesman.

As usual, the transliteration reflects LSW’s Yiddish dialect more accurately than the words in Yiddish.

Shluf mayn kind in a gliklekhn shluf.
Shulf, inter mayn lid.
Di bist nokh tsi ying tsi erfiln dayn shtruf.
Derfar vayl di bist a yid.

Sleep my child, sleep happily.
Sleep under my song. 
You are still too young to complete (carry out) your punishment.
Because you are a Jew.

Shluf zhe kindele, shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.
Shluf zhe kindele, shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.

Sleep my little child sleep.
You will yet complete your punishment.
Sleep my little child, sleep.
You will yet complete your punishment.

Di vest geyn af der velt dayn broyt  fardinen.
Di vest geyn un vest vern mid.
Di vest farsheltn dem tug fin dayn geboyrn
Derfar vayl di trugst dem numen yid.

You will travel the world to earn your bread.
You will go and become tired.
You will curse the day of your birth,
Because you carry the name Jew.

Shluf zhe yingele, shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.
Shluf zhe yingele, shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.

Sleep my little boy sleep.
You will yet complete your punishment.
Sleep my little boy, sleep.
You will yet complete your punishment.

Oy libe mentshn ikh beyt aykh zeyer
tsu zingen dus lid, rifts mekh nit mer.
Vayl tsi zingen dus lid bin ikh shoyn mid.
Vayl ikh bin oykh a yid.

Oh dear people I beg of you,
if you want to sing this song, call me no longer.
Because I have grown tired of singing this song.
Because I too am a Jew.

Shluf zhe yingele shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.
Shluf zhe yingele, shluf
di vest nokh derfiln dayn shtruf.

Sleep my little boy sleep.
You will yet complete your punishment.
Sleep my little boy, sleep. 
You will yet complete your punishment. 

“Tsu dir, tsu dir dos glezele vayn” Performed by George (Getsl) Ribak

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

Singer George (Getsl) Ribak was born in Dvinsk, Latvia, and died in 1979 at age 93. He sang Yiddish songs in public at the local JCC.

George Getsl Ribak

The recording was made in the 1960s by Ribak’s granddaughter Cheryl Cohen of Sarasota, Florida. It is one of several songs sung by her family that Cohen sent to Bob Freedman (of the University of Pennsylvania’s Robert and Molly Freedman Jewish Music Archive), and Bob sent it to me.

I do not know this short drinking song, which Getsl Ribak sings with much gusto. According to Chana Mlotek, collector, YIVO archivist and author of Yiddish songbooks, the song originates from the early Yiddish stage, and she will write about this version in her next column in the Forverts newspaper.

Ribak’s melody and rhyming schemes seem a little off. In parentheses I wrote what I believed to be the “correct” ending, grammatical form or dialect pronunciation. Clearly “glik” should rhyme with “kik”, not “kuk” for example.

After the original posting, Cheryl Cohen wrote to provide some additional biographical information:

My grandfather George (Getsel) Ribak was born in Dvinsk, Latvia. He fled  before being drafted in the Czar’s Army to Capetown, South Africa. He became a British citizen while working  in the shoe making trade. He later fled to avoid the Boer War. He was in England, then in Canada, then finally to the United States. He lived with his wife Rose (Rochel Swirsky) in Chattanooga, TN, where he was in the meat market business. I think he also did house painting in Detroit. He and his wife finally settled in Bridgeport, Connecticut where he had a second hand clothing store. He would  take the train into New York and make his purchases there, I believe.

He and his wife raised 3 children, one of which was my mother. I remember spending weekends in their apartment, listening to WEVD, and seeing the Foverts newspaper.  He loved to sing songs in Yiddish, Hebrew, and English with me for fun but he really enjoyed performing at the Jewish Community Center in Bridgeport for various events. He was not a professional singer but had a very strong and pleasant voice. He even performed at the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, CT. while he was a resident there. He wanted everyone to be freylach!

In dir, in dir, du glezele vayn,
In dir, in dir, mayn gantser (gantse) glik.
Ven ikh vil mir freylekh zayn
Damolts gib ikh af dir a kuk.(kik)

In you, in you, you glass of wine,
In you, in you, my whole fortune.
When I want to be happy
Then I take a look at you.

Tsu dir tsu dir, hob ikh lust.
Du bist di nekhome
fun mayn neshome.

For you, for you I lust,
You are the comfort
of my soul.

Af kapores darf ikh gelt
A riekh in dos (dem) gelt arayn.
Ikh lakh mir oys fun der gantser velt.
Nor tsulib dir du glezele vayn.

I have no use for money
The devil take the money!
I laugh at the whole world,
because of you my glass of wine.