Pandemic

Here you should see a photo that I did not make. The place where it was not made was Děčín, the last Czech railway station before the German border, when, due to Covid closures, it was only possible to travel between the two countries on wild boar routes. I hurried from the late arriving Prague train to the local bus that would have taken me to the border path, so I could only register with my eyes the gorgeous graffiti covering the whole long wall of the railway underpassage with the thousand pandas and the inscription PANDEMIE above them. Maybe it is still there today, but to see it, I’d have to pass through Děčín again, which might happen next time during the sixth wave.

The joke expressed visually in Děčín also has a verbal counterpart:

“An adult panda feeds for fourteen hours a day. Just like an adult person in quarantine. That’s why we call the epidemic a pandemic.”

A joke with whiskers? Yes. I have to admit again that I should have published my impressions at the right time. As well as the video below about the pandemic, which was also published at that time by Daniel Kahn and The Painted Bird, specialized in Yiddish chansons, not so far from there, in Berlin, as the backgrounds with the shabby industrial buildings demonstrate.

Here’s the Spanish. We are afraid. It freezes bones and marrow. Many people who have never died will die today and tomorrow. (Dezső Kosztolányi, 1918)

Actually, I am not so late with that. After all, the chanson was written in 1916 by Solomon Smulewitz, an American Yiddish singer and ballad writer from Pinsk. True, at that time pandas were not yet so well known, so the epidemic was not called a pandemic, but “Spanish flu”, as only Spain, which did not take part in the world war, dared to publish real death statistics about it, and these were far superior to the cosmeticized ones of the warring states.

Nowadays, a war is once again pushing into the background the pandemic that just recently covered the front pages of the newspapers. Still it is worth listening to this song that expresses the anxiety and bewilderment of the whole world. It also comes in handy if you want to comfort yourself during the sixth wave.

Gor a shreklekhe mageyfe geyt fun land tsu land Mit der shnelkayt fun a sreyfe fun a fayerbrand Makhtloz iz dem mentshns zinen S’blaybt di khokhme shtil S’iz keyn mitl tsu gefinen kegn a batsil

גאָר אַ שרעקלעכע מגפֿה גײט פֿון לאַנד צו לאַנד מיט דער שנעלקײַט פֿון אַ שׂריפֿה פֿון אַ פֿײַערבראַנד מאַכטלאָז איז דעם מענטשנס זינען ס׳בלײַבט די חכמה שטיל ס׳איז קײן מיטל צו געפֿינען קעגן אַ באַציל

A terrible plague is spreading from country to country with the speed of fire with the power of a conflagration. Human reason is powerless, science is at a loss: you cannot find any remedy against – a bacillus.

Mikrobn, batsiln, vos vilt ir Zogt, vemes shlikhes derfilt ir Ir frest di korbones gor on a rakhmones In bliyende lebn nor tsilt ir Ir bodt zikh in treren fun veyner Ir tsit oys dem markh fun di beyner Ir samt di gederim, ir krikhnde verem, mikrobn, batsiln, vos vilt ir

מיקראָבן, באַצילן, וואָס ווילט איר זאָגט, וועמעס שליחות דערפֿילט איר איר פֿרעסט די קרבנות גאָר אָן אַ רחמנות אין בליענדע לעבן נאָר צילט איר איר באָדט זיך אין טרערן פֿון ווײנער איר ציט אויס דעם מאַרך פֿון די בײנער איר סמט די געדערים, איר קריכנדע ווערעם מיקראָבן, באַצילן, וואָס ווילט איר

Microbes, bacilli, what do you want? Tell me, whose orders are you following? You mercilessly devour your victim, you take prosperous lives. You bathe in our tears, suck the marrow out of our bones. You poison our insides, you crawling worms. Microbes, bacilli, what do you want?

In di lungen tif bagrobn voynt di blase pest Di batsiln, di mikrobn boyen zeyer nest Fresn undzer layb un lebn frukhpern zikh pek Un mir muzn zelbst farshvebn far der tsayt avek Un mir filn vi mir geyen shtil un langzam oys Un di shmertsn un di veyen zenen shreklekh groys Un di fintstere makhshoves gresern dem shmarts Yorn ligt der malekh-hamoves tif bay undz in harts.

אין די לונגען טיף באַגראָבן וווינט די בלאַסע פּעסט די באַצילן, די מיקראָבן בויען זײער נעסט פֿרעסן אונדזער לײַב און לעבן פֿרוכפּערן זיך פּעק און מיר מוזן זעלבסט פֿאַרשוועבן פֿאַר דער צײַט אַוועק און מיר פֿילן ווי מיר גײען שטיל און לאַנגזאַם אויס און די שמערצן און די ווײען זענען שרעקלעך גרויס און די פֿינטצטערע מחשבֿות גרעסערן דעם שמאַרץ יאָרן ליגט דער מלאך-המװת טיף בײַ אונדז אין האַרץ

Buried deep in the lungs the pale plague rages: the bacilli, the microbes build their nest there. They devour our bodies and lives, they multiply abundantly, and we die before our time, and we feel being slowly, silently eaten away. Unbearable is the pain and suffering. Dark thoughts add to our agony: the Angel of Death resides in our hearts.

Droysn zenen do vampirn Um tsu lebn gut undzer pratse zey rabirn trinken undzer blut Un farshlepn in di zumpn undzer oyg in kop Oy, ir niderike lumpn Aykh halt keyn zakh op Un tsekriplte un toyte faln do un dort Naye lebns ongegreyte filn oys dem ort un in groyse tife kvorim pakt men laykhes fil Un di hersher, di keysorim shpiln shakhmat shpil

דרויסן זענען דאָ וואַמפּירן אום צו לעבן גוט אונדזער פּראַצע זײ ראַבירן טרינקען אונדזער בלוט און פֿאַרשלעפּן אין די זומפּן אונדזער אויג אין קאָפּ אוי, איר נידעריקע לומפּן אײַך האַלט קײן זאַך אָפּ און צעקריפּלטע און טויטע פֿאַלן דאָ און דאָרט נײַע לעבנס אָנגעגרײטע פֿילן אויס דעם אָרט און אין גרויסע טיפֿע קבֿרים פּאַקט מען לײַכעס פֿיל און די הערשער, די קײסאָרים שפּילן שאַכמאַט שפּיל

You are vampires, who for your own pleasure deprive us from our work, you drink our blood, you gouge out our eyes, you drag us into swamp. Despicable thugs, so nothing can stop you? The crippled and the dead are falling right and left, and new lives take their places. Huge, deep graves are filled with corpses while the rulers, the emperors play their chess game.

Receiving the Torah

Forty-nine days after Pesach, that is, today is the three-thousand-and-someth anniversary that the Eternal One gave the Torah to His people. Since this is a perfect gift from the Perfect, therefore the number of perfection multiplied by itself gives the number of the days and the name of the feast, Shavuoth, “the feast of the sevens”, i.e. weeks.

Of course, the peoples, di felker could grumble about why the Jews were given the Torah. Well, they must know that the Eternal One in His righteousness offered it to all other peoples, but they all rejected it. This story is told in Sifre Devarim 343, the Midrashic commentary of the Second Law. However, di felker argued that some of their ancient and inherent qualities were contrary to one of the commandments. The descendants of Esau (according to the Midrash, the Romans) rejected the command of “do not kill”, since their ancestor was told: “By thy sword shalt thou live” (Gen 27:40). The offspring of Amon and Moab did not approve the purity of marriage, for they came from the incestuous union of Lot with his daughters (Gen 19:36). And the Arabs insisted on robery, for the Lord himself said of their ancestor, Ishmael: “His hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him” (Gen 16:12 – which is interpreted as robbery by the Midrash). Nevertheless, the synagogue reading of the feast also commemorates one true Gentile, who accepted the Torah: Ruth, the great-grandmother of King David.

The idea of the Midrashic offer to di felker is carried forward by the Christianity which grew out of Judaism. The Christian equivalent of Shavuoth, Pentecost, took place on this very feast, the fiftieth (πεντηκοστή) day after the first Easter, and it recalls on the one hand the new covenant, which continues and completes the old covenant celebrated on Shavuoth, and on the other Jesus’ invitation: “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations”. On the Orthodox icons of Pentecost – like the ones I have shown from Novgorod –, always there is, under the semicircle of the apostles, the personification of the world, with the little symbols of di felker, which this time will have no escape from the acceptance of the Torah, to fulfill the psalm which the Midrashic story also refers to: “May all the kings of the earth praise you, Lord, when they hear what you have decreed.” (Ps 138:4)

Tripartite Mahzor, prayer book for Shavuot and Sukkot, German, ca. 1322. Moses receives the Torah on Mount Sinai. Jewish men are in front, and the women (depicted with animal heads, according to the still unexplained medieval Jewish custom), behind them. Indeed, in Rashi’s commentary, the Lord’s instruction “This shall ye declare unto the house of Jacob, and preach unto the children of Israel” (Ex 19:3) means that the women (the house of Jacob) had to be asked first whether they accept the Torah, because if yes, then the men (the children of Israel) would follow them anyway.

So that modern felker would also understand the reference of the ancient story to them, the Hasidic poet and composer Yom-Tov Ehrlich (1914-1990) updated it for the peoples of the present world. The replacement of the Romans by the Germans, of the Moabites by the French, and the presevation of the Arabs is understandable; for the godlessness of the Russians we must take into account that Ehrlich still lived in the Soviet Union. At the beginning he uses an elegant twist by saying that the Creator seeks a bridegroom for the Torah as His daughter, while, according to the tradition, at Shavuot He engages the chosen people. The song is performed by the excellent Malchus Choir of Jerusalem and cantor Zanvil Weinberger. In addition to the English translation, I also include a Latin transliteration of the Yiddish text, to arouse interest in a language of great tradition, rooted among the Eastern European felker, and not so long ago spoken by millions here. Chag Sameach.

mitn hilf fun Bashefer veln mir do reydn un dertseyln fun yene freydn freyds aykh ale tants un kvelt fun der Toyre af der velt der Bashefer fun der velt, der groyser Boyre zukht a khosn far zayn tokhter, di heylige Toyre freyds aykh ale tants un kvelt ale felker fun der velt der Bashefer fregt ba di felker ale ver vil di Toyre far a kale di felker fregn vos un ven mvil nit hern mvil nit zen un far vos un far ven lomir zen vos iz geshen

מיטן הילף פון בּאַשעפער וועלן מיר דאָ רײדן און דערצײלן פון יענע פרײדן פרײדס אײַך אַלע טאַנצט און קוועלט פון דער תּורה אויף דער וועלט דער בּאַשעפער פון דער וועלט דער גרויסער בּורא זוכט אַ חתן פאַר זײַן טאָכטער די הײליגע תּורה פרײדס אײַך אַלע טאַנצט און קוועלט אַלע פעלקער פון דער וועלט דער בֹאַשעפער פרעגט בּײַ די פעלקער אַלע ווער וויל די תּורה פאַר אַ כּלה די פעלקער פרעגן וואָס און ווען מ'וויל נישט הערן מ'וויל נישט זען און פאַרוואָס און פאַר ווען לאָמיר זען וואָס איז געשען

With the help of the Creator, I would like to tell and talk about that great joy. Happiness, dance and delight over the Torah all over the world. The Creator of the World, the great Lord is looking for a bridegroom for His daughter, the holy Torah. Happiness, dance and delight to all the peoples of the world. The Creator asks all peoples, who wants the Torah for his bride. The peoples ask: what and how? and they do not want to hear nor to see. And: why and where? – So let us see what happened.

iz a malakh mit di Toyre fun himl arop genumen flien kayn Europe un kayn Rusland gekumen iz er un gefregt tsu a baln iz ver zogt men tsu em ʻkharasho’ zogt undz vos fazhalasto zogt zey der malakh dem ershtn gebot onoykhi, ikh bin ayer G-t zogn zey, neyn, halt es aleyn ir veyst nisht khaver vuhin tsu geyn mir hobn gelernt ba di tates aleyn azoy vi ba undz iz sheyn neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn efsher pruvt keyn Daytshland geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז אַ מלאך מיט דער תּורה פון הימל אַראָפּ גענומען פליען קײַן יוראָפּ און קײַן רוסלאַנד געקומען איז ער און געפרעגט צו אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגט מען צו אים חאַראַשאָ זאָגט אונדז וואָס פּאַזשאַלאַסטאָ זאָגט זײ דער מלאך דעם ערשטן געבּאָט אנוכי איך בּין אײַער ג-ט זאָגן זײ נײן, האַלט עס אַלײן איר ווײסט נישט חבר וואוהין צו גײן מיר האָבּן געלערענט בּײַ די טאַטעס אַלײן אַזוי ווי בּײַ אונדז איז שײן נײן נײן, האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן אפשר פרואווט קײַן דײַטשלאַנד גײן אפשר וועט מען אײַך פאַרשטײן

An angel descended from the sky with the Torah, and headed for Europe. He arrived to Russia, and asked them whether they are buyers for it. They said “khorosho”, but tell something about it, pozhaluysta. The angel told the first command: Hear: “I am your G-d.” They said no, keep it for yourself. You don’t know, man, where you came. We have only learned from our fathers, and that is beautiful to us. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try to go to Germany, maybe they will agree with you.

iz der malakh gefloygn glaykh ahin un iz gekumen kayn Berlin un di Daytshn di Toyre vayzt er un fregt zey a baln iz ver zogn zey mir zenen greyt zogn zi di vorheyt vos dort shteyt zogt zey der malakh loy sirtsokh toytn iz nisht kayn sheyne zakh zogn zey neyn, halt es aleyn ir veyst nisht mayn her vuhin tsu geyn mir hobn gelernt bam fater aleyn az toytn das darf men vos meyn neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn filaykht probirn zi kayn Frankraykh geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז דער מלאך געפלויגן גלײַך אַהין און איז געקומען קײַן בּערלין און די דײַטשן די תּורה ווײַזט ער און פרעגט זײ אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגן זײ מיר זײַנען גרײט זאָגן זי די וואָרהײט וואָס דאָרט שטײט זאָגט זײ דער מלאך לא תרצח טויטן איז נישט קײַן שײנע זאַך זאָגן זײ נײן, האַלט עס אַלײן איר ווײסט נישט מײַן הער וואוהין צוגײן מיר האָבן געלערענט בּײַם פאָטער אַלײן אַז טויטן דאָס דאַרף מען וואָס מײן נײן נײן, האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן פילײַכט פּרובירן זי קײַן פראַנקרײַך גײן אפשר וועט מען אײַך פאַרשטײן

The angel flew straight there, and arrived to Berlin. He shows the Torah to the Germans, and asks them whether they are buyers for it. They say, we are ready for it, just tell the truth, what is in it. The angel says: “Don’t kill. Killing is no nice thing.” They say, no, keep it for yourself. You do not know, mein Herr, where you came. We have only learned from the Vater, that killing is a must. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try to go to France, maybe they will agree with you.

iz der malakh gefloygn vayter biz er iz gekumen kayn Pariz di Frantsoyzn di Toyre vayzt er un fregt zey a baln iz ver zogn zey si vu pley [s’il vous plaît] zogt undz vos un vi azoy git zey der malakh tsu farshteyn der familye lebn darf zayn reyn zogn zey neyn halt es aleyn ir veys nisht monsieur vuhin tsu geyn mir hobn gelernt ba di tates aleyn azoy vi ba undz iz sheyn neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn efsher pruvt kayn England geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז דער מלאך געפלויגן ווײַטער בּיז ער איז געקומען קײַן פּאַריז די פראַנצויזן די תּורה ווײַזט ער און געפרעגט זײ אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגן זײ סי וווּ פּלעי זאָגט אונדז וואָס און ווי אַזוי גיט זײ דער מלאך צו פאַרשטײן דער פאַמיליע לעבּן דאַרף זײַן רײן זאגן זײ נײן, האַלט עס אַלײן איר ווײסט נישט מוסיע וואוהין צוגײן מיר האבן געלערענט בײ די טאטעס אַלײן אזוי ווי בײ אונדז איז שײן נײן נײן האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן אפשר פּרואווט קײַן ענגלאַנד גײן אפשר וועט מען אײַך פאַרשטײן

The angel flew on, and arrived to Paris. He shows the Torah to the French, and asks them whether they are buyers for it. They say, s’il vous plaît, tell us what this is. The angel makes it clear to them that family life must be clean. They say no, keep it for yourself. You do not know, monsieur, where you came. We have only learnt from our fathers, and that is beautiful for us. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try to go to England, maybe they will agree with you.

iz der malakh gefloygn vayter in veg kumt kayn London afn breg un di Englender di Toyre vayzt er un fregt zey a baln iz ver zogn zey Tenk yu ser vayzt nor eyn gezets aher zogt zey der malakh Lo Sakhmoyd tut zukh nisht glustn vos yener hot zogn zey neyn halt es aleyn ir veyst nisht mister vuhin tsu geyn mir hobn gelernt ba di tates aleyn az glustn darf men vos meyn neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn efsher pruvt kayn America geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז דער מלאך געפלויגן ווײַטער אין וועג קומט קײַן לאָנדאָן אויפן בּרעג און די ענגלענדער די תּורה ווײַזט ער און פרעגט זײ אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגן זײ טענק יו סער ווײַזט נאָר אײן געזעץ אַהער זאָגט זײ דער מלאך לא תחמוד טוט זיך נישט גלוסטן וואָס יענער האָט זאָגן זײ נײן האַלט עס אַלײן איר ווײסט נישט מיסטער וואוהין צו גײן מיר האָבן געלערענט בּײַ די טאַטעס אַלײן אַז גלוסטן דאַרף מען וואָס מײן נײן נײן האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן אפשר פרואווט קײַן אַמעריקאָ גײן אפשר וועט מען אײַך פאַרשטײן

The angel flew on, and landed in London. He shows the Torah to the English, and asks them whether they are buyers for it. They say: Thank you, sir. Just show us one law from it. The angel says: Do not covet, do not desire other man’s property. They say no, keep it for yourself. You do not know, mister, where you came. We only learned from our fathers that we must crave for others’ property. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try to go to America, maybe they will agree with you.

iz der malakh gefloygn vayter mit zorg er iz gekumen kayn New York di Amerikaner di Toyre vayzt er un fregt zey a baln iz ver zogn zey Tenk yu fayn vos fara biznes vos fara layn zogt zey der malakh hert mit kop koved tate mame git op zogn zey neyn halt es aleyn mir gibn op koved nor di yugent aleyn far di eltern genug iz far zey der yom tiv moders day neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn efsher pruvt tsu di Araber geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז דער מלאך געפלויגן ווײַטער מיט זאָרג און איז געקומען קײַן ניו יאָרק די אַמעריקאַנער די תּורה ווײַזט ער און פרעגט זײ אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגן זײ טענק יו פײַן וואָס פאַראַ בּיזנעס וואָס פאַראַ לײַן זאָגט זיי דער מלאך הערט מיט קאָפּ כּבוד טאַטע מאַמע גיט אפּ זאָגן זײ נײן האַלט עס אַלײן מיר גיבּן אָפּ כּבוד נאָר די יוגענד אַלײן פאַר די עלטערן, גענוג איז פאַר זײ דער יום טוב מאָדערס דעי נײן נײן האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן אפשר פרואווט צו די אַראַבּער גײן אפשר וועלן זײ פאַרשטײן

The angel flew on assiduously, and reached New York. He shows the Torah to the Americans, and asks them whether they are buyers for it. They say, Thank you, fine. What kind of business is it, what kind of a brand? The angel tells them: listen to me: respect your father and mother. They say no, keep it for yourself. We only respect young people. For the parents, the feast of Mother’s Day is enough. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try with the Arabs, maybe they will agree with you.

iz der malakh gefloygn un geblibn shteyn in Asye in Eyver HaYardeyn di Araber di Toyre vayzt er un fregt zey a baln iz ver zogn zey gut mabsut vayzt nor frier vos men tut zogt zey der malakh Lo Signov nisht ganve un nisht bluf zogn zey neyn halt es aleyn ir veyst nisht khavazha vuhin tsugeyn mir hobn gelernt ba di tates aleyn az ganvenen darf men vos meyn neyn neyn halt es aleyn mir hobn an ander meyn afsher pruvt tsu di Yidn geyn efsher vet men aykh farshteyn

איז דער מלאך געפלויגן און געבּליבּן שטײן אין אַזיע און עבר הירדן די אַראַבּער די תּורה ווײַזט ער און פרעגט זײ אַ בּעלן איז ווער זאָגן זײ גוט מבּסוט ווײַזט נאָר פריער וואָס מען טוט זאָגט זײ דער מלאך לא תגנוב נישט גנב'ע און נישט בּלאָף זאָגן זײ נײן האַלט עס אַלײן איר ווײסט נישט חאַוואַזשאַ וואוהין צוגײן מיר האָבּן געלערענט בּײַ די טאַטעס אַלײן אַז גנב'נען דאַרף מען וואָס מײן נײן נײן האַלט עס אַלײן מיר האָבּן אַן אַנדער מײן אפשר פּרואווט צו די אידן גײן אפשר וועט מען אײַך פאַרשטײן

The angel flew on, and stopped in Asia, in Transjordan. He shows the Torah to the Arabs, and asks them whether they are buyers for it. They say all right, mabsut [happily], but show us first, what we are supposed to do. The angel tells them: don’t steal and don’t cheat. They say no, keep it for yourself. You do not know, khawaja [master], where you came. We learned only from our fathers, that stealing is a must. No, no, keep it for yourself, we are of a different opinion. Perhaps try with the Jews, maybe they will agree with you.

un mitn veg der malakh shteyt zet er a Yid a meshulakh geyt a talis kotn lang un breyt hot er zikh derfreyt di Toyre hot er em derlangt un der meshulakh hot badankt vart nor, zogt er ayl zikh nit ikh gib aykh a resit. kayn glaykher porl hot ir nit vi der Toyre mit dem Yid beyde zenen di beste fraynd vayl mhot zey beydn faynd in dem Boyre gleybt der Yid un kayn shlekhts ton ken er nit un koved tate mame git un dem heylign Shabe hit vi der malakh hot dos derhert hot er zikh tsurikgekert un gezogt afn himl dort az di Toyre iz afn besten ort

און מיטן וועג דער מלאך שטײט זעט ער אַ איד א משולח גײט אַ טלית קטן לאַנג און בּרײט האָט ער זיך דערפרײט די תּורה האָט ער אים דערלאַנגט און דער משולח האָט בּאַדאַנקט וואַרט נאָר זאָגט ער, אײַל זיך ניט איך גיבּ אײַך אַ רעסיט קײַן גלײַכער פּאָרל האָט איר ניט ווי דער תּורה מיט דעם איד בּײדע זײַנען די בּעסטע פרײַנד ווײַל מ'האָט זײ בּײדן פײַנט אין דעם בּורא גלײבּט דער איד און קײַן שלעכטס טאָן קען ער נישט און כּבוד טאַטע מאַמע גיט און דעם הײליגן שבּת היט ווי דער מלאך האָט עס דערהערט האט ער זיך צוריקגעקערט און געזאָגט אויפן הימל דאָרט אַז דער תּורה איז אויפן בּעסטן אָרט

And as the angel stops on the way, he sees a Jewish [gift-collector] coming there, with a long and large talis. He was glad for him. He handed over the Torah to him, and the meshulakh thanked him: wait, he said, don’t rush, I write you a receipt. You won’t find a similar couple anywhere, like the Torah with the Jew. They are best friends, because both have many enemies. The Jew believes in the Creator, and he cannod to anything wrong. He honors his father and mother, and keeps the holy Shabbat. As the angel heard this, he immediately turned back, and said there in the sky that the Torah was in the best place.

The joys of Polish

We have already seen, that Leo Rosten’s The Joys of Yiddish pays special attention to the interjections – aha! oyoyoy! feh! hoo-ha! nu! –, distinguishing up to fifteen or eighteen shades of meaning of them, and illustrating each with a fitting joke. For example, the word aha:

Mr. Sokoloff has had dinner for twenty years in the same restaurant on the Second Avenue. This evening, as always, he orders bouillon. The waiter brings it, and wants to go back, but Mr. Sokoloff addresses him: “Waiter!” – “Yes, please?” – “Be so kind to taste this soup.” – “But Mr. Sokoloff, you have come here for twenty years and you have never complained.” – “Please”, repeats Mr. Sokoloff obstinately, “taste this soup.” – “But what is the matter, Mr. Sokoloff?” – “Please taste it.” – “All right”, the waiter says. “But… a moment. Where is the spoon?” – “Aha!”, says Mr. Sokoloff.

In the same post we have also seen that The Joys of Yiddish, this magical little book is able to inspire authors even without reading it, such as Tamás Raj, the chief rabbi of Budapest, to write his 100+1 Yiddish words. Now we can see another example of this from the Polish grammar of the Assimil publisher, written by Barbara Kuszmider:

1. Proszę pana. Może pan pozwolić na chwilę? 2. Słucham, czym mogę służyć? 3. Czy może pan spróbować tej zupy? 4. A co, niedobra? Może podać inną? 5. Po prostu, proszę jej spróbować. 6. Nie smakuje panu? 7. Niech pan sam spróbuje. 8. Mamy inne dania. Zaraz podam kartę. 9. Nie, dziękuję. Nie chcę nic innego. 10. Polecam panu doskonały bigos. 11. Prosze tylko, żeby pan spróbował tej zupy. 12. No dobrze, skoro pan nalega… Ale jak mam spróbować, przecież nie ma łyżki!

1. Waiter, may I disturb you for a moment? 2. Of course. What can I do for you? 3. Would you please taste this soup? 4. Oh, is it not good? May I bring you another one? 5. No, simply taste it. 6. Don’t you like it, sir? 7. Just taste it, please. 8. We also have other dishes. I bring you the menu. 9. No, thanks. I do not want anything else. 10. May I suggest you a perfect pasta? 11. No, just be so kind to finally taste it. 12. Well, sir, if you insist so much… But how could I taste it, since there is no spoon!

It is just the punch line, the aha! perfectly closing the original dialogue, which is missing here. Although emotion words are not lacking in Polish either.


(The start-up photo represents the elegant Odessite Café Fanconi, a favorite restaurant of the Jewish businessmen at the turn of the century. The enlarged photo covers today one wall of the Jewish museum in Odessa. The spoon hanging on it is the only piece remaining from the original tableware, sent to the museum by the heirs of one of the café’s regulars from America; all the rest got lost during the revolution of 1917.)

The Joys of Yinglish

ekstra neyes ayn die Ist Seyd!
eyn groyser bankrat seyl fun vare
fun men’s farnishing
mus oysferkoyft veren in 15 teg
komt und koyft groyse bargins
vare verd ferkoyft af halbe preysen. komt und ibertseygt aykh.

New York, Delancey Street, 29 July 1908
from the recently published New York City Municipal Archives

on the original The Joys of Yinglish see here

Marca

Leyendo un viejo libro de expresiones en yidis, Michael Chabon cayó en la cuenta de que esta es una de las grandes lenguas muertas de Europa. Hace tan solo cien años la hablaba tanta gente como la que hoy habla húngaro, y desapareció del mapa lingüístico de Europa del Este sin dejar rastro. Como se trataba básicamente de una lengua hablada, apenas han sobrevivido un puñado de registros escritos: algunos libros bilingües de oración, unas pocas obras literarias profanas del siglo XIX, algunos periódicos y placas conmemorativas en cementerios y fosas comunes.

Tiendas en el gueto de Lwów en el autumno de 1941

Y los letreros de las tiendas de Lwów. Lwów es quizás la única ciudad de Europa donde todavía se pueden ver por la calle inscripciones en yidis. No sólo han resistido los setenta años de sopor de Bella Durmiente en que se sumió la ciudad, sino que se conservan todavía en las molduras decorativas de escayola de la actualidad cuando renuevan los comercios. Como en la fachada de la tienda de comestibles que vimos en la entrada anterior, en la esquina de la avenida Chornovola, detrás de la Ópera, donde el anterior barrio judío nuevo se unía al casco antiguo.




O como en la pared de la antigua lechería, en el mismo barrio, cuya foto nos mandó Alfanje y que anunciaba también su mercancía en otros dos idiomas perdidos de Lwów y Lemberg, que desaparecieron de la ciudad junto con el yidis.



Parece que los dueños de las tiendas también son conscientes de lo excepcional de las inscripciones en yidis de Lwów, como si se tratara de un sello o marca propia. Esto se aprecia en que no solo las conservan y renuevan, también las copian para dar un sabor antiguo y «de auténtico Lwów» a las de inauguración reciente. Como vemos en esta tienda de géneros de punto en la antigua judería nueva, a la vuelta de la esquina de la casa de Sholem Aleijem.


Con todo, su nuevo cuño se revela no sólo en la tipografía moderna. El equivalente de «tejidos de punto», que se ve aquí en caracteres hebreos, no está realmente en yidis —pues entonces debería ser שטריקוואַרג shtrikvarg—, sino en hebreo: סריגים srigim. Aunque este uso de la lengua sagrada habría sido imposible a comienzos del siglo pasado, es evidente que hoy en día se impone una mentalidad más práctica, y que el tendero tiene en mente a los turistas israelíes que pasan por delante de su puerta en dirección a la placa conmemorativa de Sholem Aleijem. Que es, a su vez, la inscripción más reciente, y probablemente la última escrita en yidis en la desparecida Lemberik.

1906 אין דעם הויז האט געוווינט אין
יאר דער קלאסיקער פון דער יידישער ליטעראטור שאלעם-אלייכעם

In dem hoyz hot gevoynt in 1906 yor der klasiker fun der yidisher literatur Sholem-Aleykhem

En esta casa vivió en 1906 el clásico de la literatura en yidis, Sholem Aleijem

Brand

Michael Chabon realized by reading an old Yiddish phrase book that Yiddish is one of the greatest dead languages in Europe. This language, which a hundred years ago was spoken by just as many people as Hungarian, disappeared without trace from the linguistic map of Eastern Europe. As it was basically a spoken language, it has left behind only a handful of written records: some bilingual prayer books, a couple of 19th-century secular literary works and dailies, the memorial plaques of a few cemeteries and mass graves.

Shops in the Lwów ghetto in the autumn of 1941

And the shop labels in Lwów. Lwów is perhaps the only city in Europe where you can still see Yiddish inscriptions on the streets. They have not only survived for the seventy years of the city’s sleeping-beauty-dream, but they are also preserved on the quadrates of the decorative plaster nowadays, during the renovation of the shops. As on the facade of the large grocery store presented in the previous entry, at the corner of Chornovola Avenue, behind the opera house, where the former new Jewish quarter met the Old Town.




Or as on the wall of the former milk shop whose photo was sent to us by Alfanje from the same neighborhood, and which also announced its assortment in two more languages of old Lwów and Lemberg which disappeared from the city together with Yiddish.



It seems that the owners of the shops are also aware of the unique, brand-like nature of the Yiddish inscriptions in Lwów. This is proved by the fact that they not only preserve and renovate them, but they also copy them to antiquate and make “genuinely Lwówish” the newly opened shop portals. Such as that of this knitwear shop in the former new Jewish quarter, just around the corner from the house of Sholem Aleichem.


However, the recent creation is revealed not only by the modern typography of the inscription. But also by the fact that the equivalent of “knitwear” written in Hebrew characters is not in Yiddish – then it would be שטריקוואַרג shtrikvarg –, but in Hebrew: סריגים srigim. Although this use of the sacred language would have been impossible at the beginning of the last century, nowadays it is obviously more practical if the seller has in mind the Israeli tourists passing by the front of the shop in the direction of the Sholem Alechem memorial plaque. Which is also the most recent and probably the definitively last Yiddish-language inscription in the former Lemberik.

1906 אין דעם הויז האט געוווינט אין
יאר דער קלאסיקער פון דער יידישער ליטעראטור שאלעם-אלייכעם

In dem hoyz hot gevoynt in 1906 yor der klasiker fun der yidisher literatur Sholem-Aleykhem

In this house lived in 1906 the classic of Yiddish literature, Sholem Alechem