Maccabi
This was one of the brightest and
most beloved institutions in Zambrow, and it served as
a model for the entire region.
In 1916, at the time when Jewish
Poland was able to breathe free a bit, Jewish sports
clubs began to be established. Zambrow did not miss
this opportunity either. The Germans, who occupied
Poland at that time, did not prevent this from
happening. At that time in Zambrow, Mr. Hurwicz was
designated as the representative of a society for
providing wood for industrial purposes. As a
sportsman, he could not abide seeing the Zambrow
youth without sports. He therefore called for a
meeting of several young people, with Leibchak Golombeck
at their head, and he clarified the goals of the
Maccabi sport club for them, of which he was then a
member in Warsaw. His plan appealed to the
listeners, and the Maccabi organization was
temporarily set up. The group developed vigorously, and it grew from
week to week. The principal virtue lay in that the
club, from its outset, was non-partisan politically,
and it accepted each |
|
Sh. Gutman
|
young person, whether
he was a Zionist or a Bundist. The language of
discourse was Hebrew, in accordance with the orders from the
central authority in Warsaw. Of particular note was the
celebration of the dedication of the flag in honor of the new
standard, which was indeed tall and very appropriate more
beautiful than the flags of the surrounding towns. Every month,
tens of new members joined up, men and women, and all stood out
with their white and blue hats, and their sports clothing.
Drills and exercises were held in the location of the Gorlin
brick works, which belonged to Shlomkeh Blumrosen. The gentiles
viewed this Jewish military [sic: cadre] sternly, and even
suspected it of harboring evil intent towards the Polish state.
However, they could do nothing.
The
commandant of Maccabi, for this entire time was Leibchak Golombeck, a tall and skilled sportsman
who was committed to Maccabi with his life and soul,
and he defended its interests with pride. Later on,
the chair was taken over by the lawyer Czerniawsky.
Maccabi demonstrated its power and discipline not
only once in the city. Maccabi received the Cantor
Sirota, with fanfare, and celebrated the holiday of
the Balfour Declaration; everyone completely decked
out in full uniform with the banner held high, in a
stiff cadence, standing erect, with heads held high,
they marched through the streets of Zambrow
with song and rhythm. |
|
Gymnastic Exercises - I |
The gentiles kept shouting: Zydowsky
Wojesko Jewish Military...
So clouds closed in over Maccabi. The
mobilization of the best of the youth into the Polish military,
the majority of the Maccabi membership, literally ruined its
ranks. Apart from this, the Polish authorities looked askance at
this Jewish sports club, and robbed it of its rights. Many
emigrated to the Land of Israel, Argentina, the United States,
etc. Not a few contested the internal political frictions; at
that time in Poland, there already existed sports clubs on the
right and on the left, from the Bund and Poalei Tzion. The
authorities did not permit the use of the name Maccabi that
was a symbol of Jewish rebellion, but rather the Jewish Sport
Club. The last leaders of the club were Beinusz Tykoczinsky and
Hillel-Herschel Sziniak.
A. Shmuel Gutman/ Maccabi
In the year 1916, the Germans employed no small
number of Jewish workers in the barracks, Jewish recruits, and
the officers in the German army would treat us especially well.
There was a German-Jewish officer who helped us to organize the
sport activity, apart from the good instructor from Lomza.
I will never forget the big fest???, very early
on Sunday morning, with our blue-white banners, when we marched
through the streets to the Uchastok.
The Christians looked at us askance. The young toughs would
shout Zyduzy do
Palestiny! "Maccabi" and
"Maccabi Youth" then secured the Jewish street, and thanks
to this, the political parties began to organize themselves,
right and left, religious and secular.
A Maccabi Group
|
|
Gymnastic Exercises
|
|
HaPoel Workers Sport Organization
|
|
'HaPoel' -- The section of Young
Girls |
|
HaPoel' -- The Section of Workingmens Sport |
|
Maccabeans on an Excursion |
|
A Group of Girls In Athletic
Exercises |
******
Folklore
Grandmother Shafran with her Grandchildren and
Great-Grandson, Joe Zukrowicz |
|
At A Banquet
Standing (from right to left):
Baruch Surawicz, Elazar Williamowsky, Simcha
Rosenbaum,
Chaim Kaufman, Aviezer Kaplan, Zerakh Gottleib,
Ephraim Williamowsky, Yudl Tykoczinsky
Sitting: Elia Cybulkin,
Fishman, Yitzhak Gorodzinsky,
Max Tykoczinsky --- Chaim Gorodzinsky, Itzek
Cybulkin |
From My Childhood World
By Yom-Tov Levinsky
A.
Words, Songs and Folk Expressions
Here, in alphabetical
order,74
I bring only a part of the
expressions, words and bits of song that I heard during my ten childhood years in Zambrow,
approximately between 1901 and 1911. The larger part of these I have never heard in any other
place. A part of these I have indeed heard elsewhere, but often with a different meaning, with a
verbal explanation giving it an opposite meaning. I present this material as I heard it, and the way it was
articulated in Zambrow.
***
Ot Azoy Nart Men Op a Khosn!
Many times, a prospective bridegroom was
promised a dowry and financial support and after the wedding, he was given nothing, because there was
nothing to give. The newly married husband would then go about insulted and angry, with his
head lowered. Groups of people would then sing along:
Ot Azoy, Ot Azoy,
Nahrt Men Arayn a Khosn!
MZogt im tzu, a sakh nadn
Un mGit im nisht kein groschen! |
|
In this way, in this way,
A bridegroom is taken in!
He is promised a large dowry
And not a groschen is given to him! |
Iberrufekhitz [Nicknames]
Here I record only a few of the names that used
to be appended, when the people in question were called to mind:
Abraham Berel Klin (A Village Idiot) Nemt dem Tukhes un Loyf
Ahin! 75
Agter
Alter Shpalter Kryzl Killeh,
Makh a Brokheh Ibber der Mekhileh!76
Moshe Moshe Tshysheh,
Tshimtsham, Tshaysheh.
козак
молодчна!77
(The second half has its roots in a Russian
tune, where a Cossack of low rank is encountered).
Abraham Abraham = Kopovrom Lokshn Drovrom!78
Baylah Grobbeh Baylitseh!79
Mendl Mendl-Fendl!80
(Along with the sobriquet:
Hayst er Mendl Meg Men Essn fun Zayn Fendl
Hayst er Nissl Meg Men Essn fun Zayn Shissl 81).
Berel Berel-Shmeryl,
Boncheh-Tzitzeh!
Makh a Brokheh Ibber der Metzitzeh!82
Yankl
Yankeleh, bankeleh,
Flesheleh bronfn, bul-bul-bul!83
Itcheh Meir
An added name for a Jewish man who is a Hasid and who has no means of making a
living, a sobriquet especially popular among Mitnagdim in Poland. Among the Ger Hasidim,
this name was utilized very extensively, after the Ger Rebbe R Itcheh Meir z"l.
In Bod Arayn!
This would be called out in the streets by someone when the
baths were being heated (see further on Montik
in Bod Arayn).
Aynlaygn di Velt
Do whatever is possible in order to salvage, or
carry out anything that is difficult to accomplish.
In Shul Arayn!
The
Shammes would call this
out every Friday, at candle-lighting time, in the middle of the
street, so that Jews hurry up to participate in the
welcoming of the Sabbath.
Alef-Beyz
Children would sing the following, when they
began to learn the alphabet:
Alef Beyz, Alef-Beyz,
Kokh mir op a topp flaysh!
Nisht kein sakh, nisht kein bissl,
Nor a fulleh shissl!
|
|
Alef Beyz, Alef-Beyz,
Cook a large pot of meat for me!
Not a lot, not a little,
Just a full bowl!
|
This song also comes from Lithuania, where the
poem is known as: Alef-Beyz
A Teppl Flaysh.
Ahmol iz Gevehn a Mayseh
When telling stories to little children, if one
wanted to gull them and thereby amuse them, one would say:
Ahmol iz gevehn a myseh,
Mit a kelbeleh a vyseh,
Mit a kieleh a roiteh
Du bist a groiser shoyteh!
|
|
Once there was a story,
With a white calf,
With a little red cow
You are a big fool!
|
Ahmol Hot Er Gefiert
In the fifth year (1905) the revolutionaries
(strikers) would tell of the well-connected nature of the capitalists in Russia, the newly rich, the
Governor General, and like persons, as follows:
Ahmol hot er gefiert a vegeleh mit mist
Heint iz er gevoren
Der grester capitalist
Oy vey
Долойй
полицеи!
Долой самодержцеи России!
Ahmol hot er gefiert
A vegeleh mit koyln,
Heint iz er gevorn
Der hersher ibber Poyln. .
Oy vey
Долойй
полицеи,
etc.
Ahmol iz er gevezn
An Opgerissener Nahr,
Heint is er in Russland
Nikolai der Tsar
Etc. |
|
Once, he wheeled around a
small wagon with excrement.
Today he has become
The greatest capitalist...
Oy vey
down with the
police!
Down with the autocrats of Russia!
Once, he carried around
A small wagon with coal,
Today he has become
The ruler over Poland.
At one time, he was
A complete fool,
Today, in Russia, he is
Nicholas the Czar
|
Children would sing it differently,
Oy vey Dalai Politsei
Lokshn mit farfl ohn an ei!84
Chaim Shmulis Covered Wagon
with Passengers
A Painting by Zeidenstat,
Lomza, Poland
Ohmar Abaye
Children would make fun of the boys who studied
the Gemara,
and using the sing-song of Gemara
study, they would say85:
Ohmar R Meir Hot Er Tzebrokhn di Eier!
Ohmar REliezer Tzebrokhn di Glezer!
Ohmar Abaye Hot Men Gekoyft Nyeh!
|
|
R Meir said He broke the
eggs!
REliezer said He broke the
glasses!
Abaye said They then bought new
ones! |
Onbysen
The first cooked meal in the morning. At about
eleven or twelve in the morning, the Heder children would go home to eat their onbysen.
The morning food and drink, on an empty stomach, was called: Ibberbysen,
and the evening meal Vechereh. 86
Osobeh
A beautiful, tall woman who had an attractive
figure. From the Polish, Osoba. Rarely was this term used to describe a handsome man (see Parshayn):
Zi hot genumen a
mann an osobeh. 87
Opgenahrt!
If someone was deceived, the entire group would
leap to its feet singing:
Opgenahrt, kishkeh-nahrt, Moshe Yokhes, kish mir in tokhes88
Opgesukhniet
Made scrawny and dried out, from the Polish word
suchy meaning dry. One would hurl an imprecation: Opgedart,
opgesuchniet zolst du verrn.
(May you become dried out and scrawny).
Akvit Whiskey, from the Latin, Aqua
vita.
Okravkehs
Referring to very young children before they
reach Heder
age, from the Polish okrawkibits
and pieces, cut off?
Bazolyet Wet. When a child wakes up wet from
[being asleep in] bed. .
Bozhetsa
A
golyuba (a royal holiday)
in which all the
Heder children would be
assembled in the Bet HaMedrash,
and later, when there was a Russian school for Jewish children
the students of that school [as well]. The Hazzan would sing the Russian National
Anthem with them on the
bima,
[beginning with] Боже, царя
храни!
God Watch Over the Czar. The children, as well as the adults would shorten this to Bozhetsa.
The Bozhetsa
was also sung when there was a reception for a governor or a general. At the singing of
this piece, the страший-старший
(most senior police officer) would always bear witness, and
he would perform честъ.
This means: he would stand at attention, and with sword in hand, he
would place his right hand on the right side, in salute, by his ear.
Batronchik (or Patronchik)
This is an added name for a Yeshiva student
studying away from home, and who requires support in the form of daily meals. It is derived from
the word patron indicating the need for a sponsor, or ombudsman: such a dependent Yeshiva student
would retain the child of balebatim,
for a specific salary, to be his patron. to impart to him
acceptable forms of religious observance, and behavior, and to study a page of the Gemara with him. One would sing: Az Okh und Vey Tsum
Batronchiks Yorn/As Er Darf Fun der Haym Avekforn/ Oy Vey,
mVert Farlorn/ Shoyn Besser Az mIz Nisht Geborrn 89
and so forth following the
alphabet. I no longer remember the remaining verses.
Botchan
A stork (in Polish, Bocian).
When the Bocian
would come flying, in spring,
and settle on the roof to build a nest the children would sing: Kalleh,
der Bocian vet kinder brengen. 90
[The sentiment comes from] the folk superstition that a stork
augurs the coming of children. However, this too was modified: Kalleh
der Bocian Kinder Brengen
from [Isaac Bashevis] Singers book, A World that No Longer Exists (p. 215), he documents
another version: Bocian
HaMelech Di Nest Brennt!
Bolbot
Someone who talks too much, from the Russian Bolbotukha.
Er iz a Bolbot. Di
moyl farmacht er nisht.91
A woman is a Bolbotukheh.
One would engage in the witticism: Ven er iz a Baal Bitokhn, (saying little and trusting in God), then she is a Bolbotukheh.
Banumenish
A comic description of a small gentile child: A
banumenish, nokh nisht fun drerd oyfgevoksn! 92 The term banumenish
was often applied to the Devil, or any one of his emissaries,
not wanting to utter his real name.
Bankeh
A small closed copper vessel, with a small
opening on top, with ears by which it could be held. It was used only for preparing tea. From the
Russian Banka,
a tin can.
Bakn Bagel
If you wanted to curse someone, one said: go to
hell and bake bagels! This is derived from what a bereaved person ate, upon returning from a
funeral: bagels.
Barshbier
Bavarian Beer, a type of beer that was obtained
from the beer brewer, in bottles.
Borshtz mit kartoshkehs
Zambrow children would line themselves up like
soldiers, go out into the street, imitating and singing like the Russian soldiers, as they used
to march through the streets.
Once would sing:
Ay sil, zakusil! (I have eaten and stuffed myself).
The others would respond in chorus:
Borshch mit kartoshkehs!
Bashventslen
A comic expression referring to the Christian
rite of sprinkling holy water, considerably altered from the Polish,
uświęcić.
Burkeh
A kiosk in the marketplace, where soda water was sold.
Bulbeh
An ink stain on the paper. Also, a bulbeh
was a potato, as in Lithuania, where it became known in the folksong, Zuntig
bulbehs, Montig bulbehsetc.
Baym Vant Un In Mittn
Children would fight over who would sleep up
against the wall, and who in the middle. So it was said:
Ver es ligt bei der vand
Vet hobn a goldeneh land!
Ver es ligt in mitn
Vet hobn a goldeneh shlittn!
Ver es ligt beim eck
Vet hobn a shissl mitt...[dreck].
|
|
Whoever sleeps against the wall
Will have a golden land!
Whoever sleeps in the middle --
Will have a golden sleigh!
Whoever lies at the edge
Will have a bowl full of....[shit]. |
Baagalah uVizman Kariv
Oyb baagalah it is then a wagon 93
Iz bizman koriv a sleigh!
Bekker
A liar, because he is always baking up fresh
lies. He managed to bake up this lie on a cold oven.
Brudero
A gentile brother, with the Hebrew suffix ra
someone who is wicked. Di
shikseh hot a brudera iz er ehrger far ihr. Zol em die erd
araynnehmen un tsen mohl aroysvarfn94.
Boruch Ata! If someone began to recite a
blessing, but could not proceed, people would reply: Fiddl
Data.
Gut Morgn Korev!....
A deaf Jewish man, who sold dairy produce was traveling
confidently from the village to the city to sell butter and
cheese, [while] at the time his wife had given birth to a baby boy. Another person encounters him and says: Gut
Morgn Korev! The deaf man
replies: I am traveling into the city! Is it far from the city? He
replies: My wife had a baby boy!
Will you give me a good price?
He replies: Three gulden a pound.
Gimzhet A light rain is falling.
An Outing on Tisha BAv Notice the covered
heads, which serve as a protection against
the age-old custom of youngsters throwing prickly nettles into
the girls' hair on that day.
Glokn-Lidl!
The [sic: Jewish] Zambrow children suffered the
greatest trouble from the priest and his servants, who would incite the gentile hooligans, and
would sic their dogs on the Jewish children. If a Jewish child should happen to draw near the priests
woods, he could not be sure of his life. The fat-bellied priest would seize the child, pull on his ear,
and often knock off his hat. As a result: when the [church] bells would ring, for a holiday, or a
gentile funeral, the Jewish children would take revenge by saying, in time with the pealing of the
bells: A kraynk, a
kraynk, zoll lygn, zoll laygn, dem galakh, dem galakh, in ponch (belly) arayn!95
Glugleh
A foolish girl, from the Old German Gluka a
cackling chicken, that sits on her eggs! Zi
iz a groyseh gluka, farshtayt nisht fun danen biz
ahin. 96
Gelkhl
Literally: the yolk of an egg. In the shtetl,
however, it was a term applied to a blond Jewish man.
Geleh Tshatch
A blond girl. Rarely, this term might also be
applied to a blond boy. This comes from the Russian Tchetcho
a doll, a sensitive child, or from the Polish, caca-cacko!
Geshmadeteh Haldz
A nickname for a glutton, who cannot control
himself, and eats everything Zyn
haldz is geshmadet!97
Gerirt
di Meryneh
Insulted someone. It is an alteration of Morenu.
Once there was a Morenu
who did not have the honorific title of a Scholar. When he was
called to the Torah, he was not accorded the courtesy of being called Morenu
haRav so it was said
that his Morenu
dignity had been touched.
Also, with irony, it might be said of an individual,
who is unworthy of the formal courtesy extended to him: A
Shayneh Meryna! It is
from this, that the childrens song is derived:
Shayneh-Meryneh Ketzeleh:
Bak Mir Op a Pletzeleh!
Shayneh-Meryneh Kotz,
Bak Mir Op a Platz! |
|
Pretty little honorable kitten:
Bake me a small flatbread!
Pretty honorable [big] cat,
Bake me a full-sized flatbread!
|
Geshmoltsener Shtern
Someone with an inflated opinion of himself. It is possible that
this is derived from the ancient practice of anointing the King
or the High Priest with oil. Accordingly, their forehead was
lubricated'.
Grobbeh Kopchekheh'
A nickname for a woman or a man, who is
thick-headed, and cannot grasp what is being discussed. This name, in the city, was applied to a
specific lady cook, a widow. It is possible that it was her husband, who was called the Grobber
Kop!98
Gramzhet He is eating without appetite. He
chews, and chews, but does not swallow.
Griner Shavuos
Used to describe someone who looked bad, and was
green and yellow. On
Shavuos, the house
would be decorated with all manner of greens.
Gesirkheh (Gesrokheh) A bad odor, bad behavior, that
denigrates a person.
A kind ohn a mann
Iz a groyseh gesirkheh,
Hot zi farshemt
Di gantseh mishpokheh!
|
|
'[To bear] a child without a husband
Is to make a big stink,
She brought shame upon
The entire family!
|
(From a folk song, which was sung in Zambrow
about fifty to sixty years ago, quite possibly when such an incident occurred).
Gret dirty underwear. Mann
vasht gret.
Grekhecheh
A gragger,
used on Purim to smite Haman, which the children would fashion
out of metal or wood. The older children would make a sort of rifle
out of thread spools, or make a shingle gun out of a roof shingle.
Didkeh (Ditkeh)
Three kopecks, from the Latin duodecem = twelve.
This means twelve half-groschen,
which would make six whole
groschen, or three kopecks.
The poor people in town would receive a half-groschen
as alms. However, half-groschen
were in short supply, so
the balebatim
would buy a 'didkeh
from the
Gabbai out
of the Tzedaka
this would be twelve chits
for six
groschen,
with the stamp of the community affixed on them, along with the writing: Half
of a Large, meaning a half-groschen.
The poor person would collect these chits, and exchange
these didkehs
for six real groschen.
In time, the six
groschen piece also became known as a didkeh.'
Girls would say to the musicians: Have a didkeh, and giver me a dance.
Direh Gelt
This is rent, which also was paid in Zambrow.
Not once did poor Jewish people have trouble with the landlord for not paying rent. Because of
this, children would sing:
Kumt arayn der baleboss
Mit der groyser khaliapeh,
Git men em nisht kayn direh gelt,
Shtelt er aroys di kanapeh!
|
|
The landlord comes in
With his big mouth,
If he is not given the rent,
He sets the couch outside! |
And then the entire Heder of little boys would chime in:
Oy direh gelt dem baleboss,
Direh gelt dem часовой
(Watchman)
Oy direh gelt, oy, Боже мой
(My
God)
Oy, oy, oy, oy oy!
|
|
Oh, pay the rent to the landlord,
[Pay] the rent to the
watchman
Oh, the rent, oh my God
Oh,oh,oh,oh, oh! |
This is a phrase from a well-known folk song,
which comes in different variations. In Lomza, instead of saying khaliapeh
(= big mouth) they would say shliapeh,
from the Russian, шляпа
(hat).
Dreibeh (Dribkeh)
The leftover parts of a bird, which the poor
would buy for the Sabbath meal: the head, the guts, wings and feet, or a small scrawny diminutive
chicken. This is what the Russians called the Polish eagle, which to them, looked like a sawed off
scrawny chicken, when compared to the double-headed Russian eagle. It is from here that the Litvak
pejorative is derived, used to belittle the dignity of a Polish Jew:
Poylisheh Dribkeh!
Drengenish
A special descriptor for diarrhea.
Halb-Shulzeit
The recess in the Bet HaMedrash,
between Shakharit
and Musaf services, especially on the High Holy Days. Women, who would go to synagogue to
pray on the Sabbath or Festivals, would take their
Halb-Shulzeit break
when the reading of the Torah was commenced, and they would go
home to feed the little children.
Hakn
To gorge, to eat quickly, by taking large bites:
Er hot arayngehakt
a ganzen lebl brayt.
Moishe und Aharn zitsn beim tish, hakn bulkehs, essn
fish.99
(From a Yiddish-Russian
folksong).
Haktsehs und Broktsehs
Cut him up and break him into pieces. When
someone has stubbornly refused to give in on a matter, one said:
khotch
haktsehs und broktsehs,
meaning that if you cut him up and broke him up into pieces, he would still not go along.
Heint ayns, morgn tsen
Gentiles would stop to make a mockery of a
Jewish funeral procession, when everyone else was crying and wailing. Because of this, Jewish
children would retaliate. At a gentile funeral, the Jewish children would say:
Heint aynem morgn tsen
Alleh teg zoll men ess zehen!
|
|
Today one tomorrow ten
May we see this every day!
|
Avadeh iz gevehn a vasserfirer
If someone said, among other things, Avadeh
is er gevehn! then the
rejoinder would be: Avadeh iz gevehn a vasserfirer100
(a play on the Polish word
woda meaning water).
Vu Voss Vehn?
a. If one of the children would interrupt a
conversation and ask: Vu?
Where?
He was answered by:
In tokhes bei der ku!
|
|
In the cows ass! |
This would cause him to fall silent.
b. If another boy would ask Vehn?
When?
The answer returned was:
Der
tateh hot dir geshmissen,
Khhob alayn gezehen! |
|
Your father whipped you,
I saw it myself! |
c. If the question was Voss?
What?
The reply was:
Voz
iz a gandz.
(Russian-Polish) |
|
Voz
is a goose. |
d. If one said Mali-Voss?
The reply that came back was: Malyi
voz is a small wagon
(Russian-Polish).
Vi Azoy?
One would ask: Vi
Azoy? The answer
returned: Lamcheh
derei!
Gei in kutseh101
Lay an egg.
Heint ayns, morgn tsvei,
Un farbeiss mit a gomulkeh shnei! |
|
Today one, tomorrow two,
And have a snack of a ball of snow! |
Ver vill?
When a group of children would be asked: Ver vill?
-- they were all supposed to remain silent. The one who blurted out and said Ikh,
caused all the children to mock him with the refrain:
Ikh? Gay in kikh,
Farbren di shikh,
Ikh vell essn lokshn mit mikh (milkh),
Und du vest essn proshakehs mit khazer.
|
|
I? Go to the kitchen,
Get your shoes burned,
I will eat noodles and milk,
And you will eat baking powder with pig. |
Wojtek The name of a simple gentile, and
often used to describe a young boy attending Heder, that
does not want to learn. Fun would be made of an
ignoramus, who in reading the Shema, would say
veAkhalta
veSawojtek instead of
veAkhalta veSavahta.
Vyser Polk
This was the way the dead were referred to,
because they were all dressed in white shrouds, as if in uniform, like soldiers. Er
iz gegangen in vysen polk arayn,102
indicates that the individual being referred to has died.
Zokhn Tribulations. A Jew is sick, or a gentile perpetrates zokhn,
or he is sick. When a wealthy person falls ill, and distributes tzedakah, so
as to earn some consideration in heaven, it would be said in the shtetl:
Az der noggid toot kreynken und zokhn,
Hot der oriman voss tsu kokhn! |
|
When the rich man suffers
illness and tribulation,
The poor man has something to cook! |
Zokhenish
A satirical reference to a
daughter. Especially a gentile daughter. "May his zokhenish
be the redemption. She is already twelve years old."
Zoress Shpiln
The trumpeting of the military guard in the
barracks, at night as a signal that it is time to go to bed, and also before dawn that it is time to get up
(from the Russian заря
reveille, tattoo). The reverberation of the trumpets at night, would
serve as a timepiece for the Jews: a signal when to go to sleep. The pious would rise in the morning
with these signals, to attend the first morning prayer
minyan, or
go to open up shop.
Zunero
A little gentile son, with the suffix reh, meaning wicked (in
Yiddish ro) is the way all the members would be counted out in
the family of a wicked gentile: der tatero (or fottero),
di
mamero,
der shvoggero,
der brudero,
di shvestero,
di shviggreo,
etc.
Zyreh -- see Yayreh
Zhomb A frost. Shott
gekhapt a frestl, und shpetter gevorn a zhomb. 103
Zellner Gehen...
There were three brothers. One had affected
eyes, so the doctors ordered him not to rub them. The second had an elflock 104
and so he was forbidden to
scratch himself. The third has polyps, and he was not allows to pick his nose. One time, soldiers
were going by. The first then remarked, rubbing his affected eyes: soldiers are going by! The second
then asks, scratching his head: Where? Where? The third then answered, picking his nose, right and
left: There! There!
Khaliapeh
A big mouth, Er
hot geefent di khalipeh un ongehoybn shiltn.
See above: Direh
Gelt dem Baleboss.
Khalaytsehs (Khalaytsehs)
Large bread loaves made from white flour (Challah
flour), often four-sided
like a long brick. This would be sold to the gentiles, when they would
come for a fair or a market, or be going to church on Sunday. The name comes from the Yiddish, Challah.
If the Challahs
in the oven didnt come out right, one would say: those are khalaytsehs,
not Challahs.
Khashliero
The wedding of a wicked gentile, having the
suffix reh appended, and intended to reflect the sound of khaleria
[sic: cholera](see
tatero, mamero, shvestero, brudero).
Khalleh-Bandeh
A small Challah,
which would be baked either on Fridays, or before Festival
Holidays, for children. This would also be shortened as bandeh.
It comes from the Latin root, bon
dia meaning good day, i.e. Yom Tov a Festival Holiday. In the shtetl,
it also served as an added name, There was a woman, a seller in the market, who was called
by this name (see: Matzo
Zu!).
Khatzi-Gadol
A half groschen, in the parlance of the charity
organization (see
Didkeh).
Tatero A gentile father, with the suffix
reh meaning he was wicked. Similarly: Mamero.
Tokhtero
See Tatero, Zunero, etc.
Tatulu Mamulu
Winter, during the nights of Christmas ( Boźe
Narodzenie), the observant
gentiles would blow small trumpets at night. The Jewish children would
then sing along with the same tune and cadence:
Tatulu,
Mamulu, ess dem kugelu!
Tomer Iz Gevehn a Yiddeneh!
If someone expressed doubt by saying, for
example: Tomer vet
er nisht velln?105
Another person might wittily reply:
Tomer (Tamar) was a Jewish
lady!
Tantz- Klass
In the Zambrow dance class, the
dance master would admonish the boys and the girls, who were not dancing well, and said to
them in the tune and cadence of a waltz:
Herrn und Damen, a klog tzu eikh!
Goyishe keplakh vaksn auf eikh! |
|
Ladies & Gentlemen, woe unto you!
You are developing gentile
intelligence! |
The girls would then retort, using the same
melody:
Hot nisht faribl, mir gehen nisht gikh,
Vyl mir hodn tserisseneh shikh!
|
|
Please dont blame us for not
moving spritely,
Because we have torn shoes! |
(Heard from my mother)
Di Maydlakh Gehen Tantzen
Once in a while, a significant amount of time
would go by, until the girls would save up money, [to pay] for the musicians, and they wanted to go
dancing. A short dance cost a
ditkeh three kopecks. Occasionally it would happen that the girls
barely made it to get the money together and the musicians would suddenly vanish. So they would
say: Di Maydlakh
Gehen Tantzen Geht der Klezmer fi106
(See tzvantzig kopekehs).
This would also be used in the Bet HaMedrash,
when the congregation was already present and the
person supposing to lead the service, or the Maggid,
went off elsewhere
Topp Tsimmes Flieht!
A recognition game used to be played. Each one
would lean a finger against the hip of the leader. The leader would ask various questions. What
flies or not. He would raise his finger at each question. The players, however, needed to remain
alert: A little bird flies! pick up the finger; a stork flies pick it up: An air balloon flies!
pick up the finger. A pot of tsimmes flies do not pick up the finger. Some, however, would raise their
finger also, when they were not supposed to, and would be fined with pitkehs
(a sort of penalty [see below]).
Torakh
Someone who tears things. Someone who quickly
tears a garment or a shoe, Er is a groyser torakh.107
Toyber Yash
A nickname for someone who is half deaf, who can
hear a little, but doesnt quite hear it all. It is derived from the name Tuvia, which in Polish is
Tobiasz, which was then modified into Toyb-Yash Toyber Yash.
Tifleh
A cloister. A parody of the Hebrew Tefilah [sic:
prayer]. Tifleh
is from the Hebrew meaning something unseemly (Job 1:22).
Tshamzayger
An epithet for a fool. There was a foolish young
man in the shtetl
that was given that
nickname, because instead of a vant
zayger [i.e. a wall
clock] he would say tshamzayger.
On that basis, other fools were called by that name as well.
Tshukhchak
A diminutive and scrawny little boy, who is not
qualified to be a soldier. It appears to be a word that comes from the Russian barracks108.
Tshifshukh Szczypior (Pol. A Green Onion)
The green leaves of onions, which were sold at
the beginning of the summer, from which a sort of salad was made to be served with meat (with
vinegar, sugar, and hard-boiled eggs). Children would make flute-like whistles from the tshifshukh.
Chelyemok
A deranged fool. Er
is a chelyemok! Mok
by itself was also used by the Galician Jews in an expression: Kyreh
Mok, where KYRH is the
acronym in Hebrew for
Keysar YaRim Hodo
[The emperor, may his glory be exalted] 109.
Yavnik
Someone who is cunning, who does not let himself
be deceived, but leads others around by the nose. 110
Yoloss
A clumsy, ungainly young man, especially a tall
over-nourished [sic: fat] young man, who is a
grobber yung,
a zhlub. 111
Yaleshkeh
Equivalent to a calf, that matures quickly into
a young cow. In the
shtetl, however, this is
what a cello was called, the large bass fiddle of the
musicians, because in Polish, czelo
is the same as czelica
a calf, a
yaleshkeh.
Yaireh
Signifying Jewish children, a modification from
Ihreh = Ayereh
[sic: yours], in contrast to gentile children, who were called Zyreh
modified from Zeyereh
[sic: theirs]: Three Yaireh
went for a stroll outside the city, and they were
assaulted by four Zyreh,
with dogs and clubs.
Yengalkehs
Wild-growing small pears, that grow in the
forest, or near the road, and become ripe to eat at around
Sukkot time. The gentiles would sell them by the sack. The same name
was derisively applied to the gangs of laborers, who during Hol HaMoed,
would come down from the nearby villages and towns, to look for work, and hire themselves out for a
period of time.
Yendikehs
Equivalent to Endikehs.112
In secret code language,
used in the shtetl,
this was used to identify immigrants attempting to get to America
illegally, without government passports. Agents from ship companies, or makhers,
would conduct them over the border into Prussia. There, they
would acquire a ships ticket to travel on further, as
far as Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, etc., to the [sic: trans-Atlantic] ship.
Der Yosseml
Children used to sing a song about a little
orphan, who suffers tribulation at the hands of a stepmother:
Shikt zi em nokh mehl zogt
zi es iz gehl; Shikt zi em nokh tsuker zogt zi es is bitter,11 3
etc. A cradle-song was
popular, about a baby orphan, that mothers would often sing
beside the cradle, to cause their babies to go to
sleep:
The mother lies on the ground,
Her feet already splayed out,
The little orphan lies in the cradle
With eyes all cried out.
There is no more mother,
There is no solace!
Who, my child,
Will smear butter on your bread,
Who, my child,
Will take you to
Heder?
There is no more mother,
There is no solace!
Who my child,
Will polish and adorn you,
Who, my child,
Will lead you to the wedding canopy?
There is no more mother,
There is no solace!
Etc.
Kalleh,
der Botchan See Botchan
above.
Kallehleh, Kallehleh, Vayn, Vayn!
Children would twist the word and mimic the badkhan
at weddings and say, using the same tune that he would use to sing to the bride:
Kallehleh, Kallehleh, Vayn, Vayn,
Der Khossn vet dir shikn a teppeleh khrayn.
Vest du farrotzn dyneh yoongeh tsayn
|
|
Bride, Bride, cry, cry,
The Groom will send you a
small pot of horseradish.
And you will redden your
youthful teeth... |
When a girl would burst into tears, passers-by,
or neighbors, would sing this to her, but instead of
Kallehleh
they would substitute her
name.
Kholyen
Sleeping, especially applied to a gentile or
general to a neer-do-well:
Er kholyet a ganzen tog, und toot gornisht.114
See poffn.
Khlayen Drinking hurriedly, and in large
amounts. A Yid
trinkt, a Goy khlayet. 115
Kapporeh-nik, Kapporeh-nitseh
A gentile youth, or gentile young woman. It is
derived from: Mein
kapporeh zoll er zein! Er
hot geshikt zein kapporenik koyfn mehl116.
Lahd
Disorder Bei mir
iz a groyser lahd, nokh heint di shtub nisht farkehrt. 117
Lokshnbrettl 118
A collar that was called a Hertzl,
starched and hard-pressed, that was worn around the throat, instead of an outside shirt.
Lieb dir dein gast!
This was the wish extended to people who were
obligated to host a guest for the Sabbath or a Festival holiday,
such as: a daughters prospective bridegroom, an in-law, etc.
Usually, a child was sent with a small bottle of wine, beer, or
soda water, to a friend, or neighbor, for the Sabbath, after the
traditional nap, and the child was instructed to say: My mother
sent this along and said
Lieb eikh eyer gast!
On the Riverside
Livereh
A
kaluźa
(paddle) of water,
modified from
riviera a water (or as
it was said in Zambrow: Lirn instead of Rirn. A fliask, instead of a
frask.)
Leibtsunak leibsudak, leibtsudek 119
A word equivalent to the arba
kanfot Tzitzit garment, called a tallit
katan.
Likhtl
A euphemistic description for someone with a
runny nose, like the frozen drops of water that hang down from the roofs and eaves of a window.
[Literally: a small candle].
Lyekken
Drab singing of no taste.
A Yid zingt zmirehs, un a Goy
lyekket.120
Mordeven Meisterven
This would be said in connection with someone
who doesnt have mastery of a skill, or about a youngster, who was trying very hard to fix
something: Er
mordevet shoyn a gantsen tog, untgornisht farricht. 121
Mazhgolehs
Sort of a large potato, which cooks up quickly,
but does not taste good. It would sometimes be said of a fat young woman, Zi
is a mazhgoleh.
Mazhen, mazhgen
Being sloppy. Not writing either
cleanly or legibly.
Mazhepeh
An ugliness. One would say of a particularly
unattractive girl: Zi
is dokh a mazhepeh! This
is derived from the name of a Cossack
122
in the time of Chmielnicki123
or Gonta124,
who was known as a hater of Jews, and had an ugly face.
Matchek (pol. Maciek)
A popular name for a gentile. This also served
as a synonym for a dissolute youth, who was not observant, and does not want to study (see
further on). If one did not believe someone, one would say: Motchek
zoll azoy lebn, vi siz emess!125
Matcheks Gram
An ill-formed rhyme or song, like a gentile (Motchek)
trying to speak Yiddish. Shot
a za taam, vi Motchkehs gram! 126
was a retort, when someone gave an inappropriate, or inadequate
reply.
Motchkeh Tepper
The name of an unfamiliar person in the shtetl:
Ba Motchkeh Teppern
oyf der khasseneh meaning: it never will happen. It appears that
there was once a
tepper127,
an old bachelor, who never got married.
Mokhchak
A young, impoverished youth, someone straitened,
who would go around [soliciting alms] from house-to-house. His mother would be called a Mokhchekheh
and the entire family De
mokhchekhehs.
It is from this, that the expression is derived for those who
have been abandoned, who walk about in tatters: Er
zeht oys vi a mokhchak128.
Makhn an ahver
Fetid air. From the Hebrew avir
-- air. If one desired to identify which boy in the Heder had passed wind, they would walk around and tap on the
lamp (the ear lobe), and stop at the one whose lamp was lit (or was hot), which was cause to pull
hard on his ear.
Makhraam
(The
Hebrew ?מכוערת)
An ugly girl, and it would be applied sometimes
extra specially to a gook-looking girl, so she not fall victim to the evil eye.
Mamero See Tatero, Zunero,
etc.
Montik in Bodd Arayn!
Occasionally, a special messenger would be sent
out to announce in the streets: In
bodd arayn! at those times when the baths would be heated up in
the middle of the week. When the revolutionaries would end there singing with the refrain:
Mutik un mutik in kampf arayn!
The little boys would sing afterwards:
Montik un montik in bodd arayn!
|
|
Into the battle with spirits high! Into the baths on Monday, and Monday!
|
Mashgareh
A mask, which was especially applied to a mask
worn at Purim time, which was made by the Heder children themselves. Sometimes the word would be
transferred to describe an ugly face: Siz dokh a miuskeit, a mashgara129.
Mayvin
kol Dibbur
A gentile, who understands Yiddish, comes into
the store, causing one person to warn the other, in folk-Hebrew, not to blurt out anything
derogatory: Der
orel is a mayvin al dibbur, kol oyss!130.
Ma Nishtanah?
Mah
why. Children would
wittily translate the
Hagaddah as follows:
Farvoss, ikh bin gevehn oyfn groz,
Iz gekummen a hoz,
Un mir opgebissn dem noz
Un khvayss nit farvenn un farvoss?
|
|
Why, I was on the grass,
Along came a rabbit,
And bit off my nose,
And I have no idea why? |
Makhar Tamuss
You will die tomorrow. When impolite youths
would encounter a wicked peasant, working in the field, they would jokingly wish him: Dai
Bozhe, makhar tamuss,
instead of Dai
Bozhe, na pomoc. May God help you! Uncomprehending, the peasant
would reply, as was customary: Pan
Bog Zaplac
may God repay you in kind. The better type children would not
engage in this sort of attempted banter.
Miuskeit
A
euphemism for a small mouse, not wanting to call it by name,
while eating..
A Myshev
From the word moshav.
Not rhymed in, Bei
im in shtub iz a myshev.
One would joke: In the Pentateuch, it is already written that Jews
have a myshev:
And the time the
Jews dwelt... (Exodus 12:40).
Mishimonkeh
A sumatokha
or a tumult. He cooked up a kasha and made a whole mishimonkeh out of it. One would also say, relating to the water in a
running brook which was sandy, and had not been allowed to stand: There is, after all, a mishimonkeh in the quart [bottle].
Malka Meirkeh
A special name for a Jewish lady who talks a
great deal, and it is impossible to get rid of her [incessant] tongue. It is possible that there
was a woman, of this sort, who had that name.
Meskeh
A dead person. Plural is meskehs.
Children would tell: Meskehs
would come into the
wreckage of the burned down synagogue, to pray. When they
read from the Torah they also call the living to an aliyah
from among those passing by in the street. Children believed
that such an individual, once called, did not emerge alive again from
their midst.
Matzo
Zu
When this was recited in the Hagaddah,
and especially on
Shabbat HaGadol, one would
respond:
Khalyibondes
koo! (see Khalleh Bondeh).
Mryneh Modified from morenu.
(See Gerirt di
Mryneh).
Mnogie
lieta [многие
лета] (Traditional Russian
birthday song)
On official government holidays (Goliubka)
when the representatives of the Jews would have to assemble in synagogue to extend respect to the
Russian authorities, and children had to sing the Russian anthem along with the Hazzan, the Mnogi
lieta was also sung from
time-to-time. That is, многие лета,
многие лета, православни цар
(Many years, many years, Russian Czar of the True Faithful.) Using the same tune, the children
would add the following verse:
Moshe mit Aharonen zitsn beim tish, hakn
bulkehs, un essn fish!
Alleh Yiddn in Yerushalayim, essn lekakh,
trinkn LChaim! |
|
Moses and Aaron are sitting at the table,
gorging rolls and eating fish!
All the Jews in Jerusalem are eating honey cake
and toasting
LChaim! |
Nu Nu
If someone said Na! the rejoinder was:
Na-The-Na! If somone said Nu! the reply would be:
Make a Motzki! This was because whoever had
washed his hands, and wanted to make a Motzi, and found no bread on the table, would shout at
his wife, Nu! not wanting to break the discipline of uttering a word that was not in the Holy
Tongue. It was because of this, that he was answered in this way.
Svorakh A runny cheese, from the Russian творог
(curds).
Svarbeh
An elision of the Hebrew words, Esrim
vArba (twenty four),
referring to the twenty-four books of the
Tanakh.
He is studying
Svarbeh already he is
studying The Prophets. The implication is that he is in an upper class, having completed his study
of the Pentateuch.
Stinkehs
Little fish, which was bought mainly during the
winter, chopping them up and making halkehs from them. They were also cooked whole, without
heads, in sweet and sour. They would make fun of a cross-eyed woman by saying: She looks at
pike fish, and buys
stinkehs. A skinny and
small man would be called stinkeh.
Siskehs
Elided from shishkehs,
which were prickly fruits that had thorns 131,
which on Tisha BAv
would be thrown at the heads of girls, and into the
beards of the older men. It was also called berelakh.
Smoleh Kop!
A shoemaker who would butt into everything was
called a smoleh kop 132,
because the cobblers thread was treated with pitch at the tip, so
that it would be able to negotiate through the hole that he made with his awl.
Podvereh Podwrek
A backyard. In the folk argot, the expression: Bkitsur
haDovor a podvereh a myseh133!
Poczantek
The beginning, the start (Polish). If one
bought, or sold something on a Saturday night, which brought a substantial profit, was called: Makhn
a gutn poczhantek. This
was considered a good omen for income to be earned during the rest of
the week. In Lithuania, they used to say poczatek. In Polish, this would also be elided to pierwszy
poczatek134.
Ponts
A folk descriptor for a big belly, from the
Italian pancho.
Er hot bakummen a
ponts. (See: A Kraynk dem Galakh.) 135
Poncewkeh
A stomach ache. In the summer, when one would
stuff oneself with unripe cucumbers, one got a poncewkeh.
stomach cramps, which was very similar to dysentery.
Poplon
A big pletzl [sic: a boardlike bread] made
from ruddy ??? flour, with onion shaken over it, which was baked over an open flame fire, when the
oven was being heated to bake bread. From the Polish
podpomyk.
Poffn
A vulgar way to express the act of sleeping too
much. He sleeps until the day is half over, and does nothing. See Kholyen.
Poppehs
A folk or childrens expression for small
potatoes, approximately the same as bulbehs
in Lithuania.
Pakn Tsitrinen
To shiver from the cold. Tsitrin
from the [Yiddish] word tsiteren
to shiver.
Farvorfen
To have died. It is an expression used when a
wicked gentile dies. Der
orel is farvorfen gevorrn 136.
Fort a Khossidl tsum Rebbn
Children of Mitnagdim would make fun of a Hasid who travels to his Rebbe, leaving his wife and children without anything to eat:
Fort der Khossid tsum Rebbn
Nishtduh di kinder broyt tsu gebbn,
Fort er mit aleh khassidokehs
Lozt der vyb un kinder makkess!
|
|
And so the Hasid travels to the Rebbe
There is no bread to give the
children,
He travels with all his
Hasidic claque
Leaving his wife and children
plagues! |
The gentile toughs would sing:
Jeszcze Chasyd do Rabina
Dzieci krzycz
ni ma!
Oj-Oj co to jest,
Czy to Chasyd
Czy to pies? |
|
Again a Hasid to a Rabbi
Children yell: theres not!
Oy, Oy, what is there,
Is it a Hasid,
Or is it a dog? |
Farsarget Farpachket, Farflekt:
Soiled. Di
hoyzn zynen farsarget mit blotteh. 137
Fartsoygn 138
Speaking Yiddish in a Polish accent, in contrast
to the Zambrow Litvak-Yiddish: She is from Pultusk, so she speaks with the vowels stretched
out. Ni kim
shoyn, gai shoyn, levooneh, ekh,
etc, instead of: Nu kum shayn, gay shayn,
levoneh, ikh,
Farfelneh Hittl
A Barashkov winter hat that looks like it had
farfel shaken over it.
Parshayn
a. A passenger in a wagon. The wagon drivers
would say thus: In
der boyd forn 13 parshayn. 139
The root for this is the word person.
b. A handsome man. Er
iz a parshayn, shayn vi di velt!
Poshliadkehs
Small plump pletzls,
baked from a cheap, dark flour, which was called poszlienda.
In the shtetl,
there was a renown elementary school Melamed,
who was also my
Rebbe, R Israel Chaim
Fleischer, who was called: Yisroel
Chaim mit di podliashkehs,
apparently because he was fond of eating them.
Pitkehs
These were blows that children would administer
to those who lost a game. A handkerchief was rolled up in the form of a nagaika140
and then used to hit the victim.
Pitch-Potch
An expression used to belittle someones doing.
In folk argot: Pitch-potch
umafli laassot. This was as good as:
Hot opgetohn, gevashn di
hent, gezogy, Asher Yotzar, un poter141.
Faygl
A Russian Ruble, a kerbl.
This is how we talked among ourselves, so that gentiles would
not understand us: it is worth a faygl,
a half-faygl.
There was a Russian eagle printed on the Ruble note: a
faygl.
Faynbroyt
--This was how a loaf of bread was
called if it was half-black.
A Flok Arayn...
Children would overhear a variety of old-wives'
tales in the Bet
HaMedrash, between the
afternoon and evening prayers, or in the street, in the
evenings, while they were playing. After the story was told, one of them would get up and say: A fleck
goes in a fleck goes out the story is finished!
Floyderzak 142
Someone who prattles incessantly, or someone who
cant keep a secret. (See bolbet).
Fliokh Fliokendreh
A female busybody, who runs around, and does not
sit at home.
Prukhneh
The powder from rotten wood [sawdust?], which is
used at the time of a ritual circumcision, to stem any bleeding from the cut. The Shammes would bring prukhneh to the home
where a Brit Milah
was to take place.
Psharniyeh
A kennel for dogs. During winter, when it would
be intensely cold in the house, one might say: it is as cold as a psharniyeh.
Fichmoomkeh
(Pitchmoomkeh?)
An expression applied to a woman who feigns
piety and goodness, but in truth she is being false.... possibly from Hungarian?
Tsalafut
A flute (???) that does something hurriedly, or,
words uttered that were not properly thought out.
Tsushteln a Benkeleh
To tell to a father that his son is going in a
bad direction, so that he will lay him across a bench and spank him: Ikh
vell dir shoyn tsushteln a benkeleh farn tatn!143
or, Farn Rebbn!
Children would tremble upon hearing this. On occasions when
when the father, or the Rebbe, did put down a child on a bench and strap him, the children would
stand around and sing:
Geshmissener tokhes
Oyf drei brokhes!
Fun oybn a latteh,
Fun untn a shmatteh,
Dos benkeleh shtayt,
Der rut shmeisst!
Der tokhes reist!
|
|
The spanked rear end
hould be for a triple blessing!
A patch on top,
rag underneath,
The little bench stands,
The switch whips!
The rear end hurts! |
Tsigeleh Migeleh We would sing...
Tsigeleh Migeleh, veks in krigeleh
Roiteh pomerantzen!
Az der tateh shlogt der mamen
Geyen di kinder tantzen!
As der tateh fort avek,
Geyt di mameh aryn in bet.
Az der tateh kumt tsu forn,
Vert di mameh a kimpetorn.
Khapt der tateh a fyertop,
Un makht der mameh a lokh in kop!
Veynen di kinderlach: oyvey!
Shrayt der tateh: siz gut azay!
|
|
Baby goat, wax in a jar
Red oranges!
When the father beats the mother
The children go off to dance!
Should the father travel away,
The mother takes to the bed.
When the father travels back,
The mother becomes with child.
The father grabs a coal scuttle,
And makes the mother a hole in the
head!
Should the children then cry out:
oy-vey!
he father shouts: its good this
way! |
Tsaylomkeh
A quill that had a cross-shape at its tip, and
wrote well. Other quills were: a shiflkeh
in the shape of a ship, a lamed-feder
in the form of the letter lamed, etc.
Tsaylenish
With every game they played, the children used
to count, who was to go find the hidden people, who has to locate a place to stand, etc.
Accordingly, there were different ways to count:
1. Using a line from the prayers, in which the
one tagged with the last word goes free.
2. Using another line from the prayers, in which
the one tagged with the last word goes free.
3. The coppersmith: each player puts a finger on
the hip of one person, and another person counts: Once there was a coppersmith, who had a
kettle to hammer out, and he did not know how many nails to drive in. He hammers in one,
hammers in two, hammers in three go out free. And the one on whom the last word falls,
indeed goes free.
4. Enneh-Menneh,
Kuri Fenneh, Otvo Drotvo, Kuripotvo ik Pan Bobek Frets.
The one who was designated with Frets
went free.
5. Pulling on knots. We used to bring together
the four corners of a handkerchief, making a knot on one of them. The one who drew the corner with
the knot was the one to play, or goes looking.
Tsimmes I told you and told you and told
you:
Az khassidimlakh firrn zikh bnimess:
A gantseh vokh, arbeitn zey dokh,
Un Shabbes essn zey dem tsimmes!
|
|
When Hasidim comport themselves appropriately:
They work for the entire week,
though,
And eat their
tsimmes on the Shabbat! |
(From a song of the Mitnagdim about Hasidim)
Kozholkehs Turning somersaults, or cartwheels
(head over heels).
Kozheleh Baran
Er
makht fun ihm Kozheleh Baran,
He is making sport of him. Taken from a Slavic folk tale.
Kotcherehs mit Lopetehs
If someone writes, using large and ungainly
letters, it would be noted that: Er schreibt Kotcherehs mit Lopetehs! These are two implements used by
bakers. The first is used to shovel out the ashes from the oven, and the second to seat the
bread dough in the oven and to remove it when it is baked.
Katchkeh Drelekh
When someone would begin reciting El Melech
the children would rejoin with:
katchkeh drelekh
Mir ohn epply, dir a makkeh in keppl.144
[Isaac Bashevis] Singer
records another variant:
El Melech, katchkeh drelekh, mir ohn broyt, dir a makkeh in
boykh...145
(from A World That No
Longer Exists, p. 180).
Kolats
This was how one referred to a collapsed and not
??? loaf of bread or Challah. Kolats
also refers to oil seeds from which the oil had been pressed
out, and had been pressed into bricks, and sold as cattle feed.
Kopvaytik
A special type of flower, or leaf, which is
drunk, and is steeped in hot water to get rumianek146
a cure used to rinse out eyes that didnt feel
well, and especially to drink when one has a kopvaytik.(a headache).
Kapintl A chapter of Tanakh, instead of kapitl.
Kutchkeh Baran
Carrying a child on ones back, in the manner
that one would carry a baran
(a ram) to be sold. There was also a childs game by this name.
Koykeh
A woven basket similar to a trough in which
the fisherman would hold fish for sale.
KuKeriku!
What dos the little chicken say when she crows at
daybreak? She recites song! She says:
Eier layg ikh, borvess gay ikh, kukeriku!
I lay eggs, I go barefoot,
kukeriku!
Kliatch
An epithet for a fat girl 147,
from klacz
Polish for a mare.
Klyt, Klytl,
also Krom Kreml
(from the Russian клет).
In Lomza, this was called a boodl. 148
Kliepak
A coin, worn down from rubbing, that the children would play
with.
Kesslgrub 149
A deep depression in a river, from which water
flows. It is dangerous to swim near a kesslgrub.
The
kesslgub near Shimsheleh, every summer, attracts a living thing
therefore, at the beginning of the summer, the custom was to drown a cat, or a dog
there, so that it would be possible to bathe in that vicinity.
Kessl-Kosher
Kosher food provided for the Jewish soldiers to
eat, who were on duty in the shtetl,
so they would not have to eat trayf
from the kessl.
Special emissaries were sent to nearby and distant towns, such
as R Shamehlejzor (Shammai-Eliezer), to gather
money to underwrite Kessl-Kosher.
Kesslpoyk A large kettle drum in an
orchestra.
Ketzlmameh
This was the name given to a woman who loved
cats, and who devoted herself to them, as if they were little children.
Krok
From Polish, meaning a step. It was used to
describe the fly on a pair of pants, that is closed with buttons. Your fly is open, button yourself up!
Kroshkeven
To crawl around on your hands and feet. Small
children kroshkeveh,
before they are able to stand up and walk.
Royeh Zein
To keep an eye on the gentile, lest he snatch
something away from the store. Zei
royeh aufn orel!150
one would say, so that he not comprehend what
is meant (see above: Mavin
kol Dibbur)
Roiter Kollner
Refers to a Russian policeman, a стражник,
who wore red stripes at their collar. He was also called a schmirrer
from the word shomer,
shmirah,151
and ornament.
Reiback Reibekhts
(Ulnik
????, a doughy substance):
A grated potato baked in a tin form, the way either kichel or
challah is
baked.
Reibekehs
Small dumplings made from grated potatoes, that
are cooked in water, soup, or milk.
Reibn Araynreibn
To consume, with gusto. A bit of bread was left
over so the children consumed it with gusto in the dark (from a folk song, about a stepmother).
Shvestero A wicked gentile sister. See tatero, brudero.
Schuster-Kvass
The water in which feet were soaked, that became
brown, and acquired a bad odor. This was called Schuster-kvass. The wives of the shoemakers,
whose husbands were not making a living, would say to their husbands angrily:
Schuster-Kvass, Zoll dir lign a Khalass!
Schuster-Broyt Zoll di lign tsum toyt! |
|
Shoemakers soda Let it lie in
your ???
Shoemakers bread Let it lie with you till death! |
Shurdeh Burdeh Killeh....
[A game] played with circles and stripes. Two
long lines were scored into the ground, and two other lines were drawn perpendicular to them, crossing
them. One side would defend the area, not letting others through to reach the marked area. Should
someone get through, his partner would make three circles in all three corners, and he would then
lose. He would be called shurdeh
(for the first circle), burdeh
for the second, and killeh
for the third. If he loses a second time: he is called: Kil-noyeh,
Kil-yoyeh, bembereh!
An elision from the
Hagaddah of Ki lo naeh, ki lo yaeh
bimhera beyamenu.
It would also be used in other games.
Shtulkats
Elided from shturkats.
A burning little package that would be carries while singing,
leading a bride and groom to the wedding canopy, or on Simchat Torah at night, when one would go to the
Hakafot.
Shtumeh Lielyeh
This
was said of someone who did not know how to offer a reply.
Shtunkfass
A young Heder boy, who was not yet
toilet-trained. In the plural it is shtunkfasses.
Chaim Reuven the
Melamed had a Heder filled with
shtunkfasses.
A Shtroff...
Our
Rebbe would tell us that
in olden times, children would receive severe punishment from
the
Rebbe. The
victims pants would be pulled down, revealing the private
parts, with grain sprinkled over them, and the little chickens called in to
pick at the grains on those parts. The little boy would be held down by the others, not permitting him
to move! When the children would act up, the Rebbe
would threaten us by saying: Remember, I will
call on the little chickens shortly, and then woe unto you!
Shtryker
(Striker)
A socialist. This is how the organized
socialist-workers were called in Zambrow, in the fifth year (1905), because of the strikes that the workers
would often call for. In folk talk: Stryger.
Shitkovaneh Broyt
A special half-white bread, baked out of sifted
roseate flour. In other places (Lomza) it was referred to as
half-satin bread, because the flour was sifted through a sieve
made of satin thread.
Sholom Aleichem!
Sholom Aleichem would be the initial greeting when
encountering a stranger, followed by the question: And where might this Jewish person
come from? Children would sing as follows:
Sholom Aleichem, foon vanen a Yid?
(Or,
Sholom Aleichem? A guter Yid!)
Halber tokhes obgebrieht!
|
|
Sholom
Aleichem, from where is
the Jew?
(Or Sholom Aleichem?
A good Jew!)
With half his behind scalded! |
Shmadalnik
A person acting like an apostate. Meaning that
he does not wash before eating, does not pray, and even violates the Sabbath.
Shmadpust
A derisory term, derived from the the Polish
word, odpust,
which refers to a Catholic procession, especially on summer Sundays.152
Shmontseh-Dlonieh
Trivia, Doss
un Yents, He bought a
shmontseh
and a dlonieh,
and ended up paying a lot of money for it (heard from elderly Jews).
Shmektum
Someone who is a snoop, who goes about sniffing
into everything, to see if there is something not in order. There was a chorister with the Hazzan, one of the first members of the
chorus, which he had brought in from Odessa, and he was called
this, because of the way he behaved.
Shimshn HaGibber
If someone would say: He is a strong as Samson
(Shimshn HaGibber),
the other party would make a joke of it and say: mittn lekhl ariber
(over the hole).
20 Kopikehs Kost a Sherl
Boys and girls, at a wedding, would dance the
Sher (a shereleh),
and pay the musicians twenty kopecks for playing it. Little boys, from underneath the
window, would sing:
Tsvantsik kopikehs kost a sherl
Doss iz dokh gantz tyer!
Az a bokher tantst mit a maedel
Brennt in ihm a fyer!
|
|
The Sher costs twenty kopecks
This is rather expensive!
[But]when a boy dances with a girl
A fire burns inside of him!
|
Schmeisser
A wagon drivers assistant, an apprentice, that
is learning how to handle a horse and wagon. In other cities 153,
this was the term used to describe a Jewish person who would do
a deal with a train conductor, paying him a specified sum, in place
of buying train tickets which cost a great deal more.
Shkyakh .
An elision of Yasher
Koach, being a means of
expressing thanks. When a kohen would descend from the
bima after performing the Dukhan (priestly blessing), it was customary
to say: Shkyakh Kohen!,
to which he would angrily reply: Brekh
a beyn! (Break a Bone) or
Brokh tihiyeh
(may a calamity befall you) in place of Baruch tihiyeh
(may you be blessed)154.
Tehillim
Zogn
Those more liberal sorts, who would afflict
themselves by not eating or sleeping, in order to lose weight, would call the nights they did this Tehillim
Zogn.
B. The Jewish Agricultural Calendar in Zambrow
Group
of Young Girls
A Sewing Circle, Operated by
a
Group
of Young Girls
When we were driven from our homeland, and
became scattered and spread out across the world, we also lost our relationship to Mother Earth.
In the lands of the Diaspora, we no longer committed ourselves to working the land. However, a little
bit at a time, we acclimatized ourselves to the climate of our surroundings, and together with
the Torah portion of the week, and the Festivals, we fashioned a green calendar, meaning: the
vegetables and fruits of the season became woven into the Jewish calendar and Jewish customs. I will
here recall that green calendar, from my little shtetl
of Zambrow, in the first decade of the twentieth
century.
A.
The Month of Nissan. Observant Jews go out into the fields to bestow a blessing on
the trees that are beginning to bloom.
B. The
Parsha of Shemini.
When the parsha
of Shemini is read, the stork comes flying in
from warmer climates. This was a sign to the огородникй155
to conclude their negotiations
with the nobility and with the priest, concerning the
maintenance and care of the garden or orchard. At the same time, a Jewish man, from deep inside Russia
would come to negotiate in the Zambrow gardens. Accordingly, he was called The Stork.
C.
Karpas. So we would begin
to consult with one another what to use for karpas at the Seder
which green vegetable is most appropriate of the
Passover at hand parsley, a baby carrot, or a small potato altogether?
D.
Pepper. The Zambrow Rabbi
forbade the use of pepper, during Passover, because the pepper merchants would adulterate the pepper with
flour, to add weight... but how can you eat fish without pepper? What kind of taste would that have? So
we got clever: We brought pepper from Lomza, bearing a Hekhsher from the Lomza Rabbi, because the
Lomza Rabbi permitted the use of pepper on Passover: Moshe Aharon Hefner, the big-time
colonial merchant would bring pepper, and personally have it ground.
E. On the First Day of Passover, the wagon
drivers, and other owners of horses, would send their horses out onto the field to pasture, after the
winter days. So it was said: On the First Day of Passover, Az
mBencht Tal Fihr aroys dem pferd fun shtall156.
In the days before Passover Eve, a type of sour
grass would sprout in the fields, that the gentiles called Hallelujah following the song from
their Easter prayers.
F.
Rosh Chodesh Radishes.
After Passover, the small radishes begin to ripen, either red or
white. They were called Rosh
Chodesh radishes or riebelakh
because they become ripe at the beginning of the month. The children of the
gardeners would bring the first bunch of radishes, as a gift for their Rebbe in Heder.
G.
Lag BOmer. The children
would say Lakh-Boymer
because the trees laugh, and are happy when they grow. The teachers would go for a stroll
into the forest with their students, and have a good time there.
H.
The Parsha of Emor. This
weekly portion that comes out before Shavuot, always comes when
the Jews were shearing wool off of the sheep that
they would lease from the nobility. The first of the wool would be used to spin ritual fringes (tzitzit),
saying: Parshat
Emor (Emmer) shert men di lemmer.157
I.
Shavuot. A Festival
Holiday of Greens: On the eve of the holiday, we would go to
tear up bluszcz
??? with which to decorate the windows, and to
spread out on the floor. Bread was even baked over
bluszcz instead of spreading coal out underneath. A pale girl, a grinzukh
was called a griner Shavuess in Zambrow.
J.
Akdamot. The poktchorehs
from the surrounding villages would provide Jewish Zambrow with butter, sour cream and cheese for Shavuot. It
was not necessary to buy from a gentile. Those who had goats for milk, would tether them near the
synagogue, or Bet
HaMedrash, on Shavuot in the morning, so they could hear the recitation of Akdamot,
this being considered a good luck charm leading to the production of much milk....
K.
The Parsha of Korakh. It
is summer time. The first fruit appears in the city. On this
week, the black berries come up in the woods. One would
say: Today, the earth swallowed up Korakh and has in turn given us berries. Children would
make juice: They would pour berries into a small bottle, with a little bit of sugar, squash it
all up with a small piece of wood, licking it, and thereby coloring their mouths and cheeks black. At the
time of the reading of this weekly portion, the following would also appear: red cherries, and
the horseradishes to be used for khrayn.
And it was, therefore, said: these three mentioned items,
are the acronym (in Hebrew) of the portion, Korakh.
L.
The Wheat for Shmura Matzo. At this time, a report was received
that the wheat in the fields was ripe for harvest. Accordingly, the observant
Jews would organize themselves, travel out into the fields of the gentiles, buy up parcels of land
that had wheat growing on them, and they would dry it out and polish it for Shmura Matzo for Passover. The Golombecks,
who had their own fields, would provide wheat for Shmura Matzo for a not insignificant number
of Jews, and this was their mitzvah.
M.
Tisha BAv. And here comes
Tisha BAv.
The children would, towards evening, in time for the recitation of Kinot,
go to the cemetery, picking the prickly growth from the bushes,
for the purpose of throwing them that evening into the hair of
girls, and into the beards of the Jewish men. Accordingly, on Tisha BAv,
the girls would go about with their hair tied up in kerchiefs,
and the bearded Jewish men would be watchful about their
beards.
N.
Little Diaspora Apples.
The black Golshe-Eppelekhripen
by Shabbat Nahamu,
from whose juice ink is made for writing Torah Scrolls. We would
call them Goluss-Eppelekh
(Little Diaspora Apples) and this was appropriate for Shabbat
Nahamu, when we are comforted with words to emerge from the blackness of exile.
O.
Apples. The best offer of
hospitality was a small apple. Shabbes-Oybst
would mean to be honored with a juicy apple. Sour apples were
called the apples of Sodom, and the little apples that grew wild alongside the roads, and on the
cemeteries, were called Kvoress
eppelakh (Apples of the Cemetery). A lout would be ejected from the Bet
HaMedrash as if he were a sour apple.
P.
Rosh Hashanah Apples. Red,
juicy apples would be stored until Rosh Hashanah,
over which the Second Night blessing of SheHekheyanu
would be recited, after which slices of apple would be dipped in honey. In the later years, green
grapes and red watermelons would be brought in from Warsaw and Bialystok.
Q.
Small Kol Nidre Pears. The
gentiles would sell sacks of miniature pears, that grew wild in
the woods, at the end of the summer. The poor Jews
would dine on these. That is why they were called Kol
Nidre pears. Between Yom
Kippur and Sukkot, they would be spread out on a bed of straw, up in the attic, and permit them to age. They
would turn brown, and were not particularly good to eat, at which point they were called Yengalkehs.
R.
Skhakh. The branches of
pine trees would serve as skhakh for the sukkah. Accordingly, these trees were called skhakh
all year round. By contrast, without drawing a parallel, during
Christmas, when the gentiles would decorate these trees with all
manner of tiny lights, and colored paper, it was then called an Idol-Tree making reference to the
gentile deity.
S. Zydkowska
Wisznia. The sukkah would also be decorated with the
skhakh of the kolina.
This was a special variety that had kolinas as large as cherries. The gentiles
would bring this for sale at Sukkot
time and call it Jewish Cherries.
T.
Hoshanot. During Hol HaMoed Passover, the children would make
whistles out of the leaves of the willow tree (the tree of Hoshanot).
The wood would be carefully pulled out of the twig, and make a flute out of the soft core. One the eve of
Hoshana Rabba
groups of children would go
off into the distant fields, near the swamps, cut off the
twigs and small branches from the willows, and bring them into the city to sell them as Hoshanot.
U.
A
Small Garden of Eden Apple. This is what the gentiles called an
Etrog. Fyvkeh the Shoemaker would carry around the community Etrog throughout the holiday, from house to
house, so that the womenfolk would be able to bless the Etrog
in the morning, and then grab something to eat. He watched it like a hawk (with seven eyes as it
were) so that no pregnant woman accidentally bite off the tip before Hoshana Rabbah.
V.
Simchat Torah. During
Hol HaMoed Sukkot,
the new Gabbaim
were selected by the various
study houses. The new Gabbai would then treat the
congregants with wine-flavored apples for the Hakafot.
W.
The Parsha of Noah. We
would begin storing up fruit and wood for the winter. The double windows were installed, cellars were filled with
potatoes, carrots, beets, and the small windows were plugged up with rags and straw so that the
fruit should not freeze.
X.
Putting Up the Kraut. The
gentiles would bring wagons full of cabbage for preservation.
For this purpose, neighboring ladies and members of the
family would get together to help cut up the cabbage for soaking in a large barrel. So we
would eat and cook sauerkraut for the entire winter, and half the summer. The women would not permit
the children to eat the glombehs ??? from the ??? cabbage on the belief that it dulls the
senses for purposes of learning.
Y.
The Parsha of Miketz. Very
cold frosts. The children, however, would think about the warm
fields of Egypt, where the Pharaohs fat and lean cows
took their pasture, In Heder, the children would make a translated ditty out of Miketz:
Maczek kup Czapkeh
[sic: from Polish], meaning, Maczek, buy a hat because it is cold. This
always falls out a
Hanukkah time, and the
children would further expand the acronym to be: Melamdim
Kummen Tsum Hoyz,
meaning that the students
[melamdim]
from the villages, who would return to their homes in honor of
Shabbat Hanukkah.
The
tsimmes would be made from parsnips.
Z.
Nuts from the Land of Israel. At about the same time, nuts from
the Land of Israel would appear in the stores, also called pistachios because
they are mentioned in the portion of the week. Jacob told his sons to take this, and bring it as a
gift to the ruler of Egypt, who is selling them grain.
Children would say that these nuts grew on the
cemetery, and when such a nut is opened you see the head of a Jewish man.
AA.
Little Hanukkah Candles. Under the eaves of a roof, and on
windows, little stalactites of ice would form. The children would call them little
Hanukkah candles.
AB.
Hanukkah Cheese. During
Hanukkah, especially hard cheese was sold, which was salted, peppered, and covered with czarneszka ??? So we called it Hanukkah
Cheese, which Judith gave to Holofernes to eat.
AC.
A Special Entreaty for Trees.
On the Sabbath when blessings were recited to usher in the new month of Shevat, a special entreaty was recited
for trees that they grow and blossom in the Land of Israel, and that they not be harmed by the
frost.
AD.
Shabbat Shira. Buckwheat
groats were scattered under the windows for the little birds
as a memorial to the Manna that fell in the desert, as is read
in that weeks portion.
AE.
Khrayn for Passover. In
the same portion, one reads the words tishlakh
kharonkha [sic: send thy wrath] which served as a reminder to bury
the horseradish in the sand, so that it be ready and good for use on Passover for the Seder.
AF.
Perlkasheh Cholent. On
that same Shabbat Shira, pearl groats [kasha] would be put into
the
cholent.
Immediately after this Sabbath, one would begin to air out and
gather the shmura-wheat, pouring it into pristine white linen
receptacles, and hang it up on blocks from the ceiling until
after Purim.
AG. Fruits
of the Fifteenth. This
was the name given to such fruits as bokser (carob pods), figs, dates and raisins, that were bought in honor of
the fifteenth day of Shevat [Tu
BShvat]. The fruits themselves were called khamishosser [elided fifteen]: git
mir far a kopikeh khamishosser158.
AH.
Aarons Cane. Children
believe that this was the week in which Aarons cane bloomed in
the desert and gave forth almonds. In the Land of
Israel, this is actually the time when the almond tree does bloom.
AI.
Goat-Bokser. On the
fifteenth day of Shevat, the nanny goat becomes a celebrity in
the Land of Israel, because Goat-Bokser is eaten there. We
would sing:
Lamnatsayakh Mizor Shir Kozheneh Bokser Essn Mir.159
In the cradle song, one
also sang: Di
tsigeleh iz gegangen handlen Rozhinkehs mit Mandlen.
AJ.
An Etrog Prayer. The
Hasidim would go out into the woods on Tu BShvat and offer a prayer there on behalf of the Etrog, asking that it grow well, for the
rest of the season, and that we be privileged to have a good Etrog become available
on the following
Sukkot.
AK.
The Very Intense Cold Frosts.
The most intensely cold frosts would come during Shevat, and therefore it would be said: Shevat
nie Brat Shevat is no
Brother It is cold. Also, it was said:
Shevat halt dem PRT: Frest, Regen, Tuman
[Frost, Rain and Fog] three
good icons of the month.
AL.
Shabbat Khazak. Parshat
of Vayakhayl-Pekuday Makht men a Seudeh,160
in Heder,
because this is the time of year when the young boys
stop studying at night. In the
Bet HaMedrash,
when the Reader would conclude the Pentateuch, the
reading in the Torah, with the words, Khazak,
Khazak!
all the children would respond: Kazak,
khazak, a shissl pasternak!161
Indeed, on that Shabbat, a parsnip tsimmes would be made.
*
With the arrival of the month of Adar, the
green calendar of my birth shtetl comes to an end a place that to our everlasting sorrow, is no
longer green.
C. Purim in the Shtetl
With the arrival of Purim everyone in the
shtetl began to disguise themselves, old and
young, the important people in the town from Hakhnosas
Orkhim or Hakhnosas
Kalleh would disguise themselves literally as if they were generals:
red long trousers, with a wide blue belt over them, as long as the external garment, and a red jacket
with gold epaulettes and shiny buttons. A mask on the face, and a tall hat on the head, with a sword
at the side. Dressed in this royal garb, they would go from house-to-house, in order to collect monies
for the benefit of brides from poor families or for other poor Jewish people. After Purim, they
would donate these clothes to Hakhnosas
Orkhim, where the Shammes, Binyomkeh Schuster, or the Gabbai Hershl Tukhman (Hershl Pokczar) would lock them up in a bureau until Purim of the
following year. When strikers would appear in the
shtetl,
who wanted to dethrone Nicholas II, the страший- старжник
(most senior police officer), Bomishov162
suspected that these people in
costume, with their swords, were in earnest, and want to become generals and admirals. He therefore
issues a prohibition against costuming. Accordingly, the Rabbi took responsibility, and locked up the
costume wear at his own home in the shtibl of the
Bet-Din.
The children would [also] dress up in costumes
on Purim. They would tear our a double quarter from a koyet mostly the colored outer pages;
they would fold the lower half into a mask, to put under their chin, making two small holes above,
for the eyes, a triangular cutout in the middle for the nose, and a small wide cut for the mouth.
Anyone who could draw would add a couple of eyebrows, and a moustache. Others would paste on
some cotton or ??? a beard and side locks and lo it became a mask. In the parlance of the
shtetl, this was a mashgara,
which comes from an Italian word that is as good as mask
mascara. Italian street players, who used to entertain at the fairs in Poland, brought this word [into the
country]. Accordingly, the children would put on the
mashgara,
and go from house-to-house, singing:
Heint iz Purim,
Morgn iz oys,
Git mir a groschen
Un varft mir aroys...
|
|
Today is Purim,
Tomorrow it is over,
Give me a groschen
And throw me out...
|
The Purim actors (Purim
Shpieler) injected a
special form of joy into the shtetl.
The women in our courtyard would tell us how at one time, a group
of boys and girls got together and decided to perform on Purim, in the Womens Synagogue of
the White Bet
HaMedrash, by putting on
the play, The Selling of Joseph. The proceeds would be
for the benefit of the poor. The men played all the female parts. All the women did was prepare the
costumes and the scenery. The singing of the artists reverberated through the shtetl for a long, long time. My mother, may
she rest in peace, would sing along the words of Joseph the Tzaddik, at the
time that his father came to him in Egypt:
Khbin gekummen kein Mitzrayim a boymeleh
flanzen,
Kum tateh Yaakov, lomir baydeh tanzen... |
|
I have come to
Egypt to plant a tree,
Come father Jacob, let us both
dance... |
However, the women would add, it is not
permitted to put on a theatrical performance in a holy place like the Womens Synagogue. Because of this, all
the performers were punished. Some of them even died prematurely, and Hershl Tukhmans wife, who
sewed the clothes for the costumes, was punished, in that she was unable to bear
children...
I recall that, in Purim of the year 1905, when a
revolution reigned in Russia, the Yeshiva students decided to put on the play, David and Goliath,
in the Rabbis large salon, as usual without his knowledge. His son, Chaim-David (today Rabbi and
Yeshiva Headmaster in Chicago), took out the special costume clothing from the bureau, in
order to dress themselves up as Philistines. At that time, I was
six years old. I was barely able to squeeze
myself into the premises, and saw the first ever play of my life. After the songs of the Jews and the
Philistines, King Saul emerges, wearing a golden crown, sits down on the royal throne and sings:
Ich bin der Koenig Shaul, Har fun der Velt,
Ihr zent meineh yoiatsim, ir zent far mir
geshtellt. |
|
I am King Saul, ruler of the world,
You are my
advisers, you stand before me. |
And then a large, tall gentile emerges,
costumed and moves like Jozef the
Shabbos-Goy,
who lodges in the bathhouse, and heats it up on
Friday, living the entire week off the proceeds of earth and clay pot lids, heating them up in the
bathhouse oven, and on the Sabbath, going from house-to-house, heating ovens, and getting, at each location, a
bit of Challah
and a shot of whiskey, the
first glass of tea, and on Sunday a kopeck as well.
And so, Goliath the Philistine stands there, and
sings in front of the Jewish soldiers:
Ich bin Golyass, gor der groyser held,
Ikh bin der shtarkster fun der gantser velt,,
Ver svet gayn mit mir milkhomeh haltn,
Dem vell ikh dem kop tsushpaltn,
Dem vell ikh in drerd farbaltn.
|
|
I am Goliath, a truly great
hero,
I am the strongest in the world
Whoever chooses to do battle
with me,
I will split his head [open],
And hide him away deep in the
ground. |
A deathly fear possesses everyone: who is it
that will [dare to] challenge such a great hero? A little boy appears, wearing the cap of a Hasid, with curled side locks, and a small
black kapote, holding a shepherds sack and walking stick, and shouts
into Goliaths ear: You, Goliath, you Goliath. I will do battle with you, I will split your head, and
I will hide you deep in the ground.
A shiver runs through everyones bones: This
diminutive David is he going to assault such a large gentile? So the hero Goliath entreats him going
up to him like Jozef the drunkard:
'Klayn Dovidl, klayn Dovidl, avek fun mir,
Khgib dir a potch fliestu tsum tir.
|
|
Little David, little David,
get away from me,
Ill give you a slap youll
fly to the door. |
And here, Goliath adds a line, unique to
Zambrow: Ikh gib
dir a potch fliestu kayn Gacz,
because Gacz is a small shtetl near Zambrow.
Goliath has not yet indicated that he has
finished his song, and a stone has already smitten and entered his head. He falls down. David beheads
him, meaning his mask, and the Jews are victorious. Saul was at war and wanted the witch to raise
Samuel from his grave. The witch is made up as a ketzlmameh
a Jewish woman in the shtetl without a husband, who would raise a
house full of cats. It was said of her that she was a witch,
and had dealings with devils, and in this instance she was called Martiszka
( this is how a monkey is called in Russian). She raises the
Prophet Samuel, who comes out of a barrel, all in white...
After the play, one went around from one to the
next, with hat in hand, and asked for payment for the play: please make a charitable
contribution, make a charitable contribution, dont embarrass yourselves in front of fine people take out a
twenty-fiver, we can give you change.
The following day, the police came to the
Rabbis residence to investigate who here had put on revolutionary theater. It had the appearance
that they were informed by David Yudes the son of the elderly midwife, who was a Feldscher and a barber, who was in cahoots with
the police, and even legally carried a revolver with him.
D. The Fifth Year (1905)
Three Reputable Workingmen: Shlomo Pekarewicz (a butcher), David Podruzhnik
(a house painter) and Chaim Burstein (a tailor).
The children are not identified.
It was the Sunday of the Parsha of Noah.
I was being taught at Bercheh the Melamed,
and I was six years old. News had arrived that the Czar had signed
the constitution [sic: into law] and that a demonstration was to take place on the Ostrow
Road. Secretly, it was also passed along that Yossl
Mazik (a
son of Meir-Yankl Mordikamen) is making a flag on which will be
drawn the head of a pig, over which will be the Russian crown...
Bercheh the Melamed was, indeed, the spiritual
leader of the strikers, the Jewish revolutionaries in Zambrow. He therefore sent out all the children
from his Heder,
to go run and tell all the other Melamdim, that Heder should be canceled for the
day: when the Czar has signed the constitution
that certainly is a time of festival
celebration, and one should not be learning in school. I ran
along with several other young boys, with Ruvkeh,
Berchehs oldest son, to Pinia the Melamed.
Pinia rained down a murrain on our heads. His son,
however, who was also grabbed up in this event, and sympathized with the revolutionaries, dismissed
his fathers Heder,
and told the little children to go tell their fathers and mothers that redemption
had come, that Thank God we have aconstitution.163
The streets are redolent with revolution. So we,
the little boys, go running to the Ostrow Road, through the swamps, near the bridge, to see how
the constitution is being received. The road was black with children covering it, workers, young
and old. It was already dusk. A cold wind was blowing. Our teeth were chattering, but I held
on fast: I remained to see what was going to take place here. Suddenly, Itzl Rosenberg arrives, the
older son of Malka Cymbel, a shoemaker, and he takes out a red handkerchief from under his jacket,
ties it to a stick, raises up this standard on high, and shouts out: Tsar
daloy! the equivalent
of Down with the Czar, we dont need him any longer, after all, he, Malka Cymbels son, knows better.
Everyone responds with the shout: Hurrah, Hurrah! Another person adds the shout: Tsan
Kedoshim! and the throng
again responds with Hurrah, Hurrah! The wooden bridge literally
swayed. It was as if from under the ground, the Oviezdner sprouted, the most senior police
officer, Bomishov, a squat rotund gentile, who was given the appellation: kelberner
zodek 164
with a red chin, and the nose of a drunkard, holding one hand at the hilt of his sword, and the other on
his revolver, and orders the crowd to disperse. He does not know how to deal with this situation: to
disperse this illegal demonstration doesnt seem quite right, after all, the Czar has signed the
constitution. However, not to disperse it, is also difficult to digest: where is his prestige and might?
Meanwhile, a group decided that they would pick up the police senior, and one of them shouted: kelberner
zodek! to which the
entire throng responded with, Hurrah, Hurrah!...
74 |
|
The
Hebrew alphabetical order has been retained..
|
75 |
|
Pick up your rear end and run there! Its
value lies in the rhyme in Yiddish between Klin
and Ahin |
76 |
|
A nonsense rhyme: O ld, splitter, curl,
hernia/Make a blessing over the forgiveness! |
77 |
|
A Cossack brave
and good! |
78 |
|
A nonsense rhyme
with Avrom
the Yiddish pronunciation of the name. |
79 |
|
Fat lady Baylah. |
80 |
|
Nonsense rhyme of
Mendl with
Fendl a pot. |
81 |
|
A rhyme of: If his name is Mendl it is
permitted to eat from his pot/If his name is Nissl it
is permitted to eat from his bowl. Often used as a way
of validating the ritual appropriateness of eating food
prepared by someone else, possibly not familiar to the
party involved. |
82 |
|
A nonsense rhyme
ending with the racy line of Make a blessing over the
sucking of the blood after a circumcision. |
83 |
|
A nonsense rhyme,
with the call for a small bottle of strong drink. |
84 |
|
A nonsense rhyme for: Oy vey call the
police Noodles and farfel without an egg! |
85 |
|
A nonsense
rhyme that makes sense only in Yiddish. |
86 |
|
From the Russian
word , %,R,D,
meaning evening. Wieczera
in
Polish. |
87 |
|
She took a handsome man as a husband. |
88 |
|
Deceived , deceived in the gut,
Moshe Yokhes, kiss my ass... A rhyming taunt that is
effective in the original Yiddish, but loses its impact
on translation. |
89 |
|
It is woeful and
painful to the life of a Batronchik/That he must travel
away from his home/O, woe, one can become lost/It would
be better already to no t have been born... |
90 |
|
Bride, the stork
will bring children. |
91 |
|
He
prattles constantly. He never closes his mouth. |
92 |
|
A shrimp not yet
grown up out of the earth! |
93 |
|
A nonsense rhyme. |
94 |
|
The gen tile woman h as some kind of
brother he is worse than she is. The earth should take
him in, and eject him ten times over. |
95 |
|
An illness, an illness should lay him
low, right in his belly. |
96 |
|
She is a big fool,
and doesnt understand anything from hither to thither. |
97 |
|
The word geshmadet in Yiddish
means to have converted away from Judaism. The inference
here is to the lack of discipline and control of a
gentile, i.e. his gullet has become like a gentiles
gullet, and is insatiable. |
98 |
|
The fat head. |
99 |
|
He wolfed down a
whole loaf of bread. Moshe and Aharon are sitting at the
table, wolfing down rolls and eating fish. |
100 |
|
For
sure he was a water-carrier. |
101 |
|
Authors footnote: a
warm nest under the oven where a hen might lay an egg,
from the Polish, kucza. |
102 |
|
He has go ne into
the White Division. |
103 |
|
A bit of a frost settled in, which later on became more intense. Polish:
zib
|
104 |
|
An elflock, also known as the Polish plait usually results from deficient hair care. Uncombed hair becomes irreversibly entangled, forming a
matted, malodorous and encrusted or sticky moist mass. It may be caused by or accompanied with lice
infestation (pediculosis) and lead to inflammation of the scalp. The disease may be easily prevented
by standard hygienic practices, such as washing and combing of the hair. Treatment involves cutting
the affected hair.
|
105 |
|
Maybe he wont be agreeable? A homonym play on
the Yiddish tomer and the Hebrew
Tamar .
|
106 |
|
The girls are going
dancing the band is ??? |
107 |
|
He is very hard on everything. |
108 |
|
Possibly from
RJR,:@, meaning a scrawny bird, scarecrow, or bugbear. |
109 |
|
A possibly hybridization between
R,:@&,8 (a man) and the ending
mok. |
110 |
|
Possibly derived from Yavan,
the Hebrew name for Greece. The re is a documented Yiddish epithet, a
Yovn, referring
to a Russian soldier. |
111 |
|
Someone uncouth, ill-mannered. |
112 |
|
Not to be confused with Endekists, who were m
embers o f an anti-Semitic Polish political p arty in the 1930's. |
113 |
|
When she sends him for flour she says it
is yellow; when she sends him for sugar she says it is. |
114 |
|
He sleeps away the whole day, and does
nothing. |
115 |
|
A Jew may drink, but a gentile guzzles.
|
116 |
|
May he go in my place! He sent his stand-in to purchase
flour. |
117 |
|
I have a big mess on my hands, I haven t
swept the house out yet. |
118 |
|
Literally, the board on which noodles were
rolled out. |
119 |
|
Literally, a skin covering. |
120 |
|
A Jew sings songs, and a gentile just
brays. |
121 |
|
Hes been working at this, for the entire day, and
repaired nothing. |
122 |
|
Possibly a reference to Ivan Stepanovych
Mazepa (1 639-17 09), Cossack Hetman of the Hetmanate in Left-bank Ukraine, from 1687-1708). |
123 |
|
Bohdan Zynoviy Mykhailovych K hmelnytsky,
commonly transliterated as Khmelnytsky;
Polish:
Bohdan Zenobi Chmielnicki (c. 1595 - 1657) was a
hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossack Hetmanateof PolishLithuanian Commonwealth (now Ukraine).
He led an uprising against the Commonwealth and its magnates (16481654) which
resulted in the creation of a Cossack state. During 1648-9, his anti-Semitic rampage
resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Jews. In 1654, he concluded the Treaty o f
Pereyaslav with the Tsardom of Russia, which led to the eventual loss of independence to the Russian
Empire. |
124 |
|
Ivan Gonta (died 1768) was one of the
leaders of the Koliyivschyna,
an armed rebellion of Cossacks against the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth.
|
125 |
|
Motchek should live so long, if there is
any truth to this! |
126 |
|
A rhyme in itself, saying: It makes as much sense as a rhyme by Motchek.
|
127 |
|
A potter. |
128 |
|
He look s like an abandoned waif. |
129 |
|
Such ugliness, like a grotesque mask.
|
130 |
|
He understands everything being said, to the letter! |
131 |
|
In Polish, a szyszka
is a pine cone.
|
132 |
|
Pitch head. |
133 |
|
In short, it wasnt much of a story! |
134 |
|
It would seem this subtle difference in pronunciation is
attributable to the difference between the Polish letter (with a trailing n sound)
and the m ore familiar Latin a. |
135 |
|
Related to the English paunch, which itself comes from
the Anglo-Norman paunche,
and Old French, pance.
Hence the connection to the Romance languages. |
136 |
|
The uncircumcised one kicked the bucket.
|
137 |
|
The trousers are soiled with mud. |
138 |
|
Stretched out, as the vowels in the words. |
139 |
|
There are thirteen passengers in the covered
wagon.
|
140 |
|
The riding crop of a Cossack. |
141 |
|
The sense of this, is that he did what he had to (i.e.
used the bathroom), washed his hands, recited the proper blessing (Asher
Yotzar), and was
done with it. |
142 |
|
Literally, a gas bag.
|
143 |
|
I will place a bench for you, before your father! |
144 |
|
Me without apples, you with a shot in the
head.
|
145 |
|
Me without bread, you a blow to the
belly. |
146 |
|
Polish for chamomile tea. |
147 |
|
Translators note: It is an insight into the
values of the speakers that here, the girl is no longer
a maedel',
but
because she is fat, she becomes a
moyd, an
appellation that carries with it a derogatory sense. |
148 |
|
The Russian is the word for a cage, while the
Yiddish is the name given to a marketplace store. In Lomza, it would appear that they preferred a
derivative from the word we k now as booth. |
149 |
|
A kessel in German is a pot, related
to the English word kettle. |
150 |
|
Keep an eye out on that uncircumcised one!
|
151 |
|
The Hebrew cognate for being a watchman or a guardian. |
152 |
|
Using the Hebrew cognate shmad
to refer to the
act of leaving the Jewish faith.
|
153 |
|
Authors footnote: From I. B. Singers A World
that No Longer Exists. p. 79.
|
154 |
|
The hostility of the Kohens
rejoinder is somewhat
mystifying, but may lie in a proverb suggested to me by the Yiddishist Chaim Werdyger. The
sanctity surrounding the Dukhan requires that the priests, offering the blessing, remove their
outer footwear (see Exodus 3:5). It is possible that pranksters may have given rise to the following
Yiddish saying: When the Kohanim
are
Dukhaning,
their boots ar e stolen away. If true , it could exp lain the
angry reply. Another school of thought suggests that this might be a stratagem
to divert the Evil Eye away from someone who has just been blessed by the Kohanim.
|
155 |
|
Kitchen gardeners. |
156 |
|
When the blessing for dew is recited (Tal),
lead the horse out of the stall. |
157 |
|
At the time of the parsha of Emor, the lambs are sheared.
|
158 |
|
Let me have a kopecks worth of the khamishosser.
|
159 |
|
Contrive to rhyme, it combines the Hebrew
prelude to a Psalm: A song of the Com poser with the Yiddish ending, We are Eating Goat-Bokser. |
160 |
|
Pekuday
and Seudeh are meant to rhyme in this
statement, that a feast is made for this portion, ending the reading of the Book of Exodus. |
161 |
|
A rhyme intending to catch khazak
and pasternak,
referring to a bowl of parsnips. |
162 |
|
Because of ambiguity in the pronunciation, this sometimes also appears as Bomishoff. |
163 |
|
The time line is interesting. History tells
us that Czar Nicholas II signed what is known in history as The October Manifesto on Sunday, October
30, 1905, pledging a constitution, and extended franchise, and civil liberties. The news
apparently didnt reach Zambrow until one week later, Sunday, November 4. The level of instability is
evident in this one of several episodes of serious unrest:
Oct.31: A bloody pogrom breaks out in Odessa - the police stand
by while five hundred Jews are murdered, and intervene only against Jewish self-defense units
|
164 |
|
The ass of a calf. |
|
|