The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-03-01
GHETTO FOLKLORE.
Though Unwritten, 1t Is Regarded as
Sacred ssVOlume.o

Sacred ssVOlume"
New York Mail and Express.
There is soft. tender strain of fancy and
weirdness mingled with all the sordidness
of the Ghetto. the mere knowledge of which
causes one to marvel at the presence of any
sweet, redeeming feature in the bewilder-
ment of such a quarter.
The Ghetto has its folklore, CLEANED. like
so much of it's personal tone. from the
everyday life of little Russian hamlets in
another world, yet losing none of its dis
tinct racial charm in the unsavory contact
with sweltering market place, stuffy sweat
shop and the entire gamut of strenuous
sociations peculiar to the Yiddsh section
of the city.
The lore of the East Siders is materially
unlike the stock Of ancient tales of other
folk, one of the noteworthy points of dis
similarity being its preservation through
ages by the patriarchs of the race. This
unwritten folklore is thus fondly regarded
as a sacred volume to be opened and read
from only when the spirit of old times ana
scenes carries the narrator, often time
worn and ancient like the tales he tells,
out of the life of the new world back
across the water"
AS likely as not his story will tell of the
weird adventure that befell the student of
Yeshive Ca school for advanced Hebrews)
who went in the dead of one Sabbath night
a cherries pilgrimage to the local ceme-
terry The valiant youth, as much to exhibit
undaunted personal courage to demon
strate the lack of this commendable quality
in ghosts, If such he should happen to en-
20 he
hours before the dawn amid the grass plots
and the white tablets of the graveyard. and
as a token that his strange mission had
been fulfilled was TO drive stake into the
earth near the grave of certain highly
hOnored rabbi, situated far in the rear OF
Buoyant with the confidence that his task.
If not pleasant was at least simple one
to perform, the fearless one went fortn
with the promise of a speedy return and
the "Shema" Che talsmanic prayer fatal
to ghosts) revolving in his mind. The next
morning he was found dead by the rabbi
grave. Strangely enough, there stood the
stake driven firmly into the ground; but
more strangely STILL strongly pinned to the
earth, it held the folds of the students ''ca-
pote" scholastic gown
At this point of the tale, which has been
delivered with the appropriate air of mys-
terry and the intervals of silence necessary
to this type of narration, the story teller
pauses long enough to afford his hearers
the pleasure OF their own conJectures con-
corning the mysterious occurrence.
The inadequate solutions are greeted each
with slow, cynical nod; another artistic
pause, and then ii is wildly related>that the
student in STOPPING low to set the stake in
its place had unknowingly driven it through
his trailing ''capote: In rising: this mys-
ferrous bond held him in leash, and the
terrible thought that despite the 'Shema,"
a CHASTITY hand was clutching him back to
the ground: shocked this scorner of spirits
to his death.
A broad, liberal school of literature, IL
any, claims it's own these heirloom sto-
ries of the Ghetto, that come with the i'm
migrant, like his store of inherited copper
household vessels, from over the sea; for
the tales Of the delicatessen shop and the
synagogue, despite their eastern origin and
the tendency to absorb Oriental features,
enjoy variety that marks them with none
of the distinctive characteristics of other
fOlklores. Beyond a few tid-bits plagiar-
lied from those fascinating Persian stories
OF ingenious, resourceful calfphs and ca
dis, there is the stamp of no particular ma
tional influence upon the cherished tales of
the Jew. OF these, great number serve
double purpose In supplementing to their
value as interesting tales the practical
utility of demonstrating fine points of He
brew law and learning as expounded by
Vie beloved rabbinim.
The quaint sense of humor of the people.
a species that finds most relish in apt,
clever repartee, expresses itself in numer-
Gus anecdotes of provincial life. Many of
these center conspicuously about the
like one Mutke Chabat. by name. who was
SO often forgiven for the discomforting re-
suits of his receptions only because his
antics were practiced in so laughable a
manner. And then a pathetic strain is re-
vealed in the foik-stories of unwilling re-
cruits to the Cars army, torn away from
the bosom OF the family in the dead of
night or in the midst of some beautiful
solemn feast: while the thrilling escapades
Of these conscripts over the borders of the
country and beyond the jurisdiction of Rus
sian officers lend the necessary romantic
flavor to this many sided literature
What is unfortunately lacking. however
in this horde Of 'mieses" (Jewish tales) is
the type of narrative. that deals with
fairies, COLLINS. gnomes and kindred crea-
lures Of the imagination. The elimination
of such characters is compulsory rather
than optional, and Ii to be traced directly
to the nature of the Hebrew religion, the
hard inhexible tenets of which offer no
tolerance to the merry, innocent sprites I'm
the folklore OF other peoples To the ultra
fine sense of religious propriety possessed
by the orthodox Jew any knowledge OF
these harmless. though unreal. fairy-folk
partakes too much of the pagan spirit to be
intrusted to the little scholars OF the "Che-
dar" Hebrew SCHOOL,.
However, no loss is felt. since the folk
lore of the Ghetto is essentially a folklore
for older people Strangely enough. ghost
stories are countenanced, many OF them
telling Of crazy spirits rushing through the
night air. of solemn specters stalking
sedately I'm the secluded little synagogue
of some Russian townlet.
why He In safe.