Intermountain Jewish news., 1925-12-31
THE JEWISH REALM OF ARTS AND SCIENCES


saints. monstrous cgoists and pictures
que tyrnnts. Life. as these songs amply
show. offered little, materially, to them I;
yet II was Intense and co,orful other
wise
There are some delightfully."- naive
ones of love--the song Of n beloved one
telling her lover that her heart Is torn
like rag" This courteous aud touch
ing answer Is that he loves her like
u certain kind Of soupl, of lonely
girl longing for n sweetheart tbut he
must he n scholar). There are songs
of lovers q,mrrcls and disappointment
at bypken promises. In one OF them
he postponcs the wedding until the
summer and she is hcartbrokcn because
he very disloyally changes his mind
even then. In another one 1t is not
the tailor nor the millincr nor the shoe
maker but the marriage broker who
can help the troubled girl. All of these
songs show how sncred the institution
of marriage is held Ivy the Jews. Yet.
just Ms one is temptad TO generaize.
cne encounters the subtle coQuetry of a
song In which the girl wants to play
at love-chapcroned by the Lord.
The humurous songs draw their in
spiration from various sources. some
times from naive Ignorance as in the
one where Jew sees a train for the
first time and Is astonished at the
mngc of a carriage that moves with
out the generous help of horses. Some
times IL is u display Of pure nonsense
of the Old King Cole variety. oc-
cnsionally we have the humor Of ma
tlonnl pride as in the one where the
Gentle spending an odd hour in n
tavern drinking is contrasted with the
Jew who spends 1t in devotion at the
synaeog Very interesting are the
humorous songs of fancy such rs the
following one which is worth trans
lating: If all the rivers become one
huge river. and II all the trees one
mighty tree; if all axes become one
axe. and all Gcntiles one Gentle; and
IL the huge Gentle with the huge axe
would chop dcwn the huge tree and
fling it into the huge lake-Almighty
God what AN almighty splash there
would be.
Again there is wide range of songs
about the worshipful yet merry rebbe-
the glorified rabbi of the chassidin. a
type of jew noted for his tempera-
ment and pious abandon. In their
villages. the rebbe Is nh.powerful
sometimes even divine. His followers
never tire of telling about his miracles
He has saved them many time from
violent storm: he has managed I,
ascend to heaven for cold snack will
the heavenly hosts. More often he wa'
seen to produce stuffed fish and brandy
from thin air.
Yet. for all this faith in the rebbe
there Is great deal of doubt. Some
/ lilnes IL IL ubhbt VI tit Ndiut "
learning all the sacred laws and com
mcminries- es-earning obtained ut grea
privntion. The ragged student. wander
ing from strange table TO strange bed
becomes weary of spiritual food an'
begins to think OF Il few physical com
forts. Then there is the ultimate
scepiic. the one who destroys very gent
ly and yet nightly, in Il few brle
sentences. the whole possibility o
searching for absolute truth. The word
are given here, to indicate to the non
Yiddish speaking reader how far Ii
may understand The text of these song
with just a little German.
Fr;igt die welt an alte kasho tlues
tom.
Trci del tiri di ri dam;
Enfert men:
Ira di ri di ram.
OF, oi ira di ri di ram
I'm as men will kenn men docli sogcn
Tel di dam;
Bleibt dech wciter die altc kasho;
Tre del ii ri di ri dam.
1t is difficult in such IA brief ariicl
10 give complete notion of the exten
of these songs. hundreds of which ar
lying neglected in all corners of Jew
ish life. Enough has been said to in
dicate how faithfully they mirror til
Jewish character.
One of the good reasons fer thi
neglect lies in the fact that iiddisl
is such an untranslntable language
even in its prose Rendered even Int
, German. from which it so largely dc
rives. the result is II stiff grotesdue
the insinuatlng fanciful quality inheren
. in the Yiddish is completely lost.
poor substitute is an English para
phrase hut one that follows tile spiri
of the words very closely. One Is n
most tempted TO demand specia
study Of Yiddish--but not the sort o
l~a. ~ F..