Vus hob ikh gedarft fin der heym avekfurn? - Why did I need to leave home?

Semyon Vaisblai was born in 1930 in Chemerivtsi. His father was a cap-maker and his mother a housewife. There was a synagogue in the Vaisblai home, because the father, a pious man, was crippled during a pogrom and thus could not leave the house to attend services elsewhere. In his childhood, Vaisblai studied both with a religious teacher and at a Soviet Yiddish school. Vaisblai spent the war running from town to town and eventually ended up working at a kolkhoz (collective farm), posing as a non-Jew. After the war, he returned briefly to his hometown but then had to wander once again in search of work.

AHEYM interviewed Vaisblai in Khmelnitsky, Ukraine, in 2009. He sang a number of songs for the interviewers, some of which he learned before the war from his father, and others that he learned after the war from demobilized Jewish soldiers. In this clip, he sings a song about poverty that he learned from a tailor who lived with his family. Vaisblai relates how the tailor used to drink cologne instead of whiskey; this was a fairly common practice in the Soviet Union -- when conventional alcoholic beverages where not available or could not be afforded, some people would drink anything with alcoholic content, including cologne.

A version of this song was also collected by ethnomusicologist Ruth Rubin and can be found in the volume Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive, edited by Eleanor Mlotek and Mark Slobin (Wayne State University Press, 2007), pp. 145-146. Vaisblai's version is quite a bit shorter, and while the lyrics differ slightly, the meaning is the same:

I get up at six o'clock, My head hurts. I'm about to pass out, I want a glass of tea. Oh woe, woe is to my years. Why did I have to leave home? I say to the landlady, "Make me some dumplings, please." She fumbles around, So that her eyes almost pop out. Oh woe, woe is to my years Why did I have to leave home? The landlady says, "Eat and be satisfied!" In her heart, she thinks That I eat like a soldier. Oh woe, woe is to my years Why did I have to leave home?

איך שטײ אױף זעקס אַ זײגער, דער קאָפּ טוט מיר װײ, דאָס האַרץ אין מיר חלשט מיר, איך װיל אַ גלעזל טײ. אױ געװאַלד, געשרײ, אױ װײ צו מײַנע יאָרן. נאָר װאָס האָב איך געדאַרפֿט פֿון דער הײם אַװעקפֿאָרן? איך זאָג דער בעל־הביתטע, „זאָלסט מיר קאָכן טײגלעך,“ זי דרײט זיך, זי דרײט זיך, סע גײט שיִעור נישט אױס די אײגעלעך. אױ געװאַלד, געשרײ, אױ װײ צו מײַנע יאָרן. נאָר װאָס האָב איך געדאַרפֿט פֿון דער הײם אַװעקפֿאָרן? עס זאָגט די בעל־הביתטע, „עס, און זײַ זאַט!“ אין האַרצן זי טראַכט זיך, אַז איך עס װי אַ סאָלדאַט. אױ געװאַלד, געשרײ, אױ װײ צו מײַנע יאָרן. נאָר װאָס האָב איך געדאַרפֿט פֿון דער הײם אַװעקפֿאָרן?

Versions of the song have also been collected by Y. L. Cahan in Yidishe folkslider mit melodyes (1957), and by Moyshe Beregovski and Itsik Fefer in Yidishe folkslider (1938).

--Asya Vaisman

Fun Vigl biz in Keyver -- From the Cradle to the Grave

We return this week to Liudmila Shor from Vinnitsa, Ukraine, who sings a haunting song that she learned from her mother. "Fun Vigl biz in Keyver" was written by Anshel Schorr with music composed by Yosef Rumshinsky. The sheet music was published in New York by the Hebrew Publishing Company in 1911. Although Liudmila is unaware of the song's origins or authorship, "Fun Vigl biz in Keyver" is a theater song, written for Rumshinsky's operetta "Shir Hashirim - Dos Lid der Libe" ("Song of Songs - The Song of Love"). The operetta "has been described as the first [Yiddish] stage musical about love" (Mark Slobin, Tenement Songs, 128.)

Below is Liudmila's version of the lyrics. The words differ slightly from the original, as the song went through a process of folklorization before reaching Vinnitsa. While there are a number of Yiddish songs about growing old and searching for one's youth (see, for example, Mordechai Gebirtig's "Hulyet, hulyet kinderlekh," and the folk song "Avek di yunge yorn"), this piece is perhaps the most somber in tone, coming to the rather hopeless conclusion that "It is but a short stride from the cradle to the grave." The melodramatic nature of the song can be attributed to the fact that it comes from an operetta, a famously melodramatic genre in Yiddish culture.

I have lived just eighty years. How quickly, how quickly it has flown by. White as snow is my blond hair. My back is bent in three places. My childhood years will not be forgotten, How they were formed. How my mother sat by my cradle, And sang me a song. The whole world is a black dream, And everything is vanity of vanities. It's but a short stride from the cradle to the grave, And everything is no more than a dream. I was not a child, Oh how quickly and swiftly, And the grave is already waiting for me.

כ'האָב אָפּגעלעבט ערשט אַכציק יאָר. װי שנעל, װי שנעל איז עס אױספֿאַרפֿלױגן. װײַס װי שנײ זענען די בלאָנדע האָר, דער רוקן אין דרײַען איז אײַנגעבױגן. די קינדעריאָרן, זײ װעלן זיך נישט פֿאַרגעסן, װי אַזױ זײ האָבן זיך אײַנגעבילדעט. װי די מוטער מײַנע איז בײַ דעם װיגעלע געזעסן, און האָט זיך מיר, אױ אױ, אַ לידעלע געזונגען. די גאַנצע װעלט איז אַ פֿינצטערער חלום, און אַלעס איז הבֿל הבֿלים. אַ קורצער שפּאַן איז פֿון דעם װיגעלע צום גרוב, און אַלעס איז נישט מײן װי אַ חלום. איך בין נישט געװעזן אַ קינד, אױ װי גיך און געשװינד, און עס װאַרט שױן אױף מיר דאָך אַ קבֿר...

--Asya Vaisman

I sit in the tavern...

While we're on the topic of drinking songs, Semyon Krotsh in Kolomyia sang "Zits ikh mir in kretshme" for AHEYM in 2007. He did not remember all of the verses, but the ones he did sing seemed quite a bit more lighthearted than the lyrics of "Der Furman." He mentioned that he learned the song before the war, in Shtefanesht (Ştefăneşti), Romania, where he was born in 1922.

A different version of this song appears on the Vernadsky archive compilation "Treasure Of Jewish Culture In Ukraine" from 1997. The piece is sung by Arn Shmuel Kahan and was recorded in Proskuriv, Podolia Region, in 1913. Both the mood and the lyrics in this version differ quite a bit from Krotsh's rendering: the melody is more melancholy than upbeat, and in the last verse, the drunken narrator beats his wife with a chair.

Krotsh's version appears below:

איך זיץ מיר אין קרעטשמע אָן דאגות, אָן זאָרג. דער קרעטשמער איז שיכּור, ער גיט מיר אױף באָרג. איך מעג טרינקען בראָנפֿן, איך מעג טרינקען װײַן. איך װעל אַלעס טרינקען, כ'װעל שיכּור ניט זײַן. װי איך קום נאָר אַרױס בײַ דער טיר, די גאַסן זײַנען שיכּור, זײ דרײען זיך אַרום מיר. איך גײ לינקס, איך גײ רעכטס, איך דערקען נישט מײַן הױז. די גאַסן זײַנען שיכּור, דאָס זע איך אַרױס. אױ די לבֿנה דו שײַנסט אין גאַנץ אױבן אָן. אױב דו זאָלסט זײַן שיכּור, װי שטײט מיר דאָס אָן?

I sit in the tavern with no troubles or worries. The tavern keeper is drunk, he puts it on the tab. I can drink whiskey, I can drink wine. I'll drink everything, but I won't get drunk. As soon as I walk out the door, The streets are drunk, they spin around me. I go left, I go right, I don’t recognize my house. The streets are drunk, I can see that. Oh, moon, you shine up on high. If you are drunk, how can that be appropriate?

--Asya Vaisman

Vyo, vyo, ferdelekh! Giddy-up, my ponies!

In 2002, AHEYM interviewed Liudmila Shor, an amazing singer in Vinnitsa, Ukraine. Liudmila informally directs the Jewish Women's Choir in Vinnitsa, sharing with the group her rich repertoire of Yiddish songs. When singing solo, Liudmila exhibits a beautiful, authentic Yiddish singing style. 

The song in this clip, "Der Furman" -- "The Coachman", composed by Khazn (Cantor) Pinkhos Jassinovsky, is about a poor wagon driver who drinks away his horses and wagon in a tavern. The song has been recorded by well-known Yiddish singer Sidor Belarsky, among others; Yiddish folklorist Chana Mlotek has written about it in an article on two songs about coachmen in the Yiddish Forward (12/16/1988). Liudmila learned the song from her father.

The lyrics are very reminiscent of another Yiddish song, "Shprayz ikh mir", (lyrics by Sh. Kahn, music by Eliyahu Teitelbaum) about a man who goes to the fair to buy a horse but stops by a tavern on the way and drinks away all his money. The song has been recorded by numerous artists; perhaps the best-known version appears on the Klezmatics album "Possessed", performed by Lorin Sklamberg. Unlike "Shprayz ikh mir," which has a very upbeat tempo and cheerful melody, "Der Furman" is a much more melancholy song, as you can see in Liudmila's rendering.

Below you will find the lyrics of the song in Yiddish, transliterated in Liudmila's Southeastern dialect, and translated. Check out our Youtube channel aheymproject for more of Liudmila's songs, as well as clips from a private performance of her choir.

I ride out in my own buggy, Four little horses bridled across. Outside there's a blizzard, outside it is raining, It's dark, you can't see the road. Giddy-up, my little horses! Giddy-up, my eagles! Lift your little heads up high! Giddy-up, my little horses! Giddy-up, darlings! Giddy-up! Kick up some dust already! One says, "Hey, Mister, please go faster!" “I have to get to the tsadik's house!” The second one says, "Oy, Mister, slower! My hemorrhoids!" Giddy-up, little horses! Giddy-up, darlings! Can't you hear what the folks are saying? Giddy-up, little horses! Giddy-up, darlings! Giddy-up! The tavern is not so far! Arrived in the tavern on Friday night. Had a glass, considered a second. Drank away the horses, drank away the buggy. All I had left was the whip. Giddy-up, my little wife! Giddy-up, my dove! There's not a penny for the Sabbath. Don't worry, my little wife, don't worry, my dove! Giddy-up! It's a good thing I still have the whip! And it's good that I'm still here!

Fur ikh mir aroys mit mayn eygener bayd, Fir ferdelekh geshpont in der breyt. In drusn iz a vyuge, in drusn iz a reygn, S’iz fintster, me zeyt nisht deym veyg. Oy vyo vyo vyo ferdelekh, vyo vyo vyo udlerlekh, Heybt zhe di kepelekh hoykh, Vyo vyo vyo ferdelekh, vyo vyo vyo tayere, Vyo! Geyn zol azh bold a roykh. Oy eyner zugt, “A, reb yidl, fur gikher!” Er darf zikh tsun a gitn yidn. Der tsveyter zugt, “A, reb yidl, pameylekh! “Oy, mayne meridn!” Vyo vyo vyo ferdelekh, vyo vyo vyo tayere, Ir hert nisht vus zugn di layt? Vyo vyo vyo ferdelekh, vyo vyo vyo tayere, Vyo! Di kreytshme iz shoyn nisht vayt. Gekimen in der kreytshme, fraytik tse nakhts, A koyse genemen, di tsveyte fartrakht, Fartrinken di ferdelekh, fartrinken di bayd. Geblibn bin ikh bay der baytsh. Oy vyo vyo vyo vaybele, vyo vyo vyo taybele, Af shobes kayn groshn nishtu. Nisht gezorgt vaybele, nisht gezorgt taybele, Vyo! Git vus di baytsh iz nokh du. In git vus ikh bin nokh du.

פֿאָר איך מיר אַרױס מיט מײַן אײגענער בױד,

פֿיר פֿערדעלעך געשפּאַנט אין דער ברײט.

אין דרױסן איז אַ װיוגע, אין דרױסן איז אַ רעגן,

ס’איז פֿינצטער, מע זעט נישט דעם װעג.

אױ װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ פֿערדעלעך, װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ אָדלערלעך,

הײבט זשע די קעפּעלעך הױך,

װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ פֿערדעלעך, װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ טײַערע,

װיאָ, גײן זאָל אַזש באַלד אַ רױך.

אױ אײנער זאָגט, “אַ, רעב ייִדל, פֿאָר גיכער!”

ער דאַרף זיך צום אַ גוטן ייִדן.

דער צװײטער זאָגט, “אַ, רעב ייִדל, פּאַמעלעך!

“אױ, מײַנע מערידן!”

װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ פֿערדעלעך, װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ טײַערע,

איר הערט נישט װאָס זאָגן די לײַט?

װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ פֿערדעלעך, װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ טײַערע,

װיאָ! די קרעטשמע איז שױן נישט װײַט.

געקומען אין דער קרעטשמע, פֿרײַטיק צו נאַכץ,

אַ כּוסע גענומען, די צװײטע פֿאַרטראַכט,

פֿאַרטרונקען די פֿערדעלעך, פֿאַרטרונקען די בױד.

געבליבן בין איך בײַ דער בײַטש.

אױ װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ װײַבעלע, װיאָ װיאָ װיאָ טײַבעלע,

אױף שבת קײן גראָשן נישטאָ.

נישט געזאָרגט װײַבעלע, נישט געזאָרגט טײַבעלע,

װיאָ! גוט װאָס די בײַטש איז נאָך דאָ.

און גוט װאָס איך בין נאָך דאָ.

--Asya Vaisman

Oh My Beloved Bessarabia!

The Latest Photos and Songs from AHEYM’s Current Expedition

This week’s post comes to you from Chisinau, Moldova where the AHEYM team has just passed through on their latest (and still ongoing!) expedition throughout the cities and shtetlekh of Podolia, Bukovina and Bessarabia.  Led by Professor Dov-Ber Kerler and Dr. Moisei Lemster, this current trip has included both return visits to some of our most informative interviewees and sessions with new Yiddish-speaking friends in numerous Eastern European towns.

As the video from this trip has not even been downloaded off the camera, our regular video clips are not yet available. In the meantime, however, we are pleased to share with you some of our latest photos and a special audio excerpt.

Photo Credit: Sebastian Schulman and Anya Quilitzsch

In this audio clip, we hear Zelda Davidovna Roif (b. 1930) sharing the opening lines of Oy mayn libe basarabye (Oh, My Beloved Bessarabia).  The words, a folklorized version of a poem by Moyshe Pintshevski, are sung to the tune of a doina, a Moldovan and Jewish musical form often associated with the region’s shepherds.

The words, transcribed as she sings them in a Bessarabian dialect, are as follows:

S’iz geveyn a mul a postekhl

Nokh a kind fin tsvishn kinder

Fleyg er ba zayn totn posn

Shufn, lemlekh, tsig in rinder

Fleyg er ba zayn totn posn

Shufn, lemlekh, tsig in rinder

Vi of a mul ‘ot er fargesn

Dus tirl tsi farmakhn

Zenen ole zayne sheyfelekh oyf der velt tselofn...

O mayn libe basarabye

Lond fin freyd

In lond fin trouer!

There once was a young shepherd

Just a child among children

He used to shepherd his father’s

Sheep, lambs, goats and oxen

He used to shepherd his father’s

Sheep, lambs, goats and oxen

One time he forgot

to close the gate

and all his sheep ran out into the world...

Oh my beloved Bessarabia!

Land of joy

And land of sorrow!

As Zelda explains earlier in the interview, for her, the young shepherd and his scattered sheep represent the relationship between G-d and the Jewish People, especially during the Great Patriotic War.

On YouTube, one can find a complete, yet very different variant of the same song featuring the ground-breaking klezmer band Brave Old World (including IU’s Spring 2011 Paul Artist-in-Residence Michael Alpert and Bloomington native Alan Bern) and renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqx-2sX0zT8.

The AHEYM blog returns next week with our usual video postings from past expeditions.

-- Sebastian Schulman