DER YIDDISH-VINKL January 28, 2005
The news item that the inimitable Stanley Siegelman chose for his column this week is the announcement that California’s Stanford University is now offering a three-year program in the study of Yiddish literature. Here it is, in Siegelman’s very own brand of Yinglish — a mix of Yiddish and English.
Der Kosher “U”
Bay California’s Stanford U
Shtudirt men vi tsu zayn a Jew!
Dos iz, m’lernt dort vi azoy
Tsu redn Mama Loshn. Oy!
Talmidim zogn s’iz okay
Ven rekhts tsu links gor lezn zey.
FaynYiddish leynt men — alemen!
Nor vu? In Forverts! Ha! (Vu den?)
Un tsu der “editor in chief”
Zey shraybn (tsu dem Bintl Brief)
M’redt nor Yiddish ven in school!
Bay dem iz Mama Loshn “cool.”
Ven Shabes kumt, men arbit nit
Far UJA “they do their bit,”
Zey trogn yarmilkes oyfn kop
Mit goyish esn “they’re fed up.”
Zey fresn khazer-fleysh nit mer,
“Pinochle” shpiln zey mit “flair,”
Zey esn beygl bay der “ton,”
Un zaltsik lox “they do not shun.”
Ven lebn vert tsu shver un “gray”
Zey kvetshn (Yiddish style) “Oy vey!”
Bay Stanford, iz di tsukunft “bright. Far Mama Loshn, Yiddishkeit.
The Kosher “U”
Oy, mamaloshen is “What’s new”
In California’s Stanford U.
There, Yiddish language now is taught
In grandma’s accent, as it ought.
The students are becoming deft
At reading from the right to left.
They’re scanning now, with speed and skill
The Forverts in original!
(Some even when they have a beef
Write letters to the Bintel Brief.)
They bask in Yiddish rhetoric
The mother tongue gets in its lick.
They shun work on the seventh day
And flock to join the UJA.
They’re wearing skullcaps on the head.
White bread? They’re eating rye instead.
Pig’s knuckles some ate to their shame
Today, pinochle is their game.
The sale of lox and bagel soars
According to the local stores.
When things are bleak and outlook gray
The students kvetch and moan, “Oy vey!”
At Stanford U., they’re not uptight
They flaunt and fly their “Yiddish-kite.”
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
