DER YIDDISH-VINKL March 12, 2004
Friday night, the eve of the Sabbath, has always held a special flavor for many Jews in many lands. Eleanor and Joseph Mlotek’s compilation “Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song,” has a song titled “Fraytik Oyf Der Nakht.” It first appeared in 1905 in sheet music without attribution to any author or composer.
What follows is a transliterated version as it appears in the Mlotek collection, followed by an English version by Gus Tyler.
Fraytik Oyf Der Nakht
Fraytik oyf der nakht
Az ikh kum nor fun der shul tsu geyn,
Shteyt shoyn mayn vaybele un lakht —
Oy, iz zi mole-kheyn
Un di khalelekh tsugedekt,
Mit a servetke vos es lakht
Nor a yidele veyst vi se shmekt
Der fraytik oyf der nakht.
Nokh dem kidesh a shtikele fish
Vos mayn vaybele hot aleyn gemakht
Zi iz vert in piskele a kish (kush)
Um fraytik oyf der nakht.
REFRAIN
Oy, fraytik oyf der nakht
Iz ayeder yid a meylekh
In yedn vinkele lakht
Di gantse shtub iz freylekh.
Nokh di lokshn mit yoykh
Dos shtikele fleysh iz oykh zeyer git (gut)
Dem tam fil ikh oykh
Vayl ikh bin a yid.
Nokh dem tsimes a glezele vayn
Dos hot keyn nar nit oysgetrakht
Un zikh legn in bet arayn
Um fraytik oyf der nakht.
Orem oder raykh —
Ayeder zingt tsum esn tsi (tsu)
Damolst iz yeder glaykh —
Bis zuntik in der fri.
Friday After Shul
It’s Friday, Friday in the night
When from the shul I do return
I greet my wife, a lovely sight
She wears a smile for which I yearn
There sits the challah covered neat
It’s covered with a napkin bright
To Jewish eyes the scene’s so sweet
This is our favored Friday night.
A drink comes first and then some fish
Prepared by my dear lovely wife
She’s tasty as her tasty dish
Oh, may it be thus all our life.
REFRAIN
Oh Friday after shul
Now every Jew’s a king.
When laughter is the rule
And every heart does sing.
We start with noodles in hot soup
Then comes a savory bit of meat
My spirits rise, they will not droop
Because a Jew sits in my seat.
Then after tsimmes comes the wine
A mix not made by any fool.
It’s time, I feel, I must recline
On Friday night that is the rule.
So, if you’re poor or if you’re rich
You feel as if you are reborn
Our life goes on without a hitch
And joyously till Sunday morn.
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