DER YIDDISH-VINKL November 5, 2004
Ruth Rubin’s book “Jewish Folk Songs,” published about a half-century ago, remains one of the treasure troves of Yiddishkeit in America. The multitalented Rubin was a performer, a recording artist and a translator of Yiddish folk songs into English. What follows is one of her masterpieces, titled “Sheyn Bin Ikh, Sheyn.”
Sheyn Bin Ikh, Sheyn
Sheyn bin ikh, sheyn, sheyn iz oykh mayn nomen
Redt men mir shidukhim mit groyse rabonim.
Rabonishe toyre iz dokh zeyer groys
Bin ikh bay mayn mamen a likhtike royz.
A sheyn meydele bin ikh
Bloye zekelekh trog ikh,
Gelt in di tashn;
Bir in di flashn.
Vayn in di krigelekh
Kinder in di vigelekh.
Shrayen vi di tsigelekh
Meh, meh, meh.
I’m So Pretty
I am so pretty, pretty’s what they call me
Mother’s looking for a rabbi she wants me to marry.
Wisdom of the Torah is better far than money
Mother’s very proud of me, her sweet, rosy honey.
Pretty, pretty, that am I
I wear socks, blue like the sky.
Wine in the brown jugs
Beer in the green mugs.
Money’s pretty hard to keep
In the cradles, babies weep.
Like the little woolly sheep
Meh, meh, meh.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
