blog, poetry

As I baked and cooked and kept making mistakes because I was distracted by the newspaper I really wanted to sit down and read, I remembered my mother’s warning, “The food of a cook who sits on her ass, stinks.”

instead of making me get up and baste the chicken, I started looking up a song in Yiddish from my mother’s nostalgia.

one reference – and the versions were in Hebrew, and they were censored.  The song is a mother-daughter dialogue, common to many languages.  Where have you been, daughter dear.  But this is about the socialist-zionist movement in Poland, and the daughter was in a camp in preparation for joining a kibbutz.

in yiddish the girl tells about eating ‘burnt kasha’ and i almost burnt the kasha today.  but it doesn’t exist in hebrew.  the best part is the last verse.  Where did you sleep, my dear daughter?  In the loft in the hay, with two halutzim.  Mother, it was greaat.

טאכטער געטרייע (מילים בשפת המקור – יידיש)

וווּ ביסטו געווען
וווּ ביסטו געווען
זאגשע מיר טאכטער געטרייע?
– אויף הכשרה,
אין קיבוץ קליאסאווא,
מאמע, ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

וואס האסטו געטאן
וואס האסטו געטאן
טאכטער מיינע, געטרייע?
– געט אסקעט האב איך שטיינער,
צעטראסקעט מיינע ביינער,
מאמע ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

וואס האסטו געגעסן
וואס האסטו געגעסן
זאגשע מיר טאכטער געטרייע?
– קארטאפל פון דעם וואגן,
א תל געמאכט דעם מאגן
מאמע ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

וואס האסטו געטרונקען
וואס האסטו געטרונקען,
זאגשע מיר טאכטער געטרייע?
– א שווארצע קאווע, טיי,
איז געווען אז אך און ויי,
מאמע ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

וווּ האסטו שפאצירט,
וווּ האסטו שפאצירט,
זאגשע מיר טאכטער געטרייע?
– אויף קלעצער און אויף באלקעס,
מיר זענען געווארן קאליקעס,
מאמע ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

און וווּ ביסטו געשלאפן,
און וווּ ביסטו געשלאפן,
טאכטער מיינע געטרייע
– אוף א בוידים היי, היי,
מיט חלוצים צווי, צווי,
מאמע ס’איז געוועזן א מחיה!

עברית  Кириллица  Latin

 פרטים נוספים

בתי, בת חמודות (תרגום מיידיש- חנה רביד)

הֵיכָן זֶה הָיִית?
הֵיכָן זֶה הָיִית – ?
סַפְּרִי נָא לִי בִּתִּי, בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– הָיִיתִי בַּהַכְשָׁרָה,
בְּקִבּוּץ קְלוֹסוֹבָה (מלרע );
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

מַה זֶה שָׁם עָשִׂית?
מַה זֶה שָׁם עָשִׂית – ?
סַפְּרִי נָא לִי בִּתִּי, בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– אֲבָנִים גָּרַרְתִּי,
עַצְמוֹתַי שִׁבַּרְתְּי;
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

מַה זֶה שָׁם אָכַלְתְּ?
מַה זֶה שָׁם אָכַלְתְּ – ?
סַפְּרִי נָא לִי בִּתִּי, בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– תַּפּוּחֵי אֲדָמָה אָכַלְתִּי,
קֵבָתִי קִלְקַלְתְּי,
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

וּמַה זֶה שָׁם שָׁתִית?
וּמַה זֶה שָׁם שָׁתִית – ?
סַפְּרִי, בִּתִּי, סַפְּרִי בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– קָפֶה שִׁחוֹר, תֵּה קַר –
טַעַם רַע וָמָר,
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

וְהֵיכָן זֶה טִיַּלְתְּ?
וְהֵיכָן זֶה טִיַּלְתְּ – ?
סַפְּרִי, בִּתִּי, לִי בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– עַל קוֹרוֹת וּמָרִישִׁים
שֶׁהֲפָכוּנוּ לְנֵכִים –
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

אֵיפֹה זֶה יָשַׁנְתָּ?
אֵיפֹה זֶה יָשַׁנְתָּ – ?
סַפְּרִי נָא לִי בִּתִּי, בַּת חֲמוּדוֹת.
– בַּעֲלִיָּה עַל שַׁחֵת,
עִם שְׁנֵי חֲלוּצִים בְּיַחַד,
הָיָה זֶה מְחַיֶּה נְפָשׁוֹת.

עברית  Кириллица  Latin

 פרטים נוספים

january 2, 2021 – lost yiddish songs Read Post »

blog, poetry

Now that we have reached the 1 million mark of the first stage of vaccinations, new questions can be raised. 1. Now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, people seem to have lost all patience with the tunnel, and can’t bear the lockdown.  How can they be brought to have the patience to endure the final round? 2. Now that many of the older people have been vaccinated, the younger people are hungering to get their chance at the jab.  Since many of the Arab towns have surpluses because the population has opposed the vaccine, should the Jews go there for their jab?  If you go to the centers in the city early in the morning and register for the leftovers, and then come back around nine at night, you may have a chance – even if you’re just 40, because of the reluctance to waste the doses.  Is this fair?  Is it necessary?  4.  What will be the final situation – so many people who have lost their shops, their jobs, businesses that cannot be recovered?  Can we begin to determine how to reconstitute our livelihoods, our culture, our friends?

   

january 1, 2021 – 1,000,000 vaccinations Read Post »

blog, poetry

so what’s new? 

we thought something would change at midnight.  I stood on the balcony with my granddaughter, waiting for illegal fireworks to mark the revolution of the year. 

but nothing happened.  

she had been exercising at rehearsal all day, preparing for the Japanese Olympics in 2021, and she was still recovering from an exhausting cold that turned out not to be corona.  She should have been in bed but it was particularly important for her to greet this year in which so much was going to happen for her. 

And there was no sign.  No difference.

let’s pray this doesn’t mean anything, that the new year will be a truly new beginning.  I know that the date of the new year is accidental, that it used to be the Ides of March for the world, and that it’s the first of Tishre for us, and all that, but – come on – right now January 1 is our big date now.  Brexit is not the only thing that’s happening today.

For us it was a regular Friday.  I tried answering some of the letters from the guests at the IAWE Zoom end of year party, but couldn’t even get to all of them.  Should you wish to get on our mailing list, let me know.  

 

 

january 1, 2021 – happy new year Read Post »

blog

If I leave this year with no other prayer, it has to be this:  may we have the strength to overcome our separate worlds and our individual quirks and be as supportive of others as we possibly can.

Last night I had nightmares like I cannot remember having before.  All about friends misunderstanding each other and betraying each other and quibbling over their misunderstandings and betrayals.  There was also something about shifting and disappearing – I left my purse in some guy’s apartment and when I went back up the stairs to get it, the door was still there, but the apartment itself was moving like a train.   When we get back to some kind of society  I hope we can get through the idiosyncrasies we’ve acquired from living our narrow lives and be there for others.

My own incredible limitation that has been honed during this period has been that even though I pretend not to react to positive feedback, I brood over negative comments.  Sometimes I can learn from criticism, but not always is it meant to be constructive, and that hurts.   I want to be the kind of person that people learn from and that brings people together – and whenever that doesn’t work, I feel like I lose something valuable.

 

 

december 31, 2020 – peace among friends Read Post »

blog, poetry

what with all the politicians changing places and creating new parties, I wasn’t surprised that my friend Rachel called to invite me to join her new political party – no name or platform – but she’s sure we’ll get more votes if we just keep quiet.  

in fact, it has been suggested that we connect the vaccinations with the elections.  we vote once and get a vaccine and then 21 days later, we get another vaccine and new elections.

 

december 30, 2020 – new political parties Read Post »

blog, poetry

as much as i try to stay away from the post office, there’s always something that makes me drop by.  Mailed packages are the worst.  

Of course it depends on how the package is sent.  Amazon gets delivered, and so do specially sent mail.  This morning the guy who delivers our special mail called me and announced he was on his way – two minutes later a package from Heather – wrapped and rewrapped after customs – without the address on it.  Apparently the address got lost in the rewrapping and until I called to see what happened, no one made any effort to find out where it belonged.  But here it is – a treasure trove of necklaces that I will enjoy sharing with friends. 

An hour later I got a notice of a package awaiting us in the P.O.  and Ezi, hoping it is the achipor he ordered months ago, walked me the half a mile with great anticipation.  “It’s lockdown,” he said, “no one will be there.”  And indeed, there were only two tellers, and the usual take-a-number system.

 

Unfortunately, however, with only two tellers and many people happy for an excure to get out, the queue was not so empty.

What was in the package you ask?  Another book by Louise Gluck.  I promised to write about her for some encyclopedia and I don’t do things half-way.  I read every single word.

which package did i enjoy more?  You’ll soon see.

 

  

december 30, 2020 – post office under lockdown Read Post »

blog, poetry,

Here’s a poem for New Year’s. 

Use it on your zoom or wherever you’re celebrating – especially if you aren’t really celebrating.

We’re having a new years zoom poetry reading at IAWE.  I may even read the poem, but the point is to celebrate what we do have, not what we’ve lost, that maybe things are getting better.

Certainly it is understandable that maybe people here are uncertain and worried.  The musical chairs our politicians play before our repeated elections does not make it easier to feel secure.  Many of us feel better with knowing there may be changes, but none of us feel secure.

As for the vaccines, I’m still talking to people who feel uncertain about whether they will take it.  I tell them that they trusted Pfizer with their sex lives, why not with the rest of their lives.

 

december 29, 2020 – “we’re still here” Read Post »