Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Work? Work!

I've mentioned before that my first language was not English. Yiddish was among those first languages. My mother and my aunt, both with beautiful voices, used to sing to us kids a whole slew of Yiddish songs from "in der heim." Decades later, when I'm busy around the house I still sing those songs, nostalgia making the work go easier.

There's been a lot of arguing about whether or not work is a concept that frum Jews need to deal with. Well, here's what they thought about it in that long ago Europe so many are so fond of romanticizing. The song? Rozhinkes mit Mandlen--raisins and almonds. The song was an old Yiddish lullaby, arranged in the form many of you might now recognize by Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908). And yes, work, and the view of work, figures into the song.

The links below will give you the "message" as well as showcase the beautiful voices of two long ago operatic/chazonish stars--Jan Peerce and Richard Tucker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w633M08hsaU Jan Peerce
[Note: I had this posting scheduled for today and then discovered that it happens also to be the yahrzeit of Jan Peerce. Eerie coincidence.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M86MhMxpybg Richard Tucker

For those who don't speak/understand Yiddish, head over for the lyrics, transliteration and translation to
http://yiddishlyrics.wordpress.com/

9 comments:

sima said...

Raisins and almonds doesn't seem like the most serious "baruf" to me -- kidding aside, I never heard of this song until I read Herman Wouk's Winds of War and War and Remembrance books. He makes the song a recurring theme, and it is used very movingly.

Masha said...

My mom also sang us this song when we were little so thanks for a bit of nostalgia. And yes that is work that Yidele is going to be doing. Apparently European jewry wasn't as allergic to that work as a lot of frum people today are.

Anonymous said...

Thank you!! My son went to a baby music class and one of the songs was an English version of this (without the bhm'k reference)... i loved it and wondered where it was from, since i had never heard it. i had no idea it was yiddish!

Trudy said...

My yiddish is almost nonexistent so thanks for the link to the translation. I always knew the song was a yiddish one but never knew what it was about.

Anonymous said...

Rozhinkes mit Mandlen was one of my father's favorite songs. He had a terrible voice, but whistled it beautifully.

Mordechai Y. Scher said...

What an interesting mix of elements! The remembered Temple/Beit Mikdash, and mourning Presence, the sacrificial animal, engaging in trade, and the future in the form of the child.

This calls for some interesting literary analysis. Has anyone done that?

Shmendrik said...

Sure, it's a very nice tune, but of all the proofs that working was the norm in Europe (as if such proof were needed!) this must be one of the weaker ones.

ProfK said...

Shmendrik,
Keep in mind that this is a lullaby. Traditionally this genre of song is meant to comfort a child so that they can sleep well. There is historical interest in work being mentioned in a lullaby. Even the youngest of children understood that work was "normal" and to be expected and was nothing to get upset about. Work was the world as it was meant to be. Work was not the monster hiding in the closet.

There are many things that adults will discuss among themselves that they won't discuss in the presence of children. There are many things that we believe children are too young to understand and we wait until they are older to discuss these things with the children.

By placing work within the context of a lullaby it becomes something that everyone can understand, even young children. It is part of normalcy across the board.

free dating said...

My mom also sang us this song when we were little so thanks for a bit of nostalgia. And yes that is work that Yidele is going to be doing. Apparently European jewry wasn't as allergic to that work as a lot of frum people today are.