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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, December 28, 1984

DR. MILTON MADLY
PODIATRIST

PURELY COMMENTARY

WISHES TO THANK HIS FRIENDS,

Yiddish legacies

FAMILY AND PATIENTS

Continued from. Page 2

inherent dignity of man. This
With such typically wry
constant theme transports
humor, Mendele Moher Sforim
Mendele beyond ethnic writ-
introduces himself in the first
ing and gives him interna-
chapter of Dos Klayneh
tional importance.
Mentsheleh (published as The
Parasite in English translation
The Yiddish revolutionary
of Gerald Stillman by Thomas
theme receives remarkable
Yoseloff, N.Y., 1956). Initially
evaluation in this outline. It is
printed in 1864, 120 years ago
long as a quotation, impressive as
this year, it appeared as a
a thoroughly-conclusive account
novelette of several dozen
of the rise of a great literature
pages in the Yiddish weekly
which now, pitifully, needs
Kol M'Vasser in Odessa. Subti-
greater concern in the interest of
tled "The Biography of
retaining the treasures implicit in
Avrom-Yitzkhok the Strong-
Yiddish literature.
arm Man," this work is re-
It is as a treasure that the JPS
garded as the first modern
book
of translated stories by
Yiddish novel and thus marks
Peretz is a proud sharing in liter-
a watershed in the history of
ary achievement. The Peretz
Yiddish literature. The book
stories are excellently translated
was reprinted several times as
in this volume by Esther Hautzig.
a novelette, revised and ex-
Appropriate illustrations in this
panded by Mendele in 1879
splendid book, which may have
and again in 1907, with multi-
been intended for young readers
ple editions of each revision.
but have value for all ages, are by
He tells the story of a small-
_
Deborah Kogan Ray.
time grafter and strong-arm
There is, indeed, charm and
man who repents before he
magic in the tales, the legendary
dies, and in his confessions de-
and the ethical. The initial story,
scribes his techniques for ex-
The Seven Good Years, im-
tortion, exploitation of the
mediately introduces the im-
poor, manipulation, etc. Dos
poverished •who fight temptation
Klayneh Mentsheleh serves
and are compensated by their own
Mendele as a vehicle of social
good deeds.
criticism, directed primarily at
Bontche Schweig and If Not
the repressive actions of the
Higher have been reprinted hun-
semi-autonomous Jewish
dreds of times and have been used
Kahal.
as themes for sermons to indicate
Mendele Moher Sforim
the sanctity that inspired Jewish
(1836-1917) was the
life. The other stories in the book
pseudonym of Sholem Yankev
Abramovitch. Although he
began as a Hebrew writer and,
by age 24, had gained a reputa-
tion as an innovative creator
and stylist, the uneducated
Jewish masses understood
only Yiddish, and it was them
he wanted to address. In his
Autobiographical Sketches
(1879), he described the di-
Washington (JTA) — A Temple
lemma facing a writer who
University psychologist declared
wanted to publish in Yiddish at
that 40 to 50 percent of current
that time:
marriages involving Jews are
"Our writers . . . were in-
mixed marriages and that in two-
terested only in the Holy
thirds of such marriages, a Jewish
Tongue and not in the people.
man marries a non-Jewish
They looked down at Yiddish.
woman.
If one in ten ever remembered
Prof. Matti Gershenfeld cited
the "accursed tongue" and
the figures in speaking recently to
dared to write something in it,
the B'nai B'rith Women (BBW)
he did so behind seven locks
executive board meeting as part of
and covered it with his holy
the BB W's new program on "The
prayer shawl so that his shame
Image of the Jewish Woman:
might not be discovered to
Myth and Reality."
damage his good name. How
Gershenfeld also asserted that
great then was my dilemma
"one in five Jewish couples today
when I considered that if I
will not have any children. This,
were to embark on writing in
along with the fact that the
the 'shameful' tongue, my hon-
Jewish birthrate has long been
orable name would be bes-
the lowest in the world, that more
mirched! . . . My love for utility,
than 50 percent of American
however, overcame my hollow
women are now in the work force,
pride, and I decided: come
divorce is on the rise and that
what may, I will write in Yid-
there is an erosion of traditional
dish ..."
Jewish values in this country, all
Mendele performed that
add up to a dwindling Jewish
service for Yiddish which
population."
Chaucer performed for
Gershenfeld told the 100
English, Rabelais for French,
women attending the BBW board
and Dante for Italian. Small
meeting that she has been work-
wonder that Sholem Aleichem
ing with Jewish groups across the
dubbed him the "grandfather
country, looking into the ways
of Yiddish literature." He took
Jewish men and women perceive
the language out of the kitchen
each other and trying to change
and the street and gave it liter-
some of those "stereotypical per-
ary status.
ceptions."
Mendele depicted the misery
She said that when she speaks
and tragedy of the oppressed
to Jewish groups, she asks them to
and exploited. No other writer
describe Jewish men and Jewish
spoke so consistently of the

are Peace at Home, The Treasure,
The Magician, Revealed, or the
Story of the Goat Who Couldn't
Say No, The Poor Boy, The Little
Hanukah Lamp and The Match.
I.L. Peretz, born in Poland in
1852, wrote his stories, poems, es-
says, and also many plays as well
as articles commenting on con-
temporary events, in Yiddish.
The able translator Esther
Hautzig writes an important in-
troduction about Peretz and Yid-
dish. Because Yiddish literary
gems now are read mostly in
translation, her remarks about
translating are worth noting:
... Translating Peretz is a
formidable task. His writing is
so poetic, so alliterative, and so
idiomatic that putting it into
understandable, readable
English is nearly impossible
without making some cuts and
taking some liberties with the
words, phrases, and ex-
pressions he used.
Yiddish, the language in
which he wrote the stories in
this collection, cannot be
translated literally. There are
words and expressions that
can only be approximated in
another language, not trans-
lated word for word.
Yiddish gains again in the two
aspects indicated here. There is
glory in recollections and charm
derived from an important lan-
guage — even if it has to be in
translations.

for their well wishes on my recovery during my recent
illness. I will be returning to serve you in the practice of
podiatry beginning January 1985.

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Marriage figures cited

women. Gershenfeld said the an-
swers were "intriguing and dis-
turbing."
"Jewish men are perceived to be
dependable, good providers,
achievers and family men," she
reported. "Jewish women, how-
ever, are undesirably perceived as
`JAPs' — materialistic, pam-
pered, overindulged, and social
climbers who dominate their chil-
dren."
The psychologist said the BB W
program seeking to deal with "the
current images" of American
Jewish women, could help alter
some of these stereotypes and
point out to Jewish members of all
communities the danger of this
type of stereotyping.
She added"-- that, "as a
therapist," she had learned that
"the way to bring about change is
not by guilt-producing lectures,
but rather by exploring ideas to-
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people's own motivation to do
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