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lift The Faces, And Costumes, Of Purim
By MARY KORETZ
Each month in this space,
L'Chayim will present a Yiddish
lesson entitled, "Du Redst Yiddish?
(Do You Speak Yiddish?)," whose
aim is to encourage further study of
Yiddish. The lesson will include a
brief story utilizing the Yiddish
words to be studied and a
vocabulary list with English
translations. Two books which may
be helpful for beginning Yiddish
students are Yiddish for Beginners
by Dr. Joffen and Der Yiddisher
Lerer by Goldin. Weinreich's
English-Yiddish Dictionary also may
be useful.
The lessons were prepared by
Mary Koretz of Oak Park. She has
taught both children's and adult
classes in Yiddish at the Workmen's
Circle.
Following is this month's
lesson:
Purim, in my childhood home,
was two large wooden shislen (one
normally used for chopping fish and
one for chopping liver), filled with
bawb and arbis. The chick peas
were generously covered with fefer.
The bowls were placed on the tish
and could be eaten at will, like
candy or nis. Hamantashen were
the other customary edible. Special
preparations for a festive onbeisn
were made. Most of our holidays
were marked by the
overconsumption of food. We
"ingested our yidishkeit; it truly
became a part of us.
Very often we had relatives visit
us or mir were invited to their
homes. The holiday revived zikorns
among the dervaksener, of der
haym. They spoke of Purimshpilers,
of carrying shalach mones of
gragers and of hindlach swung
around kep, in the synagogues, as a
symbol of Haman. Zay spoke of
these zachn as though they existed
nor in Europe. Perhaps because
they were secular Jews, they had
dropped some of these practices.
Shpeter, I was lerenen, that
these customs still prevailed tsvishn
a groise number of yidn in America,
particularly religious ones.
When I was alt genug to teach
in a secular Sunday school, I found
that they had their aygenir version
of Purim observance. The meise of
Esther was dertsaylt to the kinder
before Purim. On the yom toy the
children came costumed. They
represented the characters in the
megile. Various games were devised
such as pin the bord on Mordecai.
Prizes were awarded to geviners of
L-8
FRIDAY, MARCH 2, 1990
the games and for the best
costumes.
In Israel, Purim is gepravet in
different ways, both in the kibbutzim
and in the shtet. According to
people ver visited Israel during
Purim, the following represent
etleche differences.
In Kibbutz Gal-On, the
yungvarg observe the holiday in
their special children's home. They
wore costumes of farshidene kinds,
not necessarily relevant to the
meise of Esther. More like the
Halloween costumes of America.
The adults held a bazunderer party
in the large dining hall. Most came
costumed. They were skits, muzik,
tants, vein, esnvarg and gragers.
The party lasted veit in the night.
In Jerusalem, and other cities,
mentshn send shalach mones and
hold private parties. The nature of
the farzamln depend on the people
involved.
I have a picture of a Purim
partty, held at the haym of friends.
They live in Bat Yam, a senior adult
housing facility. The party bashtayt
of a festive dinner with the guests
trogn paper hats. It puts one in
mind of an American New Year's
celebration. And so it appears, that
the observance of Purim wears
many ponimer as well as costumes.
Vocabulary
shislen
bawb
arbis
fefer
tish
nis
hamantashen
onbeisn
yidishkeit
mir
zikorns
dervaksener
der haym
Purimshpilers
shalach mones
gragers
hindlach
kep
zay
zachn
nor
shpeter
lerenen
bowls
beans
peas
pepper
table
nuts
a three-cornered
cookie
dinner
Jewishness
we
memories
adults
home
Purim players
goodies sent
during Purim
noisemakers
chickens
head
they
things
only
later
taught
tsvish
groise
yidn
alt
genug
aygenir
meise
dertsaylt
kinder
yom tov
megile
bord
geviners
gepravet
shtet
ver
etleche
yungvarg
farshidene
bazunderer
muzik
tants
vein
esnvarg
veit
mentshn
farzamln
haym
bashtayt
trogn
ponimer
among
large
Jews
old
enough
own
story
told
children
holiday
story of Purim
bear
winners
observed
cities
who
several
youngsters
various
separate
music
dances
wine
food
far
people
gathering
home
consists
wearing
faces
pjo Pick Patronymic Root From Pinchus
‘411 °
"
By BETTY PROVIZER STARKMAN
The family name WETZLAR, is
of geographic origin and indicates
residence in the Hessian city of
Wetzlar. Paul Diamant discusses
this family in Archiv For Judische
Familien, a genealogical journal
published in Vienna, 1912-1916. He
also wrote about the other Jewish
families living in Wetzlar from the
twelfth century and the origins of
their family names.
PICK is a surname of
patronymic root showing descent
from an ancestor named Pinchus.
The family LOUSADA claims
ancestry from the Spanish
Grandees. They are of Sephardic
origin and lived in Jamaica for many
generations. The JEWISH
ENCYCLOPEDIA, 12 vols., (N.Y.,
1901-1906) has a crest and family
tree.
The surname GLASS is of
occupational root and was chosen
by an ancestor to note his
involvement in the sale of
manufacture of glass. GLASSMAN
and GLAZER come from the same
source. The Universal Jewish
Encyclopedia, 10 vols., (N.Y.,
1939-1948) has an article about the
English writer, Montague Glass
(1877-1934.)
SCHWAB as a surname is of
Ashkenazic root and tells us that
this family once resided in Swabia,
Germany. The family later moved on
to France and Moravia. The Leo
Baeck Institute of New York has a
Schwab family tree beginning in the
year 1495.
LIVERANT is an Ashkenazic
name indicating occupation. In
Yiddish liverant means "caterer."
The family name SONNTAG,
meaning "Sunday," in
Yiddish/German, was considered
one of the beautiful names. An
official may have been bribed to
assign this name. The name may
have been requested because of an
anniversary or birth date, that took
place on Sunday.
Some of our Jewish family
names were adopted from
neighborhood locations. A Dutch
family chose VAN DAM (near the
dike) as their name.
CASTELNUOVO, is another name
that falls into this category. This
cognomen literally means, "new
castle." It is of Sephardic origin and
was adopted by a Spanish,
Portuguese or Italian Jew to indicate
that he lived near the new castle.
ALGRANTI is also a Sephardic
surname. It illustrates the eight
centuries of Moorish influence upon
Spain and its Jewish inhabitants.
Algranti is from the Arabic, "a son
of Granada."
The Ashkenazic name TAMBOR
is of occupational origin and in
Yiddish means "drummer."
Someone in your family played the
drums.
Some Yiddish/German names
end in "stamm" which translates to
"ancestry." KOHNSTAMM thus
indicates priestly origins.
Betty Provizer Starkman is the
past president and founder of the
genealogical branch of the Jewish
Historical Society of Michigan.