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Benzion Witler (1907-1961) -
Singer, actor and songwriter, Witler
was born in Belz, Poland to
a Hasidic family and began performing secretly at the Freie
Yidishe Folksbiene in Vienna,
Austria at age twelve. After a spell as a journalist, he returned
to the theater and performed
in France, England and South Africa. Apopular matinee idol and
recording artist, Witler was
routinely mobbed when he appeared in Eastern Europe in the
'Thirties. He came to the U.S.A.
in 1940. In 1946 while on tour in South America, he began a
partnership with Argentine-born
singer-actress, Shifra Lerer. Together they performed throughout
North and South America,
South Africa, Europe and Israel and made recordings. Among his
stage roles were Studentlibe
(Student Love) and Der Zingendiker Shmid (The
Singing Blacksmith).
©Copyright
Benzion Witler (SACEM)
13
YEDER RUFT MIKH
ZHAMELE
Anonymous-Bernardo Feuer
Yeder ruft mikh Zhamele.
Ay, vi mir iz shver!
Kh’hob gehat a mamele,
Kh’hob zi shoyn nisht mer.
Kh’hob gehat a tatele,
Hot er mikh gehit,
Itst bin ikh a shmatele
Vayl ikh bin a yid.
Kh’hob gehat a shvesterl,
Iz zi mer nishto.
Ay vi bistu Esterl
In der shverer sho?
Ergets by a boymele,
Ergets bay a ployt
Ligt mayn bruder Shloymele
Fun a daytsh getoyt.
Kh’hob gehat a heymele,
Itster iz mir shlekht.
Kh’ bin vi a baheymele
Vos der talyen shekht.
Akh, du Got in himele,
Kuk af der erd arop.
Zey nor vi dayn blimele
Shnaydt der talyen op.
EVERYONE CALLS ME
ZHAMELE
Anonymous-Bernardo Feuer
Everyone calls me Zhamele.
Ay, things are really tough!
I once had a dear mother.
I don’t have her anymore.
I once had a dear father
Who took care of me.
Now I’m like a little rag
Because I am a Jew.
I once had a little sister.
She is no longer here.
Ay, where are you Esther, dear,
In these difficult times?
Somewhere near a little tree,
Somewhere near a hedge
Lies my brother Shloymele,
Murdered by a German.
I once had a little home,
Now things are bad for me.
I am like a little animal
That the hangman slaughters.
Oh, God in Heaven,
Look down upon the earth.
See how the hangman
Cuts down your little flower.
Bernardo Feuer (1910-1967) - Feuer left Lemberg (Lvov),
Austria for South America in 1926.
In 1938 he founded the Coro Hazamir (Hazamir Chorale). As its
director he became an
integral part of Jewish life in Argentina, Chile and Peru. He also
taught music and wrote
liturgical works in Hebrew and Yiddish. In 1952 he wrote the
melody to Yeder ruft mir Zhamele
(Zalmele), an anonymous poem that appeared in a Yiddish
newspaper in Argentina.
Music ©Copyright
Bernardo Feuer (SADAIC)
14
HER NOR, DU SHEYN MEYDELE
Traditional
Her nor, du sheyn meydele,
Her nor, du fayn meydele,
Vos vestu ton in aza vaytn veg?
Vos vestu ton in aza vaytn veg?
Ikh vel geyn in ale gasn
Un vel shrayen: vesh tsum vashn!
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
Her nor, du sheyn meydele,
Her nor, du fayn meydele,
Vu vestu vashn in aza vaytn veg?
Vu vestu vashn in aza vaytn veg?
Du vest meynen az ikh bin shvakh—
Ikh ken vashn in dem taykh
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
Her nor, du sheyn meydele,
Her nor, du fayn meydele,
Vos vestu esn in aza vaytn veg?
Vos vestu esn in aza vaytn veg?
Broyt mit zalts vel ikh esn,
Tate-mame vel ikh fargesn
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
Her nor, du sheyn meydele,
Her nor, du fayn meydele,
Af vos vestu shlofn in aza vaytn
veg?
Af vos vestu shlofn in aza vaytn
veg?
LISTEN, PRETTY GIRL
Traditional
Listen, pretty girl,
Listen, you fine girl,
What will you do
On such a long journey?
I will go through every street
And shout, “I wash clothes!”
As long as I can be with you.
As long as I can be with you.
Listen, pretty girl,
Listen, you fine girl,
Where will you do this washing
On such a long journey?
Do you think I’m weak?
I can do the wash in the river
As long as I can be with you.
As long as I can be with you.
Listen, pretty girl,
Listen, you fine girl,
What will you eat
On such a long journey?
I will eat bread and salt,
I will forsake my parents,
As long as I can be with you.
As long as I can be with you.
Listen, pretty girl,
Listen, you fine girl,
Where will you sleep
On such a long journey?
15
Ikh bin nokh a yunge froy,
Ikh ken shlofn af a bintl shtroy
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
Her nor, du sheyn meydele,
Her nor, du fayn meydele,
Mit vos vestu zikh tsudekn in aza
vaytn veg?
Mit vos vestu zikh tsudekn in aza
vaytn veg?
Der toy fun himl vet mikh tsudekn,
Di feygelekh veln mikh oyfvekn
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
—Abi mit dir tsuzamen zayn.
I am still a young woman,
I can sleep on a bundle of straw
As long as I can be with you.
As long as I can be with you.
Listen, pretty girl,
Listen, you fine girl,
With what will you cover yourself
On such a long journey?
The dew from the skies will cover
me,
The birds will awaken me,
As long as I can be with you.
As long as I can be with you.
Mordkhe Gebirtig (Bertig) (1877-1942) - Born on Jozefa
Street in the Kazimierz quarter of
Krakow where he spent most of his life, Gebirtig was apprenticed
to a carpenter at age ten. In
1905, under the influence of Avrom Reisen, he began to act in
amateur theater and to write. He
belonged to the Jewish Social Democratic Party of Galicia and
published in the Krakow Social
Democrat. During World War I, he served for five years in
the Austro-Hungarian Army.
Unable to read or write music, he composed his melodies on a
simple shepherd's pipe, and
friends transcribed the notes. His first book of song-poems was
published in 1920 to great
acclaim. American film and theater star Molly Picon made his songs
popular in the Yiddish
theaters of Warsaw, Lodz and Vilna. In Krakow, Jewish Theater
Societies organized evenings
of his songs. In 1939 and 1940, he remained in Krakow with his
wife and two of his three
daughters. His songs of that period reflect upon Jewish life under
the Nazi occupation. Blayb
gezunt mir, Kroke was written when he and his family were
exiled to Lagiewnicki (near Krakow)
where they stayed until they returned to the Krakow ghetto in the
spring of 1942. On June 4,
Gebirtig was shot and killed when the Nazis surrounded the ghetto
to round up the Jews for
deportation to the death camp Belzec (Belzhits).
Manfred Lemm - German singer, guitarist and composer of
French Huguenot ancestry, was
born in 1946. A dedicated performer of Gerbirtig songs and author
of Mordechai Gerbirtig:
Jiddische Lied, Lemm composed the melody to Blayb gezunt
mir, Kroke, which survived World
War II in text only.
©Copyright
Wolf Krakowski
Rajah Blue Music (SOCAN)
16
YIDISHE MAYKHOLIM
Samson Kemelmakher
Varnishkes mit kez un mit puter
Af shvuestog hot gegebn mir mayn
muter,
A milekhikn zup mit milekhike
beygelekh.
Geven bay undz a file shtub mit
yingelekh un meydelekh.
Yidishe maykholim, ir zent in mayn
zikorn—
Di mame hot gekokht mir un gebakt.
Kh’vel keyn mol nisht fargesn,
Geshmak geven dos esn—
Gefilte fish mit knishes un kabak
Mit lokshelekh, a yoykh, mit
pastrome
A frish neshome gegebn mir di
mame.
Ale ir maykholim un gefilte fish,
Far dem hob ikh ir shtark gelibt,
gegebn ir a kush.
Af yomkiper m'hot fargosn mit a
glezl
Un m’hot farbisn a kishke mit a
heldzl.
Ayln tsu kol nidre, tsi hern in der
shul,
Gefirt hot mir der tate, umetum
geven ikh ful.
JEWISH FOOD
Samson Kemelmakher
On Shavuous my mother gave me
Varnishkes with cheese and with
butter,
A milkhik soup, with milkhik
bagels.
We had a house full of little boys
and girls.
Jewish food my mother used to
cook and bake for me
You are in my memory—
I will never forget
How tasty the food was—
Gefilte fish with knishes and
squash.
With noodles, chicken soup and
pastrami
My mother refreshed my soul.
I loved her very much for all her
food and gefilte fish,
And for that, I gave her a kiss.
On Yom Kipur, we poured out a
little glass
And ate kishke and heldzl.
Hurrying to hear Kol Nidre in the
synagogue,
My father took me everywhere,
And I was full!
17
I asked my father the Four
Questions
On Pesakh my mother cooked
and baked.
Life was sweet then, we ate of the
very best
On Purim, Pesakh, Rosh Hashanah
and Shavuous.
On Jewish holidays, there is
baking in the oven.
The folks laugh, and we live
well.
We observe the Seder, the children
go to kheder
On Khanukah loaded with Khanuke
gelt.
Di fir kashes gefregt bay dem
futer.
Af peysekh hot gekokht, gebakt
mayn muter.
Geven dos lebn zis amol, est fun
kole gits
Af purim un af peysekh, rosheshone
un af shvues.
Af yidishe yontoyvim, es bakt zikh
inem oyvn.
Di mentshn lakhn un me lebt zikh
gut.
Me pravet zey dem seyder, di kinder
geyn in kheyder
Mit gelt a sakh af khanike bashit.
Samson Kemelmakher was born in Moldova (former U.S.S.R.) in
1953. Singer-musician-
composer and recording artist, Kemelmakher toured with the band
Yidishe Lidthroughout the
former U.S.S.R. Kemelmakher performs internationally from his home
base in Israel.
©Copyright
Samson Kemelmakher (RAO)
18
A note on the transliteration: The transliterations correspond
to the standard
rules of orthography established by the YIVO Institute for
Jewish Research. They
do not exactly replicate Krakowski's Lodz-Czenstochov dialect.
Yiddish dialects
contain variations and inconsistencies. Considerations of rhyme
and overlaps in
dialects also have had an effect upon the pronunciation and
transliteration.
BLAYB GEZUNT MIR, KROKE
Mordkhe Gebirtig-Manfred Lemm
Blayb gezunt mir, Kroke!
Blayb-zhe mir gezunt.
S’vart di fur geshpant shoyn far
mayn hoyz.
S’traybt der vilder soyne vi men
traybt a hunt
Mit akhzaryes mikh fun dir aroys.
Blayb gezunt mir, Kroke!
Ikh zey dikh efsher haynt
S’letste mol mit alts vos lib iz mir.
Af mayn mames keyver
S’ harts zikh oysgeveynt.
Shver geven dos shaydn zikh mit ir.
Oysgeveynt di oygn biz der letster
trer,
Banetst mit zey dem tatns kaltn
shteyn.
Kh’hob dem zeydns keyver nisht
gefinen mer.
Es muz shoyn zamt fun zayn
matseyve zayn.
Blayb gezunt mir, Kroke!
Heylik iz dayn erd—
Tate-mame ruen dokh in ir.
Lebn zey tsu lign iz mir nisht
bashert,
S’vart a keyver ergets vayt af mir.
Blayb gezunt mir, Kroke!
Blayb-zhe mir gezunt.
S’vart di fur geshpant shoyn far
mayn hoyz.
S’traybt der vilder soyne
Vi men traybt a hunt
Mit akhzaryes mikh fun dir aroys.
FAREWELL, MY KRAKOW
Mordkhe Gebirtig-Manfred Lemm
Farewell, my Krakow, fare thee
well!
The wagon is hitched up,
Waiting in front of my house.
The savage enemy drives me from
you, cruelly,
As one would drive away a dog.
Farewell, my Krakow!
Perhaps today is the last day
I will ever see everything dear to me
At my mother’s grave,
I cried out my heart.
It was hard to part from her.
I cried my eyes out, until the last
tear
Wetted my father’s cold stone.
I couldn’t find my grandfather’s
grave.
His gravestone must have turned to
dust by now.
Farewell, my Krakow!
Holy is your ground.
My parents rest in it.
I am not destined to lie next to
them;
A grave awaits me somewhere far
away.
Farewell, my Krakow, fare thee
well!
The wagon is hitched up,
Waiting in front of my house.
The savage enemy drives me from
you, cruelly,
As one would drive away a dog.
©Copyright Manfred Lemm
Edition Kunstlertreff (GEMA)
19
VEN DU LAKHST
Max Perlman
Vos vil den a mentsh nor a bisele
glik,
Er zol kenen zikh oyslebn sheyn.
Es freyt zikh der kabtsn ven er
gefint tsurik
Vos er hot farloyrn aleyn.
Eyner gefint nor in raykhtum dos
glik
Un er vil makhn fil gelt.
A tsveyter, di libe gevinen tsurik
Vos es hot im azoy oysgefelt.
S’ iz shver tsu gefinen an emeser
fraynt,
Un oyb du gefinst im dan hit im
oyf haynt.
Ven du lakhst, ven du lakhst,
Lakhn ale mit dir mit.
Ven du veynst, veynstu far zikh
aleyn.
Geyt dir git, geyt dir git,
Feln gute brider nit.
Geyt dir shlekht, bistu elnt vi a
shteyn.
Der alter aktyor, veys ikh, bashtimt,
Zingt oykh dos zelbike lidl.
Er iz, dakht zikh, amol gevezn
barimt,
Un shoyn shpilt er dem tsveytn fidl.
Un bislekhvayz kert yeder filing
zikh op,
Men fargest zayn sukses zayn furor.
Der forhang falt on shoyn af eybik
arop
Far im, far dem altn aktyor.
Er bletert zayne ale kritikn fun
amol,
Un er zingt, mit trern, mit a
veynendikn kol:
WHEN YOU LAUGH
Max Perlman
What more can a person want, but a
bit of happiness,
So he can live his life well.
The pauper rejoices when he finds
Something he himself once lost.
One person finds happiness only in
riches,
And seeks to acquire a lot of money.
Another wants only to win back
The love he has so sorely missed.
It is difficult to find a true friend,
And if you do find one,
Cherish him today.
When you laugh, when you laugh,
Everyone laughs with you.
When you cry, you cry alone.
When things go well, when things
go well,
There’s no shortage of pals,
When things go badly, you’re as
alone as a stone.
The old actor, I know, sings this
same song, too.
He was once famous, it seems,
And now he plays second fiddle.
Bit by bit, he turns over every
feeling,
His success, his acclaim, are all
forgotten.
The curtain falls down
On the old actor for the last time.
He leafs through all his old
newspaper clippings
And sings in a tear-filled voice:
20
Ven du lakhst. . .
Di gantse velt is andersh haynt
gevorn,
Un di mentshn zaynen oykh nisht vi
geven.
Ven du lakhst. . .
When you laugh. . .
The whole world has changed,
And people aren’t what they once
were.
When you laugh. . .
Max Perlman (1909-1985) - Perlman was born in Riga, Latvia
to a middle-class family. At age
six he sang in the choir of Hazan Rosovski and soon began to play
children's roles in the theater.
He studied at the dramatic studio in the Riga Peretz Club
and found work performing in
Russian and Yiddish theaters. With the founding of the Riga
Nayer Yidishe Teater (New Jewish
Theater), he turned professional, performing steadily in
Kovno and Riga between 1928 and
1934. Perlmen played in Vienna and toured Czechoslovakia, Poland,
France, Belgium and
England. In 1939 he was invited to Argentina, where he stayed for
3 years before moving on
to Uruguay and Chile and, in 1945, to Latin America. He toured
South Africa in 1948 and 1951
and came to the United States in 1952, where he performed
regularly from his home base in
Israel. The consummate song and dance man, comedic actor and song
writer, Perlman
returned to Argentina in 1966 and, in 1967 toured there and in
Brazil with Yiddish comedian
Shimon Dzigan. Between 1968 and 1974, he toured the U.S.A., South
Africa and Europe. He
was associated for many years with Israel's Hebrew Theater
Circuit. Perlman gave his last
performances on a 1985 tour of the U.S.A., Australia and Israel
with his partner, South African
born Israeli theater star Menorah Zahav.
©Copyright
Max Perlman
21
ZOL SHOYN KUMEN DI
GEULE
Shmerke Kaczerginski
HaRav Abraham Kook
Ongezolyet afn hartsn, makht men
a lekhayim.
Oyb der umet lozt nisht ruen—
zingen mir a lid.
Iz nishto keyn bisl bronfn, lomir
trinken mayim,
Mayim-khayim iz dokh khayim—
vos darf nokh der yid?
Zol shoyn kumen di geule,
Meshiekh kumt shoyn bald!
S’tantsn beymer in di velder, shtern
afn himl.
Reb Yisroel, der mekhutn, dreyt
zikh in der mit.
S’vet zikh oyfvekn Meshiekh fun
zayn tifn driml
Ven er vet derhern undzer tfiledike
lid.
S’iz a dor fun kule-khayev, zayt nisht
keyn naronim—
Un fun zindikn —Meshiekh gikher
kumen vet!
Akh, du tatele in himl, s’betn bney
rakhmonim:
Zey Meshiekh zol nisht kumen a
bisele tsu shpet.
LET THE REDEMPTION
COME
Shmerke Kaczerginski
HaRav Abraham Kook
If you’re feeling downhearted, take
a little drink.
When sorrow keeps you from your
rest, sing a little song.
If there’s not a drop of whiskey, let
us drink water.
Living water is but life itself—
What more does a Jew need?
Let the Redemption come,
The Messiah is coming soon!
Trees are dancing in the woods,
stars dance in the sky.
Reb Yisroel twirls in their midst.
The Messiah will awaken from his
deep slumber
When he hears our prayerful song.
Our generation bears responsibility,
let us not be fools—
Were it not for sinning, the Messiah
would come sooner.
Dear Father in Heaven, we ask for
mercy:
Please see that the Messiah doesn’t
come a little bit too late.
HaRav Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) - Born in Griva,
Latvia, Kook served as rabbi in Jaffa,
Palestine and London, England before being elected the first
Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Palestine
in 1921. A deeply religious mystic, he was also a practical social
activist and Zionist with a
strong interest in human affairs. His written works include
Rabbi Kook's Philosophy of
Repentance.
©Copyright
Kaczerginski-Kook
22
Errata
In songwriter bios:
Max Perlman: "Latin America" should be "Central America"
Bernardo Feuer: Lemberg (Lvov) "Austria" should be "Poland"
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