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Yiddishkayt Newsletter

Yiddish for the Holidays - December 2009

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In This Yidbits
12/13 Rexite on the Radio
Kehile Calendar
The Vortsman
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Dear Friend of Yiddish,

If you haven't bought your tickets for Mitch Smolkin in Rexite on the Radio then what are you waiting for? 

Join us on for a thrilling tribute to the King of Yiddish Radio, Seymour Rexite, brought to life by the talented Mitch Smolkin.  Come celebrate Khanike in Santa Monica on Sunday, December 13 at 2:00pm and 7:00pm.  If you want to lend a hand and help out, we need volunteers for both concerts, send us an email.  All the info is below and the whole story is on our website.

Speaking of our website, check out our new page dedicated to our 15th Anniversary next year.  You can navigate a timeline of the past fifteen years of events, festivals, education projects and more with plenty of pictures and video.

The Vortsman is back this month, tackling no fewer than three subjects.

And check out other upcoming Yiddish events in the Kehile (Community) Calendar.  Arbeter Ring has a concert on 12/5, the Valley Yiddish Culture Club hosts Archie Barkan on 12/17, and details have been announced for KlezCalifornia next February.  More info below.

See you at Rexite on the Radio,

The Yiddishkayt Staff
concert12/13 - REXITE ON THE RADIO


Come celebrate Khanike in Santa Monike.
Tickets on sale now!
Rexite on the Radio: Live from the Golden Age of NY's Yiddish Broadcasts

Sunday, December 13, 2009
2:00pm Matinee & 7:00pm Evening

At the Miles Memorial Playhouse
1130 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica, CA, 90403 (map)

Tickets $20; children under 12, $10
Buy your tickets online or call 1-800-838-3006

Yiddishkayt is proud to present Mitch Smolkin in Rexite on the Radio: Live from the Golden Age of NY's Yiddish Broadcasts, for two performances on Sunday, December 13th, direct from its production at the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene in New York.

In New York in the 1930s, there were over 23 radio stations broadcasting Yiddish programs but by the 1940s, one entertainer had become the King of Yiddish radio - the heartthrob crooner Seymour Rexite.  At the height of his popularity, the smooth-as-scotch tenor starred on 18 radio shows a week.

listen --> Hear Seymour Rexite's voice and learn more about the 'King of Yiddish Radio'


Mitch SmolkinThis unique world and repertoire is brought to life by the exciting and gifted singer, actor and cultural innovator Mitch Smolkin (at left), accompanied by renowned pianist Nina ShapilskyThe Forward declared that "Mitch Smolkin is Yiddish's next wave," and The Jewish Standard gushed "Mitch Smolkin makes a fine romantic figure, and sings sexy love songs very well."

Audiences will hear the American Songbook and the great Broadway hits of the 20th century as they were heard on thousands of radios across the country - in Yiddish! You'll never listen to Oklahoma the same way again. In addition to mining the richness of Rexite's era, Mitch will perform some classicRexite on the Radio: Live from the Golden Age of NY's Yiddish Broadcasts Yiddish songs that are bound to send you home singing.  So put down your dreydl and join us as we journey back to the golden age of Yiddish radio.  New York delights like pickles, egg creams and Dr. Brown's will be on sale!

--> Tickets are available online or by calling 1-800-838-3006.

--> Info on parking, seating, and more

--> Interested in volunteering?  Email us for more info!
calendar KEHILE (COMMUNITY) CALENDAR

Yiddishkayt is pleased to share announcements of upcoming events related to Yiddish.  If you are interested in learning more about any event, please contact the organization listed.  If you have an event to share, email us the info.
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12/5/09  Yale Strom, Elizabeth Schwartz & Adam del Monte
Presented by Arbeter Ring (Workmen's Circle).

Saturday, December 5 at 8:00pm
$15 for AR members; $20 for the public
At the Arbeter Ring (Workmen's Circle)
1525 S. Robertson Blvd, LA, 90035 (map)
 
Don't miss a chance to hear Yale Strom, Elizabeth Schwartz, and renowned guitarist Adam del Monte in an intimate pre-Khanike concert.  Gifted musicians and champions of Jewish song and culture, Yale, Elizabeth and Adam present a holiday concert with a spirit that will have you up and dancing.

Reservations and more info: 310.552.2007 or [email protected].

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12/17/09  The Incomparable Archie Barkan
Presented by the Valley Yiddish Culture Club.

Thursday, December 17 at 7:30pm
VYCC Members or those under 21 years: no charge,
Guests $5
In the David Familian Chapel at Adat Ari El
12020 Burbank Blvd, Valley Village, 91607 (map)
 
The Valley Chapter of the Los Angeles Yiddish Culture Club invites you to a a special Khanike program with The Incomparable Archie Barkan in an evening of humor, song and lots of Yiddish.  Refreshments after the program.

More info: call Sally at 818.895.0175, or Israel at 818.892.6092.

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save the date:

2/12/10 to 2/15/10  KlezCalifornia
Presented by KlezCalifornia and Congregation Etz Chayim.

Presidents' Day Weekend, 2010
in Palo Alto, California
 
Save the dates for the KlezCalifornia Yiddish Culture Festival, February 12-15, 2010 (Presidents' Day Weekend) in Palo Alto, at Congregation Etz Chayim. An entire weekend of Yiddish culture and Klezmer music. Singing, dancing,
music, language, literature. For all ages, musicians and non-musicians, Yiddish speakers and non-speakers. Put the Festival on your calendar now!  Invite friends and family to join you for this fabulous, participatory community simkhe!

More info: www.klezcalifornia.org, [email protected], or 415.789.7679.
vortsmanTHE VORTSMAN - THREE FOR DECEMBER
vortsmanThe Vortsman, meaning "man of his word," brings you the story of a different Yiddish word or phrase each month.

Written by Hershl Hartman, long-time Yiddishkayt Board Member and Education Director at the Sholem Community


Three subjects this month: two relating to remembered phrases from bubes (grandmas, emphatically not "bubbies") and one that's a bit more daring than any bube I knew would permit.

nisht gedayget?

A reader from Metairie, LA remembers the phrase "nisht gedayget" (though he didn't spell it according the YIVO Standard on which Der Vortsman insists-see the July '09 YidBits in the archives) and opines that it means "don't worry, or it doesn't matter, usually said with shrugging shoulders."

Not sure about the shoulder shrug, but the phrase does mean, literally, "not to worry."  It implied a free, devil-may-care attitude toward the realities of life.  In fact, when the far-left of the Yiddish-speaking left established an adult tent-city "resort" in Beacon, NY, in the 1920s, it was named Camp Nitgedayget, though its English-language ads used the pre-YIVO transliteration.  (nit and nisht tend to be interchangeable for "no" in folk-speech.)  The Camp gained undying fame in the 1930s in a story by humorist S. J. Perelman in the very WASPy "Esquire" magazine.  Perelman wrote of a young swain saying (I quote from memory): "I love you...I love you...like a two-week vacation at Camp Nitgedayget!"

biz hundert un tsvantsik

Then there's the person from LA on the Pacific, not the one on the Gulf, who reached into his memory (of his bube, no doubt) and came up with the "Yiddish" phrase: bes a hundert un tsvertsy.  After Der Vortsman picked himself up from the floor where he was LOLing, he explained, gently, that the actual phrase was biz hundert un tsvantsik. It means, literally, "until one hundred and twenty."  It refers to the biblical limit placed on human longevity, after all those characters in Genesis who were reported to have lived for hundreds of years.

In Yiddish folk-tradition, when one's age comes up, one states the years remaining to 120, thereby foiling any evil spirits who might be hovering about.  Thus, a 70-year old might say ikh halt fuftsik yor biz hundert un tsvantsik -- I'm at fifty years before one hundred and twenty.

mit tserisene shikh

Okay, for those who've plowed through the foregoing looking for the promised "racy" part (and you know who you are), here it is:

A friend of a friend in NY recalls a descriptive phrase about a woman mit tserisene shikh -- with tattered shoes -- and wonders whether it might refer to someone with a large bosom.  Actually, his second guess was more accurate: it is a not-common term for a streetwalker, whose solicitation activities would result in significant wear and tear on the soles...and the soul.
 
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