  
|
A YIDDISH GUIDE TO BEL KAUFMAN
Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
|
|
On May 20, 2011, author, Bel Kaufman, turned a "hundert" (100). I wish her a "mazel tov!" Shown below is a Yiddish guide to Ms. Kaufman:
"aktor" (actor)
"He [Sholom Aleichem] loved the theater.
He used to say, 'If I was not a writer, I
certainly would have been an actor.' He used to read his stories to standing ovations." (Kaufman quote)
"briv" (letter)
Kaufman recalls a letter her grandfather
wrote to her: "I'm writing you this letter
to ask you to hurry and grow up and learn
to write so you can write me a letter. In
order to grow up, it is necessary to drink
milk and eat soup and vegetables and fewer
candies."
"eltst" (oldest)
According to The New York Times, Bel
Kaufman is the oldest faculty member of
Hunter College.
"farbetung: (invitation)
On Dec. 7, 1987, Kaufman accepted an
invitation from the Soviet embassy to join
Russian leader, Mikhail Gorbachev as a
"gast" (guest) at a reception held for
prominent Americans. That same year she
also participated in the Moscow Int'l Forum
for a Nuclear-Free World at the invitation
of the Soviet Union.
"freyd" (joy)
Kaufman said, "There's no great joy in being 99. But I'll tell you, I'm very glad to be so old, and I'll tell you why: Because I'm
the only one alive who knew Sholom
Aleichem."
"geboyrn-tog" (birthday)
Kaufman was born in Berlin, Germany, on
May 10. Her early childhood was spent in Odessa and Moscow.
"imigrant" (immigrant)
In December, 1923, the Kafuman's immigrated to the U. S. to escape the
hardship of postrevolutionary Russia.
"kinder" (children)
Kaufman has two children: Thea and
Jonathan.
"khasene" (marriage)
Kaufman married Sydney Goldstine in 1940
and they had two children. The couple
divorced in the 1960s and Sydney died in
2000.
In the 1970s, Kaufman married Sidney Glick, who heads the Sholem Aleichem Memorial Foundation. Glick is 94. "He likes older women," says Kaufman.
"khihukh" (education)
"Education is not a product: mark, diploma,
job, money in that order; it is a process, a
never ending one." (Kaufman quote)
"kindhayt" (childhood)
Ms. Kaufman wrote about her childhood
during the Russian Revolution:
"Dead bodies were frozen in peculiar positions on the street. People ate bread made of the shells of peas because there was no flour. But a child has no basis for comparison. Doesn't every child step over dead bodies? I didn't know any different."
"kitser" (summary)
The plot of Kaufman's book, "Up the Down
Staircase," revolves around Sylvia Barrett, a "yung" teacher at an inner-city "mitlshul"
(high school) who hopes to nurture her
students' interest in classic literature
(Chaucer) and writing. She becomes
frustrated by petty bureaucracy, and the
incompetence of many of her colleagues.
The many office memos contained in the book are "vunderlekh."
TO ALL TEACHERS:
Post in prominent place in homeroom:
A STUDENT WHO IS LATE
MAY FAIL TO GRADUATE.
James J. McHabe, ADM. ASST.
"konkurs" (contest)
Kaufman's short story, "Sunday in the Park" won the National Education
Association/P.E.N. Short Story contest in
1983.
"lerer" (teacher)
Kaufman began a teaching career in New
York public schools, which spanned three
decades. It inspired her to write "Up the
Down Staircase."
"libshaft" (love)
Kaufman's second novel, "Love" appeared
in 1979.
"luftmensch" (an impractical contemplative
person having no definite business or income)
"He [Sholom Aleichem] had inherited a lot
of money from his wife's father and lost it
gambling on grain and sugar on the market. In fact, his stories of Menahem-
Mendl, the Luftmensch, the man who is
always running after a dollar and never
quite making it, is very much like [Aleichem's] life." (Kaufman quote, from
NPR Stories)
Mad "zhurnal" (Mad magazine)
The film version of "Up the Down Staircase"
was parodied in Mad magazine as "In the
Out Exit" in April of 1968.
"mekhaber" (author)
Kaufman is the author of the 1965 book, "Up the Down Staircase." It has been translated into 16 languages and made into a movie starring Sandy Dennis Neighborhood scenes were shot in East
Harlem
"moydezayn zikh" (to confess)
Kaufman has confessed, "I do not LIKE
writing; in truth, I HATE writing, and would
rather do anything else. But the joy comes
when almost in spite of myself, I come close
to what I want to say. A sentence or an
insight leaps from the page."
(Source: "Pearson Education")
"nomen"(name)
Kaufman wrote a short story in the early
1940s titled, "La Tigressa." Her agent
suggested that it would be "perfekt"
(perfect) for Esquire "zhurnal" (magazine),
but in its early life, Esquire was considered
a "dzhentlman" (gentleman's) magazine
exclusively. It did not publish writing by
women. She submitted the story anyway,
but shortened her first real name, Belle, to
the more adrogynous, Bel. It was published
in Esquire and Kaufman continued to use
that name.
"oystaytshn" (to interpret)
Ms. Kaufman had difficulty getting fully
certified as a N. Y. C. schoolteacher. The
examiners had her explain a sonnet by
Edna St. Vincent Millay, and told her
"dernokhdem" (afterwards) that she had
given "a poor interpretation." She wrote a
letter to Ms. Millay and had her evaluate
her interpretation. "You gave a much better explanation of it than I myself should
have," the poet wrote back." The chastened
examiners saved face by urging Ms. Kaufman to try for the license again.
"profesor" (professor)
At 100, Kaufman taught a course on Jewish
humor at Hunter College, her alma mater.
"raykh" (rich)
Sholom Aleichem hated the rich. And here's Tevye's singing 'If I Were a Rich Man.'" (Kaufman quote)
"restoran" (restaurant) Kaufman celebrated her 96th birthday at the Russian Samovar, 256 W. 52nd Street, New York City. She has been going to the Samovar since 1986, the year the restaurant opened.
"tantsn" (to dance) Kaufman has a passion for dancing; she enjoys Latin dances with professional dancers.
"tate-mame" (parents) Kaufman's father, Michael J. Kaufman, was a physician. Her mother, Lyala Kaufman, was a successful writer and regular columnist for the Yiddish Forverts.
"yortog" (anniversary) Twenty five years after "Up the Down Staircase" was published, a special anniversary edition was published by Prentice Hall Press, with a new preface by the author.
"zeyde" (grandfather)
Kaufman's grandfather was the great Yiddish writer, Sholom Aleichem. He died at age 57 in New York in 1916.
-------------------------------------------
koledzh" (college) Kaufman graduated agna cum laude from Hunter College in 1934. She received a master's degree in literature from Columbua University in 1936.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M |
| N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
| Yiddish
Stuff Jewish Humor Schmooze News More Majorie Wolfe |
Principle Jewish Stories All Things Jewish Jewish Communities of the World |