“Does Grandpa Hal speak Yiddish, dad?”
“No, but great Grandma Esther used to speak a bit of Yiddish. Why do you ask?”
“We are learning a Yiddish song in school.”
If I pay attention, I learn something new every day from my kids. Today, it was the song Oyfn Pripetchik. Not being raised with much Yiddish around my house, I did not hear this song sung to me by my grandmother or grandfather.
In translation, here is the first verse:
|
Oyfn pripetshik brent a fayerl, |
In the little hearth flickers a little flame, |
|
Un in shtub iz heys, |
Warmth spreads through the house, |
|
Un der rebe lernt kleyne kinderlekh |
And the rabbi teaches little children |
|
Dem alef-beys. |
The Hebrew Aleph-bet. |
There are some good versions of this song on YouTube, but for me nothing beats Ben’s rendition of the first verse.
Joan Lee
1 year ago
Beautiful! When you come to Toronto, Ben, we’ll have a duet – you can sing your Yiddish songs and I’ll play them on the piano .
linda groen
1 year ago
I had intended to tell you what a great job you did on this song, Ben. I was pressed for time and I didn’t do it. So sorry. I really liked it. You seem to have the pronunciations down pat. Good for you.
ox