Dos land iz dayn land, dos land iz mayn land

I have a special place in my heart for the Yiddish language. Don't know why, except possibly it goes back to memories of a Yiddish-speaking grandmother of my friend Sheila, in high school. The family thought the time had come when grandma could no longer live on her own, and transplanted her very much against her will. She was miserable. Home for her was a Yiddish-speaking world in Brooklyn. How could she be expected to live in rural Northwestern Connecticut. We had a synagogue which today calls itself "reconstructionist-leaning."  Don't know what it was then, but I doubt it was her cup of tea.

I heard her speaking Yiddish with Sheila's mother, her daughter, once, and what she was saying sounded to me like some form of German, and I jumped in. High school chutzpah, what can I say? If I had thought about it, I would have held back. For all I knew, barely ten years after the end of the war, she might have felt seriously antagonistic toward the German language. On the contrary. For her it was "close enough" and suddenly she had somebody around besides her daughter she could communicate with. I always got a warm welcome when I'd drop by Sheila's after school.

For obvious reasons, Yiddish is not classified as a dialect of German. But German-speakers find, with a little effort, it's a whole lot easier to pick up than Dutch, say, or even certain other German dialects. And growing up in America, among Ashkenazi (German-origin) Jews, I've always had a fondness for Jewish humor and the large numbers of Yiddish words that have made their way into the English language. Chutzpah is a fully accepted loan-word, for example. So is kvetch. And shmooze. But so are many other terms, as in "What's the difference between a shlemiel and a shlemazel?" Answer: A shlemiel goes around spilling soup on people and a shlemazel is the guy he spills it on.

So imagine my delight when I discovered the other day that somebody had made the effort to translate Woodie Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land" into Yiddish.

It's worth noting that some liberties have been taken with the translation. For one thing, instead of "to the New York island" (which never made much sense to me, since nobody refers to Manhattan as "the" New York Island anyway), they've chosen to say "From California to Ellis Island." And that does make a lot more sense, since most Jews, like most immigrants from the European continent, came in through Ellis Island, and the place has very special significance for all those who first set foot on the American continent there.

The other change is they used not the usual jingoist version, but a version which takes into account the fact that America began with slavery and genocide and its dream is not unalloyed. It is nonetheless a celebratory song of gratitude, one that can be sung enthusiastically, without the schmalz that comes with "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful."

I think they did a brilliant job. Have a listen.

And here are the lyrics, in anglicized (transliterated) Yiddish, and actual Yiddish (i.e., written in the Hebrew alphabet):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnP8zWcy1ZA

(Daniel:)

Kh’hob mir gevandert in a land a frayen

Aroys fun midber, vi mi-mitsrayem,

Gezukht a nayem Yerushalayem,

Dos iz a land far mir un dir.

(REFREN:)

Dos land iz dayn land, dos land iz mayn land

Fun Kalifornye biz Elis Ayland,

Fun di groyse oz’res biz di breyte yamen,

Dos iz a land far mir un dir.

(Sarah:)

Ikh gey ariber di berg un teler,

Arumgeringlt fun zise keler.

Di ritshkes murmlen, di feygl zingen:

Dos iz a land far mir un dir.

(Lorin w/ piano:)

Kh’ze a groysn moyer mit a shild vos vornt:

Vil men araynet, shteyt az me tor nit

Nor af yener zayt, shteyt dortn gornit

Ot iz di zayt far mir un dir.

(Sveta & Patty w/accordion:)

Gey ikh mir voglen, di zun fun oybn,

Nor beyze vintn tseblozn shtoybn,

Durkh di tumanen, her ikh gezangen:

Dos iz a land far mir un dir.

(Michael:)

Af nase gasn, in tife shotns,

Ze ikh vi mentshn betn nedoves

Bay aza dales, darf ikh zikh klern

Tsi dos iz a land far mir un dir.

(Linda and all:)

Es ken shoyn keyner undz nit farshtern,

Di fraye vegn undz nit farvern.

Nito keyn tsamen, ven nor tsuzamen.

Dos iz a land far mir un dir.

דאָס לאַנד איז דײַן לאַנד פֿון װוּדי גאָטרי, 1940

פֿאַרטײַטשט פֿון ליבע גריץ און דניאל קאַהן

מיט חײם באָכנער, מײשקע אַלפּערט, און דזשאַש װאַלעצקי

כ'האָב מיר געװאַנדערט, אין אַ לאַנד אַ פֿרײַען

אַרױס פֿון מידבר, װי ממצרים

געזוכט אַ נײַעם ירושלים

דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און דיר

רעפֿרען: דאָס לאַנד איז דײַן לאַנד

דאָס לאַנד איז מײַן לאַנד

פֿון קאַליפֿאָרניע ביז עליס אײַלאַנד

פֿון די גרױסע אָזערעס ביז די ברײטע ימען

דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און דיר

איך גײ אַריבער די בערג און טעלער

אַרומגערינגעלט פֿון זיסע קעלער

די ריטשקעס מורמלען, די פֿײגל זינגען

דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און דיר

כ'זע אַ גרױסן מױער מיט אַ שילד װאָס װאָרנט

װיל מען אַרײַנעט, שטײט אַז מע' טאָר ניט

נאָר אױף יענער זײַט, שטײט דאָרטן גאָרניט

אָט איז די זײַט פֿאַר מיר און דיר

גײ איך מיר װאָגלען, די זון פֿון אױבן

נאָר בײזע װינטן צעבלאָזן שטױבן

דורך די טומאַנען הער איך געזאַנגען

דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און דיר

אױף נאַסע גאַסן, אין טיפֿע שאָטנס

זע איך װי מענטשן בעטן נדבֿות

בײַ אַזאַ דלות, טו איך זיך קלערן

צי דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און דיר

עס קען שױן קײנער אונדז ניט פֿאַרשטערן

די פֿרײַע װעגן אונדז ניט פֿאַרװערן

ניטאָ קײן צאַמען, ווען נאָר צוזאַמען

דאָס איז אַ לאַנד פֿאַר מיר און די

Blaybt gezunt un shtark kegn fashizm!