Folksong, published in 90 geklibene yidishe folkslider, Warsaw, 1926. The song was also published in different versions by S. Alman, J. Jacobsen and Erwin Jospe, among others.
A children’s song “Undzer krolik” (Our Rabbit) in Unter di grininke beymelekh (1935) adapted the theme: “Undzer krolik ken ton nisim, / Kh’bin derbay gezesn, / M’hot derlangt a mer a groysn, / Hot er oyfgegesn!” (Our rabbit can perform miracles, I was there when he did them. They handed him a large carrot, and he ate it up.) The melody was also used in a Hebrew Purim song “Maseichos,” words by L. Kipnis, in S. Altman, The Judaean Songster, 1934.
The rabbi does wonders,
I’ve seen them myself:
He goes into the water and comes out all wet.
Ay, ay, ay
Miracles and wonders!
The rabbi does wonders,
I saw them myself:
He goes into the mud and comes out with a dirty caftan.
The rabbi does wonders,
I saw them myself:
He goes into the cellar and comes out all yellow.
The rabbi does wonders
In suffering and joy:
A mute came into the house,
And he didn’t tell him to speak.
The rabbi does wonders,
Listen to what happened:
A blind man came into the house,
And he didn’t tell him to see.
The rabbi does wonders,
You can understand it very well:
A cripple came into the house,
And he didn’t tell him to walk.
Der rebe tut vunder,
lkh hob aleyn gezen:
Er geyt arayn in vaser,
Un kumt aroys a naser.
Refrain:
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay,
Nisim venifloes!
Der rebe tut vunder,
Hob ikh aleyn gezen:
Er iz arayn in blote,
Un shmirt oys di kapote.
Der rebe tut vunder,
Hob ikh aleyn gezen:
Er iz arayn in keler
Un iz aroys a geler.
Der rebe tut vunder
In laydn un in freydn,
Es iz arayn a shtumer,
Hot er im nit geheysn reydn.
Der rebe tut vunder,
Hert vos iz geven:
Es iz arayn a blinder,
Hot er im nit geheysn zen.
Der rebe tut vunder,
Kent ir gut farshteyn,
Es iz arayn a krumer,
Hot er im nit geheysn geyn.
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
איך האָב אַלײן געזען.
ער גײט אָרײן אין װאַסער,
און קומט אַרוס אַ נאַסער.
רעפֿרײן:
אײַ, אײַ, אײַ, אײַ, אײַ, אײַ, אײַ,
ניסים ונפלאות!
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
האָב איך אַלײן געזען:
ער איז אַרײַן אין בלאָטע,
און שמירט אױס די קאַפּאָטע.
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
האָב איך אַלײן געזען:
ער איז אַרײַן אין קעלער
און איז אַרױס אַ געלער.
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
אין לײדן און אין פֿרײידן,
עס איז אַרײַן א שטומער,
האָט ער אים ניט געהײסן רײדן.
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
הערט װאָס איז געװען:
עס איז אַרײַן אַ בלינדער,
האָט ער אים ניט געהײסן זען.
דער רבי טוט װוּנדער,
קענט איר גוט פֿאַרשטײן.
עס איז אַרײַן אַ קרומער,
האָט ער אים ניט געהײסן גײן.
Song Title: Nisim Venifloes
The Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song anthology comprises songs that were either never printed before or appeared in rare and inaccessible publications — sometimes in different versions and without proper sources. Most of the songs in this book were submitted by readers of Chana and Yosl’s column “Perl fun der yidisher poezye” (Pearls of Yiddish Poetry) in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forverts (The Forward), initiated in October, 1970. Over 25 years, thousands of songs were collected in correspondence and on cassettes from readers throughout the world, and they represent a veritable national Yiddish song archive. Chana Mlotek, in her introduction, writes, “In the course of years the inquiries, contributions and enthusiasm of these readers have kept our own interest unflagging and have reinforced our dedication to this effort. And in recent years our participants have also been augmented by new readers from the former Soviet Russia, who receive our newspaper there or from newly-arrived immigrants in this country and Israel.”
