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Bin Ikh Mir A Khosidl

I am a Little Hassid
בין איך מיר אַ חסידל

Folksong published in 1911 by Z. Kisselgof. The words are cited earlier by Sholom Aleichem in his novel Blondzhende shtern (Vagabond Stars), 1909-1910. In one version, collected by J. Gorelik in Yeda am, 31-32, 1967, the stanzas span the entire Hebrew alphabet.

Illustration of musical notes from the books

Lyrics

I am a little Hassid, a happy creature,
I am a little Hassid, without an axe to grind,
I am a little Hassid, call me what you will*,
I dance a joyful hop-tshik-tshak!

Herring and bread are a treat for me,
as long as I stuff my belly full;
And if potatoes a nickel
I dance a joyful hop-tshik-tshak!

My dear Taybe, my wife, says to me:
“There’s nothing for Shabes, woe is to you”;
My pocket is empty, not even a nickel,
I dance a joyful hop-tshik-tshak!

Passover is coming, and I am happy,
my wife is a queen and I am a king;
We have a full bag of matses!
I dance a joyful hop-tshik-tshak!

*a khosidak. Pejorative suffix appended to Hassid

Bin ikh mir a khosidl, a freylekhe brie,
Bin ikh mir a khosidl, gor on pnie,
Bin ikh mir a khosidl, a khosidak,
Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!

Hering mit broyt iz bay mir a maykhl,
Abi ikh shtop zikh on dos baykhl;
Un kartoflyes far a pitak!
Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!

Taybenyu, mayn vayb, zogt tsu mir:
— S’iz nito oyf shabes, vey tsu dir;
Leydik iz mayn keshene, nito keyn pitak!
Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!

Peysakh kumt, bin ikh mir freylekh,
Mayn vayb a malke un ikh a meylekh;
Matses hobn mir a fuln zak!
Tants ikh mir a freylekhn hop-tshik-tshak!

בין איך מיר אַ חסידל, אַ פֿרײלעכע בריאה,
בין איך מיר אַ חסידל, גאָר אָן פּניה,
בין איך מיר אַ חסידל, אַ חסידאַק,
טאַנץ איך מיר אַ פֿרײלעכן האָפ־טשיק־טשאַק!

הערינג מיט ברױט איז בײַ מיר אַ מאכל,
אַבי איך שטאָפּ זיך אָן דאָס בײַכל;
און קאַרטאָפֿליעס פֿאַר אַ פּיטאַק!
טאַנץ איך מיר אַ פֿרײלעכן האָפ־טשיק־טשאַק!

טײַבעניו, מײַן װײַב, זאָגט צו מיר:
— ס’איז ניטאָ אױף שבת, װײ צו דיר;
לײדיק איז מײַן קעשענע, ניטאָ קײן פּיטאַק!
טאַנץ איך מיר אַ פֿרײלעכן האָפ־טשיק־טשאַק!

פּסח קומט, בין איך מיך פֿרײלעך,
מײַן װײַב אַ מלכּה און איך אַ מלך;
מצות האָבן מיר אַ פֿולן זאַק!
טאַנץ איך מיר אַ פֿרײלעכן האָפּ-טשיק-טשאַק!

Song Title: Bin Ikh Mir A Khosidl

Composer: Unknown
Composer’s Yiddish Name: Unknown
Lyricist: Unknown
Lyricist’s Yiddish Name: Unknown
Time Period: Unspecified

This Song is Part of a Collection

Pearls of Yiddish Song Cover with Illustration of musicians playing instruments

Pearls of Yiddish Song

First published in 1988 as Pearls of Yiddish Song: Favorite Folk, Art and Theatre Songs, this anthology contains 115 songs. Some material had never been published, while others, included in rare song collections or sheet music, were largely inaccessible. The songs presented reflect Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the United States and depict childhood, love, family celebrations, poverty, work and struggle. There are also songs from the Hasidic and Maskilic movements, songs of Zion and of America, as well as songs from the Yiddish theater.

The title of this anthology derives from the weekly two-page feature column “Pearls of Yiddish Poetry,” which the compilers Yosl and Chana Mlotek initiated in 1970 in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forvertz (the Yiddish Daily Forward). Hundreds of readers from around the world — including authors, composers, singers, actors — became co-participants in this collective folk project and recalled melodies, lines, fragments, stanzas and their variants of songs, poems, and plays which they had heard in their youth. At first, readers sent in only written material. Later, they also taped songs on cassettes, many of whose melodies had, until then, never been recorded. They also identified and supplied missing information regarding lyricists, poets, and composers and described the circumstances surrounding the songs’ origins, their dissemination, diffusion and impact.

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