Words and music by Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1908). The words were published in Goldfaden’s first collection of Yiddish poems, Dos yidele, in 1866; the music was published by Chaim Kotylansky in 1944. This song was cited in the story of the founding of the Yiddish theater, When Goldfaden appeared in Jassy in the garden of Shimen Marks, in 1876, he recited his serious and very long poems Dos pintele yid and Der malekh. The audience, expecting lively entertainment and singing, grew increasingly bored and began to boo angrily. Goldfaden was rushed off the stage and one of the Broder Singers, Yisroel Grodner, quickly donned a robe, grabbed his wig of sidecurls and a Hassidic hat and jumped on the stage to sing “Dos freylekhe khosidl.” The audience soon recovered from their angry mood. Goldfaden notes in his autobiography that although he was disappointed by this “debacle,” it led him to the idea of creating a Yiddish theater to raise the level of taste and culture of Jewish audiences. Goldfaden’s song is partly derivative of the song “Dos khsidishe mizinke” (The Hassidic Youngest Daughter) by his forerunner, folk poet Velvl Zbarzher-Ehrenkranz (apprx. 1826-1883) which itself is the prototype of the song. “In rod arayn” (Into the Circle). It was a popular number in the repertory of actor-singer Ben Bonus.
Thank you, dear God, kindhearted and faithful,
for you great wonders,
that I married my wife
and for all my children.
Oh, my wife, dance with me,
you take our son-in-law and I our daughter-in-law.
Everyone, everywhere knows
that my children are devout.
Ay-ay-ay, wow!
Ay, ay, sweet Father!
Thank you, dear God, kindhearted and faithful,
for my very life,
because I am so dear to you,
more than all the shameless ones.
And my children, you see it yourself
all act, praise God, in accord with my spirit.
The heretics, woe to them,
Will they have (anything in) the world to come,
when a Russian courtesy
is their most prized welcome.
For them it will be, “Adieu, bonjour,”
while for us it’s, “Well, look who’s here, hello!”
A dank dir, gotenyu, libhartsiker, getrayer,
Far dayne groyse vinder*,
Kh’hob khasene gemakht mit mayn vayb
Ale mayne kinder.
Oy, mayn vayb,-tants mit mir,
Nern dem eydem un ikh di shnir**.
Refrain:
Ale veysn umetum
Az mayne kinder zaynen frum.
Ay-ay-ay, gevald!
Ay, ay, tate ziser!
A dank dir, gotenyu,. libhartsiker, getrayer,
Mit mayn gantsn khayes,
Farvos ikh bin bay dir take.azoy tayer,
Mer fun di ale hultayes.
Un mayne kinder, dos zestu aleyn dokh tsi***
Firn zikh ale, borukh hashem, oyf mayo stri.
Di apikorsim, az okh un vey iz tsu zey,
Tsi vein zey den hobn oylem-habe,
Az “mayo potshtyenye” iz bay zey
Gor der shenster borekh habe.
Bay zey heyst es epes “adye, bonzhur,”
Bay undz heyst es “skotsl kimt, gut morgn, gut yor.”
* vunder
•• shnur
••• tsu
אַ דאַנק דיר, גאָטעניו, ליבהאַרציקער, געטרײַער,
פֿאַר דײַנע גרױסע װוּנדער,
כ׳האָב חתונה געמאַכט מיט מײַן װײַב
אַלע מײַנע קינדער.
אױ, מײַן װײַב, טאַנץ מיט מיר,
נעם דעם אײדעם און איך די שניר.
רעפֿרײן:
אַלע װײסן אומעטום,
אַז מײַנע קינדער זײַנען פֿרום.
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ, געװאַלד!
אײַ; אײַ, טאַטע זיסער!
אַ דאַנק דיר, גאָטעניו, ליבהאַרציקער, געטרײַער,
מיט מײַן גאַנצן חיות,
פֿאַר װאָס איך בין בײַ דיר טאַקע אַזױ טײַער,
מער פֿון די אַלע הולטײַעס.
און מײַנע קינדער, דאָס זעסטו אַלײן דאָך צו,
פֿירן זיך אַלע, ברוך השם, אױף מײַן סטרי.
די אַפּיקורסים, אַז אָך און װײ איז צו זײ,
צי װעלן זײ דען האָבן עולם־הבא,
אַז „מאַיאָ פֿאָטשטיעניע“ איז בײַ זײ
גאָר דער שענסטער ברוך־הבא.
בײַ זײ הײסט עס עפּעס „אַדיִע, באָנזשור“
בײַ אונדז הײסט עס „סקאָצל קומט, גוט מאָרגן, גוט יאָר.„
Song Title: Dos Freylekhe Khosidl
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.”
