Discover the Music

One of the most popular worker songs written in America in 1889 by the labor poet David Edelstadt (1866-1892). The song became the beloved hymn of Jewish workers everywhere. It was absorbed into Yiddish folk song, and later was sung in the Yiddish schools. A year after it was published a contemporary poet, Morris Rosenfeld, mentioned it in one of his poems: “Sing us the song ‘In Kamf’-Let the Marseillaise thunder.”

Rudolf Rocker described a memorable experience in London: “It was the day in which thousands of Jewish workers marched in thick ranks to Hyde Park, where a mammoth protest demonstration was to take place against the horrible pogrom of the Jews in Kishinev (in 1903). As we marched through the city streets, thousands gazed in mute surprise upon the strange procession. . . When the mass singing of Edelstadt’s In Kamf was heard, the onlookers became very solemn and took off their hats to the marchers.”

Part of a poem by Chaim Nachmen Bialik (1873-1934). This is one of his charming folk themes written originally in Hebrew “Yesh Li Gan,” and translated into Yiddish by I. Ma Yofis. Published in M. Gelbart, Lomir zingen, 1938-1939. Albert Bitter also wrote music to the poem.

Folksong. Text published by S. Ginzburg and P. Marek in 1901; words and music published in 90 geklibene yidishe folkslider, 1926. The text sometimes begins “Oyfn veg shteyt a boym.” Israeli musicologist lssachar Fater suggests that the song derives from the end of the ’70s of the 18th century, when Rabbi Menachem Mendl of Vitebsk and Rabbi Israel of Polotsk led a few hundred Hassidim to Palestine.

A children’s parody was published in the Mitteilungen zur judischen Volkskunde 22 (1907). Yiddish poet ltsik Manger used the first two lines in his popular song “Oyfn veg shteyt a boym” (On the Road a Tree Stands) expressing the love of a mother for her fledgling. Chava Lapin recalls a parody that the Halutsim (Pioneers) sang “Oyfn veg shteyt a boym, shteyt er ayngeboygn/ Fort a yid keyn erets-yisroel/ Mit tserisene hoyzn/ Got, got, groyser got,/ Du bist dokh a tate,/ Az mir vein mertse shem onkumen in erets-yisroel/ Vet men leygn a late.” (On the road a tree is bent, a Jew goes to Palestine in torn pants.-God, great God, You are a father. When we will, with luck, arrive in Palestine, we will put on a patch). Other Yiddish poets like Aaron Zeitlin and Zalman Schneour used these lines to portray strong images in their Holocaust poems. Schneour writes in “Lebn kloyster”: “Lebn kloyster shteyt a boym, / Shteyt er ayngeboygn, / Hengt oyf im der rev fun shtetl / Mit oysgepikte oygn” (Near the church a bent tree stands.On it the rabbi of the town hangs, with gouged out eyes).

A textual variant with a different melody was published in 1965 by Ruth Rubin. The present text and music were published in 1970 by Leib Kogan. It was, however, sung earlier, as S. Kaczerginski notes in his comment to the ghetto song “in rod arayn” in his 1947 collection.

The refrain stems from “Oi khsidishe mizinke” (The Hassid’s youngest daughter), a song by Maskilic folk poet Velvl Zbarzher Ehrenkrants (1826? – 1883): “Mayn man, mayn man, tants tsu mir:/ Ikh hob lib dem eydem un du di shnir.” (My husband, dance with me:/ I love the son-in-law and you the daughter-in-law). Masha Benya Matz sang an additional stanza to the compilers which she heard from the poet Chaim Grade: “Ikh dank dir, got, ikh dank dir, got,/ far ale dayne toyves,/ Khasene gemakht./ Gelt oysgebrakht,/ Un batsolt di khoyves.” (I thank You, God, for all Your favors,/ I married off my children, spent money and paid my debts). Masha Benya Matz recalls that she sang “un arayn in khoyves” (and went into debt). This stanza also derives from Zbarzher’s song: “Ikh dank dir, got, far dayne toyves,/ Far dayne groyse vinder,/ Ikh hob mir batsolt mayne khoyves/ Un hob mir khasene gemakht di kinder.” (I thank You, God, for Your favors, for Your great wonders, I paid my debts and married off my children).

During the Holocaust, the song made a reference to the yellow passes or certificates (“shaynen”) issued by the German labor forces: “Tants, tants, tants a bisele mit mir,/ Hostu a geln shayn hob ikh khasene mit dir” (Dance a llttle with me,/ if you have a yellow pass, I’ll marry you).

Folksong published under the title "Freylekhs Itslk" (Itsik rejoices) by M. Goldin, 1972. One stanza was previously published by E. Saculet in 1959. Chava Lapin sings the last stanza: "S'hot im keyner nisht geneyt/ er hot zikh aleyn dem kop fardreyt." (No one forced him into it; he trapped himself). Shloyme Prizament presents an adaptation which was sung by cabaret singers of Odessa and which ended on a serious note: "Du host gevolt, ikh veys es,/ A shnur a meyukheyses,/ Nisht aza mekhutn hostu gemeynt:/ In oremkeyt dertsoygn,/ Nor efnt zi di oygn/ Dakht zikh az di zun hot oyfgeshaynt./ Host gezogt, az dir gefelt nisht,/ Di kale hot keyn gelt nisht,/ Tate, du bist fun der alter velt:/ Az m'hot tsvey hent gezunte/ Geyt men shoyn nisht unter,/ Un libe, tate, — dos iz mer fun gelt!" (I know you wanted a daughter-in-law with lofty pedigree and you didn't intend to have such in-laws. But when she opens her eyes, it's as if the sun began to shine. You said you didn't like the fact that the bride had no money. But father, you're from the old world: When you have two healthy arms, you don't go under; and love, father, is more important than money!).

Words by ltsik Manger (1901-1969), music by Nurit Hirsh transcribed by the compilers from the record Poems and Songs by ltsik Manger, (CBS 52568). The original words come from the second part of Manger’s poem “Gram·shtram far Note.” Manger imitates the opening lines of a popular children’s folksong: “ltsik shpitsik nodl-teshl / Gey in kleyt, khap a fleshl.”

Different versions of the folksong were discussed by Alfred Landau in an interesting article “Bamerkungen tsum yidishn folklor,” Filo/ogishe shriftn fun YIVO, I, 1926. In Manger’s printed text there is a misprint which he corrects in the supplement of the book. The first line should read: “ltsik, shpitsik, got-mit-dir,” as in the familiar expression “Got iz mit dir” instead of “geyt mit dir.”

On July 16, 1943 the Gestapo arrested ltsik Vitnberg, the commander of the partisan forces in the Vilno ghetto. A group of partisans freed him on the way to prison. The next day the Gestapo threatened to liquidate the entire ghetto population if Vitnberg did not surrender. To avert the imminent bloodbath, Vitnberg sacrificed his life and surrendered. Words are by Shmerke Kaczerginski (see note about author in Friling); the melody is based on a Russian song.

Words are by Z. Segalovitch Yiddish poet who survived as a war refugee from Warsaw. He lived the first year of the war in Vilno and Kaunas later Israel and eventually the United States. In his work he memorialized the life and creativity of the Jews in Poland. Music is by Ben Yomen, an American Jewish composer (1901-1969).

Macaronic folksong published in 1918 by M. Kipnis that combines Yiddish, Hebrew and Ukrainian. It's an example of how a common Ukrainian folksong was interpreted by division into Hebrew syllables, which in turn translate into a Hassidic psalm to the Lord. This song was a favorite of an old friend, Uriel Weinreich, who was deeply involved in the study of mixed language songs.

Words by Soviet Yiddish poet Shloyme Lopatin (1902-1943). The melody is similar to the Bialystok ghetto song “Rifkele di shabesdiker” (Rifkele the Sabbath widow) by Peysakh Kaplan.

These and other parts of the song were published in Yidisher Folklor in 1955 and 1962. This song refers to the pogrom in Kishinev in 1903. Other variants of the same song refer to pogroms in Bialystok and Volodarka.

Folksong collected from Mascha Benya Matz. Published in the YIVO folklore journal, Yidisher folklor (vol. I, no. 3, March, 1962). Compiler included this song in: “International Motifs in the Yiddish Ballad.” The appearance of the ”telegram” is obviously indicative of more recent vintage; words like “knabe” and “dizer” suggest German provenance; “potshtolyontshikl” suggests Slavic.

Textual variant published in 1923 by Pinkhes Graubard; text and music published in 1925 by M. Kipnis and in 1928 by S. Lehman. The version presented here was sung by Yosl Mlotek in Warsaw in the 1930's.

Words and music by Max Perlman for the play “A Honeymoon in Israel.” Published in 1962.

Folksong entitled “Ematay” about colonists of Palestine was published by S. E. Goldfarb and A. W. Binder in 1929 and 1933 respectively. The tune of “Ematay” was also published in the Metro Album of Selected Palestinian. Hebrew, Chassidic and Jewish Dances and Songs compiled by Henry Lefkowitch, in 1939. In recent years the song, in the arrangement by Zalmen Mlotek, was revived by the Workmen’s Circle Chorus during its tour of Israel in 1988. Compiler recalls that in the 1930s the Russian refrain was sung in English: “Good-bye America,/ Good-bye Yankee fashion,/ We’re off to Palestine/ To heck with the depression!”

Folksong of a recruit in the Czar’s army, collected from Russian singer Emil Gorovets, who states that the song was made popular in the Soviet Union in the 1930s and 1940s by the folk singer Mikhail Apelbaum. Like other East European recruits, the Jewish recruit compared his draft to marriage with the Czar. A different version was submitted to the Perl by Moyshe Aaron Buchvald (Brooklyn, N.Y.) from Biala, Siedlec province.

Variant of a song attributed to Yosele Kolodny (killed by the Nazis, 1942).

Folksong. Text published by S. Ginzburg and P. Marek in 1901; text and music published in 1905 in Ost und West and by the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg in 1909. in the arrangement of Ephraim Shkliar. Y. L. Cahan has additional variants in 1912, with other names, like “Sorele, the rabbi’s wife” and “Reb Abe.” He and Moishe Beregovski and Joachim Stutchewsky cite this song in connection with the names of the dances mentioned: “kozatske,” “dume” and “semele.” Isa Kremer brings other stanzas about giving charity in her Album like “Brider, oy yidelekh, shenkt a nedove, / Far di yesoymelekh, der mume Sieve” (Brothers, oh fellow Jews, give charity, for the orphans, for Aunt Sieve) and A. Litvin published a parody in his column in the Haynt about the nauseous Legionnaires on the ship going to Palestine.

Words by Solomon Smulewitz-Small (1868-1943); music by Louis Friedsell (1863 1923), from the play Der antlofener soldat (The Deserter). The song was published in sheet music by A. Goldberg in 1905. Joseph Rumshinsky writes in his autobiography Klangen fun mayn lebn that the famous Russian basso Feodor Chaliapin often sang the song in Russian translation at his concerts. In a German song “Ghetto, Lied und Shimmy” about a Polish-Jewish fiddler, words and music by Ralph Benatzky (published in 1923 by Edition Bristol A. G. Vienna-Berlin), the melody of “Khave” appears as the refrain. The footnote on the songsheet refers to the melody as a Russian-Jewish folksong.

Poem by Aliza Greenblatt (1888-1975); music by Solomon Golub (1887-1952). Published in sheet music by Metro Music Co., N.Y., 1932. This was Greenblatt's first published poem. See "Du,du."