Researcher tackles controversial Yiddish terms

Schlemiel. Schmendrick. Hotsmakh. These three words have historically been among the most derogatory slurs hurled against the Jewish community. But some scholars are beginning to take a different view: namely, that the characters who gave rise to these terms shed important light onto perceptions of Jewish masculinity in the 19th century. Research Fellow Alyssa Quint addressed the subject Wednesday night in a talk entitled "Sodom, Gomorrah and Jewish Masculinity on the Yiddish Stage." Quint, a newly minted Harvard UniversityPh.D., is affiliated with Penn's Center for Advanced Judaic Studies. She focused on two plays by Abraham Goldfaden: the comedic operetta Schmendrick and the drama The Witch. Both, Quint explained, demonstrate how Goldfaden "recreated a negative Schlemiel into a positive one on stage." The evening started with definitions of the foreign phrases. "Unless you grew up in certain parts of Brooklyn, these names might seem quite foreign to you," Quint said. She defined a Schlemiel as a man who "possesses characteristics such as haplessness, an underdeveloped masculinity, and a particularly archaic world view." Brief plot synopses ensued. In Schmendrick, a rich Jewish woman initially arranges for her son, Schmendrick, to be married to his impoverished cousin, Tsirele. Eventually, she changes her mind and arranges his marriage to the wealthy, educated Rebecca. Rebecca's boyfriend, David, and Tsirele's father, Shalom, then plan to replace Rebecca with Tsirele at the wedding. The heavy veils would prevent anyone from noticing the change until the wedding was already over. The plot of The Witch is slightly less complicated. Abraham's second wife, Basye, gets him arrested. While in jail, she treats his daughter, Mirele, as a common servant. Basye and Grandmother Yakhne, "the witch," sell Mirele. Mirele's fiance and the merchant Hotsmakh then search for her, and find her in Constantinople. Once they are reunited, Basye and Grandmother Yakhne attempt to destroy them in a blaze; however, their actions literally backfire and they are killed. "Schmendrick is interested in his bride only as an amusement," Quint said. She added that Schmendrick and his childhood friend Fayvish "bicker together like children -- or an old married couple." Since a comedy requires the society to crystallize around the hero, and Schmendrick's "arrested development" precludes such support, Quint claimed that the play "falls apart at an ideological level." That is not the case for The Witch. Quint argued that Hotsmakh, a merchant with numerous flaws, "cannot conceive of putting a price on human life." Due to his desire to protect women, the play is sound. "It's great to see an excellent young scholar come along," Visiting Fellow John Klier said. "She has good training and it shows."