I always imagine my doggie Shusha as an old woman from the shtetl. Her expressions, her personality, the way she treats others, all remind me of the way my mother described her grandmother Kaganovich. And since Purim is nearing, I began to sing her a Yiddish song about an incompetent balabosta from the shtetl. My crazy neighbor overheard me and chimed in. It was the first time I’d sung the song in years. But it needs greater coverage. Here’s the Yiddish. You can follow along here
Hop! Mayne Homntashn!
Yachne-Dvoshe fort in mark
Zi halt in eyn pakn,
Fort oyf Purim koyfn mel,
Homntashn bakn.
Chorus:
Hop! Mayne homntashn,
Hop! Mayne vayse.
Hop! Mit mayne homntashn
Hot pasirt a mayse!
S’geyt a regn, s’geyt a shney
Es kapet fun di decher.
Yachne firt shoyn korn-mel,
In a zak mit lecher.
(chorus)
Yachne trogt shoyn shalachmones,
Tsu der bobe Yente-
Tsvey-dray shvartze homntashn,
Halb-roy – halb-farbrente!
(chorus)
Here’s a rough translation:
Yachne-Dvoshe is off to town
She’s very busy packing -
She’s got to buy flour for Purim
to get her homentaschen baking
Jump, my homentaschen
jump, my white ones
dance with my homentashcen
for a miracle happened once
A rain is falling, the snow is falling
It’s pouring from the roofs
Yachne is already lugging her corn-meal
In a sack full of holes
Now she’s bringing Purim gifts
to the Grandma Yente
Two-three black homentaschen
Half raw, half burnt up
The melody – at least of the chorus – is a Ukranian dance – which lends a little irony to the dancing of the homentaschen and the ‘hop’ which accompanies a good masculine jumping dance. Dvosha is a diminuitive for Dvora, which was my mother’s and my father’s mother’s name.
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