Metadata : Jewish folklore
Collection
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Estonian Folklore Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvaluule Archiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, Vanemuise 42, 51003
- Phone number:
- +372 737 7730
- Web address:
- http://www.folklore.ee/era/ava.htm
- Email:
- era@folklore.ee
- Country:
- Estonia
- Holding institution:
- Estonian Folklore Archives
- Holding institution (official language):
- Eesti Rahvaluule Archiiv
- Postal address:
- Tartu, Vanemuise 42, 51003
- Phone number:
- +372 737 7730
- Web address:
- http://www.folklore.ee/era/ava.htm
- Email:
- era@folklore.ee
- Reference number:
- ERA. Juudi 2
- Title:
- Jewish folklore
- Title (official language):
- Juudi Rahvaluulet
- Creator/accumulator:
- Estonian Folklore Archives
- Date(s):
- 1929/1947
- Language:
- Estonian
- Yiddish
- German
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 541 pages
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
This is the second part of the Jewish folklore collection gathered in Tartu, Estonia, containing materials dated between 1929 and 1947. This is a continuation of the first part of the collection which gathered materials from 1926 to 1929. In 1929 several runic songs and folk jokes were recorded by S. Wilenski from Latvian sources.
Many of the recordings were made in 1930. A few materials (folklore beliefs and ritual practices (Estonian: uskumused ja kombed)) were written down by Paul Ariste who was the initiator of the Yiddish folklore collection. Six texts, including a marriage contract and prayers against hexes, were also gathered by Dr. Nosson Genss. The majority of the collection was written by pupils of the Tartu Jewish Primary School aged 9 to 12 years old in 1930-1931. There are Jewish songs, among them 20 children's folk songs. Children also wrote down 24 jokes (Estonian: naljand) and 7 folk riddles (mõistatus) as well as a lot of beliefs and ritual practices. There are also two folk stories, a magic spell (nõidussõna) and old proverbs. In addition, this part of the collection comprises texts of some specific genres such as runic songs and ‘Naturlaut’ (Loodushäälend, ‘nature sounds’).
In addition to the writings made by children, a part of the collection was gathered by Eliass Levenberg (Levnberg) who was a teacher at the Tartu Jewish Primary School. Two of his notebooks with materials in Yiddish (1931-1938) are included in the collection as well as separate recordings of runic songs, folk beliefs and proverbs gathered from various Jewish sources (Jews from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland). There are also some recordings made by Paul Ariste in 1931 (folklore beliefs and ritual practices) and in 1933 (a burial ritual and notes to Jewish households in Ukraine before the First World War).
From the second half of the 1930s, the collection contains a number of recordings made by participants of the Jewish seminar in the University of Tartu. The earliest item is a children's folklore collection gathered by Leo Mildenberg in 1928-1937 from children from Latvia (Riga, Liepaja) and Lithuania. A few recordings were made in 1935-1936 by Mirijama Berzner, Abe Liebman, Dina Michelson and Klamnn Hirschmann (the latter three were students of Lazar Gulkowitsch). Dina Michelson also compiled a children’s folklore collection interviewing people in Riga (Latvia) and Võnnu Parish (Estonia) between 1934 and 1937. In 1938 Cilla Vulfs added materials on children’s folklore collected in Tartu. The most recent recordings were made by Isidor Levin who was also a student of Prof. Gulkowitsch and who had gathered folklore materials since 1926. The collection comprises several of Levin’s writings and copies he made in the 1930s and 1940s (the last recording is dated 1947). There are also two tales and a saying written down by Paul Ariste during the war (dated 1941 and 1945).
- Archival history:
- The present collection is the second part of the Jewish folklore collection gathered in Tartu (Estonia) from 1929-1947. The initiator of this Jewish folklore collection was Paul Ariste (1905-1990), a non-Jewish Estonian linguist and polyglot who collected Yiddish folklore together with Jewish students from the University of Tartu. In the 1930s and after the Second World War, Ariste continued adding to the collection which he deposited in the Estonian Folklore Archive.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Estonian Folklore Archives was founded on 24 September 1927 and became the central depository for all the folklore collections gathered in Estonia. The first non-Estonian-language collections (including the present collection on Jewish folklore) were organised in the Archives in 1927-1944. During the Soviet occupation, the Estonian Folklore Archives became the Folklore Department of the Literary Museum. Currently, the Estonian Folklore Archives is one of four departments in the Estonian Literary Museum.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of one inventory.
- Finding aids:
- The collection is described in: Kotlerman, D.B., Lipsker A. “The Jewish Folklore Archive in Tartu, Estonia.” Hulyot (Ringen): Journal for Yiddish Literature and Culture 8 (Winter 2004), pp. 299-314 (in Hebrew); Paul Ariste’s report on the progress of the Jewish folklore collection : Ariste, P. “Nichtestnische Sammlungen des Estnischen Volkskundlichen Archivs.” Sitzungsberichte der Gelehrten estnischen Gesellschaft 1930. Tartu, 1932. S. 122-134.
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko
- Reference number:
- ERA. Juudi 2
- Title:
- Jewish folklore
- Title (official language):
- Juudi Rahvaluulet
- Creator/accumulator:
- Estonian Folklore Archives
- Date(s):
- 1929/1947
- Language:
- Estonian
- Yiddish
- German
- Hebrew
- Extent:
- 541 pages
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
-
This is the second part of the Jewish folklore collection gathered in Tartu, Estonia, containing materials dated between 1929 and 1947. This is a continuation of the first part of the collection which gathered materials from 1926 to 1929. In 1929 several runic songs and folk jokes were recorded by S. Wilenski from Latvian sources.
Many of the recordings were made in 1930. A few materials (folklore beliefs and ritual practices (Estonian: uskumused ja kombed)) were written down by Paul Ariste who was the initiator of the Yiddish folklore collection. Six texts, including a marriage contract and prayers against hexes, were also gathered by Dr. Nosson Genss. The majority of the collection was written by pupils of the Tartu Jewish Primary School aged 9 to 12 years old in 1930-1931. There are Jewish songs, among them 20 children's folk songs. Children also wrote down 24 jokes (Estonian: naljand) and 7 folk riddles (mõistatus) as well as a lot of beliefs and ritual practices. There are also two folk stories, a magic spell (nõidussõna) and old proverbs. In addition, this part of the collection comprises texts of some specific genres such as runic songs and ‘Naturlaut’ (Loodushäälend, ‘nature sounds’).
In addition to the writings made by children, a part of the collection was gathered by Eliass Levenberg (Levnberg) who was a teacher at the Tartu Jewish Primary School. Two of his notebooks with materials in Yiddish (1931-1938) are included in the collection as well as separate recordings of runic songs, folk beliefs and proverbs gathered from various Jewish sources (Jews from Latvia, Lithuania and Poland). There are also some recordings made by Paul Ariste in 1931 (folklore beliefs and ritual practices) and in 1933 (a burial ritual and notes to Jewish households in Ukraine before the First World War).
From the second half of the 1930s, the collection contains a number of recordings made by participants of the Jewish seminar in the University of Tartu. The earliest item is a children's folklore collection gathered by Leo Mildenberg in 1928-1937 from children from Latvia (Riga, Liepaja) and Lithuania. A few recordings were made in 1935-1936 by Mirijama Berzner, Abe Liebman, Dina Michelson and Klamnn Hirschmann (the latter three were students of Lazar Gulkowitsch). Dina Michelson also compiled a children’s folklore collection interviewing people in Riga (Latvia) and Võnnu Parish (Estonia) between 1934 and 1937. In 1938 Cilla Vulfs added materials on children’s folklore collected in Tartu. The most recent recordings were made by Isidor Levin who was also a student of Prof. Gulkowitsch and who had gathered folklore materials since 1926. The collection comprises several of Levin’s writings and copies he made in the 1930s and 1940s (the last recording is dated 1947). There are also two tales and a saying written down by Paul Ariste during the war (dated 1941 and 1945).
- Archival history:
- The present collection is the second part of the Jewish folklore collection gathered in Tartu (Estonia) from 1929-1947. The initiator of this Jewish folklore collection was Paul Ariste (1905-1990), a non-Jewish Estonian linguist and polyglot who collected Yiddish folklore together with Jewish students from the University of Tartu. In the 1930s and after the Second World War, Ariste continued adding to the collection which he deposited in the Estonian Folklore Archive.
- Administrative/biographical history:
- The Estonian Folklore Archives was founded on 24 September 1927 and became the central depository for all the folklore collections gathered in Estonia. The first non-Estonian-language collections (including the present collection on Jewish folklore) were organised in the Archives in 1927-1944. During the Soviet occupation, the Estonian Folklore Archives became the Folklore Department of the Literary Museum. Currently, the Estonian Folklore Archives is one of four departments in the Estonian Literary Museum.
- System of arrangement:
- The collection consists of one inventory.
- Finding aids:
- The collection is described in: Kotlerman, D.B., Lipsker A. “The Jewish Folklore Archive in Tartu, Estonia.” Hulyot (Ringen): Journal for Yiddish Literature and Culture 8 (Winter 2004), pp. 299-314 (in Hebrew); Paul Ariste’s report on the progress of the Jewish folklore collection : Ariste, P. “Nichtestnische Sammlungen des Estnischen Volkskundlichen Archivs.” Sitzungsberichte der Gelehrten estnischen Gesellschaft 1930. Tartu, 1932. S. 122-134.
- Author of the description:
- Antonina Martynenko
