r away looking for work and his mother stayed behind helpless with her little chick. He found convincing arguments for her, and this is what he put in her mouth:
“Sleep, my solace, my dear little Kiva,
Hush, be quiet, what is the matter with you today?
It came today a letter from your father,
He is writing we are going to join him.”
Mordechai Gebirtig brightened up when he allowed his little Kivas, Motls and Nochemls to play. Often they became mischievous, and more than once shortened the life of their kheder teacher. When such a little urchin went above the measure, Gebirtig at once caught his hand and punished him. Such a Moyshele started making excuses to his father and stammered in tears:
Daddy, I did not want to play with him,
But he gave me his grandpa’s glasses,
Then I presented him
With the little violin, that you once
Brought for me to play with”.
Strict and reproving was Gebirtig when it came to Torah study. A Jew must study the Torah. When he met a little brat who did not want to take this responsibility on himself, Gebirtig instead of a smile put a serious expression on his face and, with fatherly worry, began scolding him:
A Jew should study the Torah with great joy,
Not be distracted with silly games –
Fine is a man, who is decent and follows God,
And who is studying well and makes good living.
Who suffered more from hunger than Mordechai Gebirtig?! One had to know hunger, not just the father and the mother, but the baby in his cradle and even the kitten in the house, too. The best way to bring out laughter was “A bun with butter." In this song he portrayed how Jewish children yearn for “beans with noodles” with their mouths watering and, meantime, must satisfy themselves with garlic-soup:
“What do we have for supper tonight?”-
Yosele asked his mother.
“I very much would like to eat
Potato mushroom soup!”
See his chutzpa, he demands
Potato mushrooms soup!
Today I cooked a garlic-soup,
God forbid, you won’t be poisoned by this!
Mordechai Gebirtig lived in a time when separation between boys and girls no longer existed. Love had spread in the little towns of Poland. In those places where love still had not blossomed, Jewish girls had to be content with love songs which described their longing and turbulent feelings. For them, Gebirtig wrote a romantic song about a shepherd and a girl:
“Hey, little goats, come to me right away,
I will sing for you now a nice song.
It begins with a young shepherd,
Bewitched by a young girl.
Another song tells us about a Jewish girl who is sitting with worry and longing for her long-awaited beloved. Because of poverty he temporarily abandoned her, so she waits for him with deep devotion and sings with hope and trust:
On a branch sits a bird,
An autumn wind blows in the field,
Faraway went my groom Shloyme,
To get somewhere in the world a job.
Gebirtig sang his love songs precisely the way Jewish girls would sing them: with eyes downcast, with embarrassment, modesty and a lyric softness. So the lyrical dialog between “Reyzele and Duvedl” is full of modesty. This was the Jewish Romeo-Juliet couple with the difference that instead of the guitar of Romeo’s serenade, we hear Duvedl’s whistle under the window of his long awaited beloved; instead of Juliet's gracious figure we see here the lovely Reyzele, and instead of a rich Italian palace – a poor Jewish house with an attic, which is all our couple can afford. Their romantic charm is no less than that of the world famous Shakespearean couple. And in matters of the heart he is even richer.
“Opens a little window,
The old little house is on watch,
And at once sounds in the quiet street
A sweet voice – That Reyzele talks;
Wait a little longer, my beloved,
Soon I will be free,
Walk around a couple times:
One, two, three”.
As a Jew grew older, he had plenty of every day worries. First of all because of the children: the eternal fear about their health, work and livelihood; the worry for their life and destiny.
From Yosele there was no letter for a while
And Shindl – who knows, what happened to her.
Just three of my four children stay wit