קולטור

Potatoes

In this lesson’s movie, Nomi sings a fragment of a song to Yankl: Zuntik kikhelekh, montik kikhelekh…
Nomi has adapted here a well-known folk song, changing the words to suit her little brother's love for cookies. The original song is about potatoes, and begins with the following lines:

זונטיק בולבעס, מאָנטיק בולבעס,
דינסטיק און מיטוואָך בולבעס,
דאָנערשטיק און פֿרײַטיק בולבעס,
שבת אין אַ נאָווענע – אַ בולבע־קוגעלע!
זונטיק װײַטער בולבעס…

Sunday, potatoes, Monday potatoes,
Tuesday and Wednesday potatoes
Thursday and Friday potatoes
Saturday for a change — a potato kugel!
Sunday once again potatoes…

ברויט מיט בולבעס, פֿלייש מיט בולבעס,
וואַרמעס און וועטשערע בולבעס,
אָבער און ווידער בולבעס,
איין מאָל אין אַ נאָווענע – אַ בולבע־קוגעלע!
זונטיק ווײַטער בולבעס...

Bread with potatoes, meat with potatoes,
Lunch and supper — potatoes,
Over and over potatoes,
Once in a blue moon — a potato kugel!
Sunday once again potatoes...

This song describes a diet consisting only of potatoes: potatoes every day of the week, potatoes at every meal! The original folksong more accurately reflects the atmosphere in the past in many poor Jewish households, where the main concern was not the question of eating healthy, as in our current lesson, but rather of having the means to put bread (or potatoes!) on the table.

Yiddish folklore has its roots in this milieu, and so it is rich in themes of dayges-parnose (concern for livelihood).