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omnipoetics:cokboy [2025/04/16 21:14] – [the Baal Shem (Tov) בעל שם טוב] joshuaomnipoetics:cokboy [2025/04/24 00:56] (current) – joshua
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-====== "Cokboy" by Jerome Rothenberg ======+====== Cokboy by Jerome Rothenberg ======
  
 <WRAP center round info 60%> <WRAP center round info 60%>
-**//The Serpent and the Fire// (pp. 640 - 644)** \\+//The Serpent and the Fire// (pp. 640 - 644) \\
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
  
 +"Cokboy" brings the imagination of the eastern eauropean shtetl jew in contact with a region of the Americas far away from New York City. In the western lands of the united states where the myth of the wild west lives in the imaginations of readers of cowboy novels and spaghetti western aficionados, Jerome Rothenberg transports the Baal Shem Tov to the contact site of Western Expansion. 
  
-===== Biography of Jerome Rothenberg ===== +=====Jewish Cultural Allusions and Vocabulary=====
-.\\ +
-.\\ +
-link to other Rothenberg articles on the wiki [[omnipoetics:total_translation_-_rothenberg|Total Translation]] +
-===== The poem itself ===== +
-.\\ +
-==== When it was written ==== +
-[[https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetry-news/65408/looking-at-jerome-rothenbergs-polish-trilogy-triptych | Possible context: Looking at Jerome Rothenberg's Polish Trilogy, Triptych]] \\ +
-.\\ +
-[[https://www.lyrikline.org/en/poems/cokboy-15046?showmodal=de | This link says 1974]] +
-\\ +
-==== Form ==== +
-.\\ +
-.\\ +
-==== Interpretation ==== +
-Is this an earlier manifesto? How do we connect the commentary afterwards to the rest of the anthology / how we have received him. Can we find the interview was excerpted from? +
-\\ +
- +
-=====Terms: Let me teach you, Melamed, some Kabbalah and Chassidus through "Cokboy"===== +
 ====kabbalistic time קבלה צייט==== ====kabbalistic time קבלה צייט====
  
 +<blockquote>
 <poem> <poem>
 the numbers vanishing in kabbalistic time the numbers vanishing in kabbalistic time
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 the distance vanishing in kabbalistic time the distance vanishing in kabbalistic time
 (he says) the old man watches (Rothenberg "Cokboy") (he says) the old man watches (Rothenberg "Cokboy")
-</poem> +</poem> 
 +</blockquote> 
  
 **Kabbalah** (Hebrew, lit. "reception") is the esoteric study of Jewish literature. Rooted in close readings of the Torah, Kabbalistic readings indulge in poetic thinking that attunes the reader to the concealed reality underlying all existence. Take for example the lyrics of Moses in Psalm 90: **Kabbalah** (Hebrew, lit. "reception") is the esoteric study of Jewish literature. Rooted in close readings of the Torah, Kabbalistic readings indulge in poetic thinking that attunes the reader to the concealed reality underlying all existence. Take for example the lyrics of Moses in Psalm 90:
  
 +<blockquote>
 <poem> <poem>
 For in Your sight a thousand years For in Your sight a thousand years
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 like a watch of the night.  like a watch of the night. 
 </poem>  </poem> 
 +</blockquote>
  
 One reading of this passage explains the cosmology of the seven day creation myth in the first book of the Torah, Genesis. A Kabbalistic reading will infer the length of the age of the world, 5785 at the time of writing this wiki-page, and project a teleological end of days at the completion of the 7th millennium, that is, a transition from the world that we know into a Messianic future. Other examples of Kabbalistic time would be reading into the symbolism of the festivals, like the counting of the omer, a ritual count between two pilgrimage holidays, Passover in the spring and Shavuous in the summer. With kabbalistic knoweldge, the count becomes a transformative spiritual exercise, a rectification or a cleaning up of the soul through a mystical relationship to time. For more on the seferiotic structures of the omer visit Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg's[[https://neohasid.org/omer/count_the_omer/|neohasid.]]  One reading of this passage explains the cosmology of the seven day creation myth in the first book of the Torah, Genesis. A Kabbalistic reading will infer the length of the age of the world, 5785 at the time of writing this wiki-page, and project a teleological end of days at the completion of the 7th millennium, that is, a transition from the world that we know into a Messianic future. Other examples of Kabbalistic time would be reading into the symbolism of the festivals, like the counting of the omer, a ritual count between two pilgrimage holidays, Passover in the spring and Shavuous in the summer. With kabbalistic knoweldge, the count becomes a transformative spiritual exercise, a rectification or a cleaning up of the soul through a mystical relationship to time. For more on the seferiotic structures of the omer visit Rabbi David Mevorach Seidenberg's[[https://neohasid.org/omer/count_the_omer/|neohasid.]] 
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 ====shtreiml שטרײַמל ==== ====shtreiml שטרײַמל ====
 +<blockquote>
 <poem> <poem>
 when the Baal Shem visited America when the Baal Shem visited America
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 the locals all thought he was a cow boy the locals all thought he was a cow boy
 maybe from Mexico maybe from Mexico
-"a cockboy?"+"a cokboy?"
 no a cowboy (Rothenberg) no a cowboy (Rothenberg)
 </poem>  </poem> 
 +</blockquote>
  
 The custom to wear this festive fur hat is a distinguishing look of many chassidic men, a stylized outward representation of the inward holiness of the Sabbath and holidays.  The custom to wear this festive fur hat is a distinguishing look of many chassidic men, a stylized outward representation of the inward holiness of the Sabbath and holidays. 
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 moving up & down moving up & down
 in the vision of the Cuna nele in the vision of the Cuna nele
-the virion of my grandfather+the vizion of my grandfather
 vision of the Baal Shem in America vision of the Baal Shem in America
 </poem> </poem>
 </blockquote> </blockquote>
  
-Chassidus emerges in Jewish literary history with the teachings of Israel Ben Eliezer (1698-1760), known by Chassidim as the Baal Shem Tov , Hebrew "Master of the Good Name" or by the acronym BeShT בש׳׳ט .  From the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the town of Mezhbizh, the Baal Shem Tov attracted local attention as wandering sage and miracle worker.  His teachings drew upon the esoteric dimensions of Jewish mysticism brought down in Kabbalah that emphasize the role of ecstatic prayer and the individual experience of devokut, ecstatic union with G-d. The Besht would teach primarily in Yiddish, the spoken language of Eastern European Jews during his days. His students would pass down his sayings and prayers, but a majority of the Besht's teachings were transcreated into Hebrew. Such as it is with most translation ethics in Jewish literature, the legacy of the original text depends on the translator's capability to package the source material for the present.  The transmission of the teachings of Eastern European Chassidic rebbes, who followed after the Baal Shem Tov, relied on an organized dispersion of personal correspondence, scribal copies of letters, ma'amarim  (discourses on mystical topic in the Torah and Kabbalistic texts). Through the spheres of dynastic influence across Eastern Europe, the courts of the chassidic rebbes dispersed their Torah knowledge through original compositions, thus actualizing their central monist doctrine that “there is no place devoid of Him” (Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 57). +Chassidus emerges in Jewish literary history with the teachings of Israel Ben Eliezer (1698-1760), known by Chassidim as the Baal Shem Tov , Hebrew "Master of the Good Name" or by the acronym BeShT בש׳׳ט .  From the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the town of Mezhbizh, the Baal Shem Tov attracted local attention as wandering sage and miracle worker.  His teachings drew upon the esoteric dimensions of Jewish mysticism brought down in Kabbalah that emphasize the role of ecstatic prayer and the individual experience of devokut, ecstatic union with G-d. The Besht would teach primarily in Yiddish, the spoken language of Eastern European Jews during his days. His students would pass down his sayings and prayers, but a majority of the Besht's teachings were transcreated into Hebrew. Such as it is with most translation ethics in Jewish literature, the legacy of the original text depends on the translator's capability to package the source material for the present.  The transmission of the teachings of Eastern European Chassidic rebbes, who followed after the Baal Shem Tov, relied on an organized dispersion of personal correspondence, scribal copies of letters, ma'amarim  (discourses on mystical topic in the Torah and Kabbalistic texts). Through the spheres of dynastic influence across Eastern Europe, the courts of the chassidic rebbes dispersed their Torah knowledge through original compositions, thus actualizing their central monist doctrine that “there is no place devoid of Him” ((Tikkunei Zohar, Tikkun 57)). 
  
 ===the Baal Shem's song === ===the Baal Shem's song ===
 +<blockquote>
 <poem> <poem>
 Repeated without words for centuries Repeated without words for centuries
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 what does the Baal Shem (buh-buh) put into the bundle? what does the Baal Shem (buh-buh) put into the bundle?
 </poem> </poem>
 +</blockquote>
  
-====ohel moed אהל מועד "the tent of meeting" ====+The chassidic nigun ניגון is similar to the scat singing style in Jazz, see also [[omnipoetics:lady_be_good_-_ella_fitzgerald|Lady Be Good - Ella Fitzgerald]]. Some of these wordless melodies resemble the rhythm of sing-song speech associated with the daily prayer services, ceremonial readings of the Torah, and of course, the canticle collection of songs in the book of Psalms. Chassidus teaches that the niggun connects the singer with the rebbe who wrote the melody. This intimate connection transcends traditional Jewish learning, which privileges the oral study of the written Torah. Through the wordless connection anyone can draw close an ecstatic, that is mystical, experience where literal meaning isn't the point, but the supra-rational connection sustained by the nigun. 
  
 +Check out his sentimental niggun by R. Nachman of Breslov: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzFd4eZ9S-o|Beslov Niggun]]
 +
 +Or if you want a dance party over a pilgrimage, check out these [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dkmkZZj6-I&list=PLcl3a3ijCcmdndHOqiSJ5mHn1QkPLHtxn|Chassidc Nigun Fast]]
 +
 +
 +====ohel moed אהל מועד "the tent of meeting" ====
 +<blockquote>
 <poem> <poem>
 "in a large tent somewhere in America "in a large tent somewhere in America
  the story of the coming forth begins" (Rothenberg "Cokboy")  the story of the coming forth begins" (Rothenberg "Cokboy")
 </poem> </poem>
 +</blockquote>
  
 The sacred place were Moses would learn the Torah from Hashem. Rothenberg draws parallels between the indigenous tent sanctuary of the Jewish people during their nomadic period of forty years in the Sinai desert. For more on the symbolism of the tent in the Torah, especially the arrangement of the camp based on tribal affiliation visit this [[https://www.sefaria.org/topics/ohel-moed?sort=Relevance&tab=notable-sources|Sefaria source study sheet]].  The sacred place were Moses would learn the Torah from Hashem. Rothenberg draws parallels between the indigenous tent sanctuary of the Jewish people during their nomadic period of forty years in the Sinai desert. For more on the symbolism of the tent in the Torah, especially the arrangement of the camp based on tribal affiliation visit this [[https://www.sefaria.org/topics/ohel-moed?sort=Relevance&tab=notable-sources|Sefaria source study sheet]]. 
  
 +====pripitchok פריפעטשיק ====
 +
 +[[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyfn_Pripetshik]]???
 +
 +Here is a performance of  [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKWPE5GdRLg|OYFN PRIPETSHIK - A Yiddish Classic (Lea K & Rabbi T)]]. Lea Kalisch is a contemporary recording artist. Here is an excerpt from her youtube bio: "Lea creates eclectic, JEWCY music, blending languages and styles, like a
 +smoothie. From Hasidic to Hip Hop, Rap to Rumba, she does it all. She's a SHTETL Neshume and a Jewish glamour QUEEN.
 +Her goal: To sing in Yiddish at the super bowl with a shtreimal on her head!" 
  
 ===== Use of dialect / pidgin Yiddish ===== ===== Use of dialect / pidgin Yiddish =====
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  backwards a reverse in time\\  backwards a reverse in time\\
  toward wilderness"  toward wilderness"
-\\ 
-.\\ 
- 
- 
- 
- 
-.\\ 
-===== other topic ===== 
-QUESTIONS I have\\ 
-What is pripitchok? Is it related to the song ---> [[Oyfn Pripetshik | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyfn_Pripetshik]]??? 
- 
-Here is a performance of  [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKWPE5GdRLg|OYFN PRIPETSHIK - A Yiddish Classic (Lea K & Rabbi T)]]. Lea Kalisch is a contemporary recording artist. Here is an excerpt from her youtube bio: "Lea creates eclectic, JEWCY music, blending languages and styles, like a 
-smoothie. From Hasidic to Hip Hop, Rap to Rumba, she does it all. She's a SHTETL Neshume and a Jewish glamour QUEEN. 
-Her goal: To sing in Yiddish at the super bowl with a shtreimal on her head!"  
- 
- 
  
 ===== References ===== ===== References =====

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