Gefilte Fish
adapted by Daniel Slosberg from Adrienne Cooper’s translation (on “Enchanted” CD liner notes)
of Isidor Lillian’s original Yiddish, all via Batya Fonda’s Jewish Songs web site.
Tell me what food fills all Jews with pleasure
With friends and fam’ly or at home alone
It’s neither meat nor milk—a pareve treasure—
For Jewish folk, the best food ever known.
Tell me what’s a Jewish wife’s ambition
You crave it, yes, we know you truly do
A Jewish treat that has its own tradition
And each erev Shabbat you want to chew.
Gefilte fish, gefilte fish...
A thousand-flavored treat that’s like no other
First made for me by my beloved mother.
It’s a precious delectation,
Nectar of the Hebrew nation,
Sacred source of edible elation.
Gefilte fish themselves are proudly Yiddish
You come from shul, you stand and say the kiddush
At home it’s clean, serene, and fresh
You sit down near a covered dish
And then you’re served gefilte fish.
Gefilte fish, gefilte fish...
Hungarians love their goulash with paprika
The Polish love their hunter’s stew with bread
Romanians all must have their mamaliga
While Russians love their borsht hot steaming red
The Germans cherish dumplings served with cabbage
Kebobs of muMon light up Georgian eyes.
But all these taste exceptionally average
Compared to what we Jews know takes first prize....
[alt: Only Jewish people know what takes first prize...]
Gefilte fish, gefilte fish…
