04 Lustig Zayn

Sometimes, klezmer songs borrowed from popular folk melodies. “Lustig Zayn”, also known as “My Yofes” came from Polish peasants. But the more klezmers played this melody, the more Jewish nuances they added. The composer Frederic Chopin felt this melody had become so “Jewish”, he urged his fellow Poles to stop playing it. But there were other Poles who encouraged klezmers to play this melody. They were wealthy Polish gentry, who would hire klezmers to play at their lavish parties – where at least one of the musicians would have to wear a bear costume when playing this song, so the party guests could have a good laugh with lyrics like: The rabbi says everyone should be happy drinking whiskey, not wine. But the rabbis were not happy. In fact, they were horrified and told the klezmers to stop playing this song and subjecting themselves to such derision. Those klezmers who continued to don the bear suit to play this song became known as “My Yofesniks” – by sacrificing their dignity, they also sacrificed their innate Jewishness. My Yofesniks were Jewish only on the outside.