o my got!I happened upon something about a yiddish song about a calf and I almost jumped. In the 1970 B'nai Brith Youth Organization was an international group for Jewish teens. Among the many things we did, is sing this song after a meeting, a party, an event.....its symbolism to us kids at the time was real and powerful - the calf represnts the jews being led to slaughter, the farmer respresents the Nazis in the ironic - why don't you just change yourself you silly thing. The swallow is the rest of the world, flying, soaring, little caring about the suffering of others

So to find this thread - from 2000! Talking about its meaning and all the many ideas people have comes as a complete shock for me. I did not know that it was orginally written in 1939 later sung by Joan Baez and countless others. I never realized people could think the son anything but a song about the nazi determination to slauhter all Jews. But if this wwas written in 1939 few people knew this at the time. So it was writtten to respent all suffering peoples who from no fault of their own are being slaughted like cattle with the rest of the world just twittering and flying away.

but wait, then I read this : "Zeitlin wrote his play by 1939, when he came to NY for the World's Fair, and became stuck in the US due to the Holocaust. He later collaborated with the composer, Sholom Secunda, and the musical play version of Esterke, opened in NY City in October, 1940. Surely knowledge of the events happening in Europe against Jews was already somewhat known at that point, and that is the link this song has to the Holocaust. In any event, it certainly was prophetic about the events that occurred. Zeitlin's entire family was murdered in Europe." And here we come full circle.

Wow - I loved this song, hadn't heard it performed in ages. And I am speechless that first, this powerful song had such a different beginning, and second, that it could have different meaning to those who wrote it .

I so hope Im not just talking to a long ago abandoned blog(Like so many others) and that there is someone there who will understand this letter and what this all means to me.

Is anyone out there? if so, plese contact me at cindydavid4@gmail.com
with your reaction. If no one is, then may my words rise up to the ears of god, that he might cry, and laugh alittle at the irony of it a..

Cindy

Zeitlin wrote his play by 1939, when he came to NY for the World's Fair, and became stuck in the US due to the Holocaust. He later collaborated with the composer, Sholom Secunda, and the musical play version of Esterke, opened in NY City in October, 1940. Surely knowledge of the events happening in Europe against Jews was already somewhat known at that point, and that is the link this song has to the Holocaust. In any event, it certainly was prophetic about the events that occurred. Zeitlin's entire family was murdered in Europe.