Re: Klezmer

[moshe denburg <denburg...>]

Joe,

You wrote:

>Does anyone know of any examples of early use of the term kley-zemer in
>hebrew literature before the term entered Yiddish such as in midrash,
>talmud, tanakh?  

On further digging, your question is a very valid and interesting one. The
citations from Hebrew literature that I found in my Even-Shoshan dictionary,
(after he defines the term 'kli zemer' as a musical instrument), utilize the
term, *in Hebrew*, as meaning the 'musician'. However, this is definitely a
case of the re-fertilization of Hebrew after the Yiddish developed its
meaning, since Even-Shoshan makes it plain that this meaning has been
acquired from the Yiddish.

However, I have not yet been able to locate a citation that utilizes, in
Hebrew, the term 'kli zemer' as musical instrument. This is puzzling, since
there _must_ be such an instance in order for Even-Shoshan and others to
make a claim on its Hebraic definition. The only way to proceed is to look
up the term 'kli...' in a complete Concordance (which includes Tanach _and_
Talmud). 

Since I don't have such a tome handy, perhaps someone else in the discussion
group would oblige.  In the meantime, I'll put it on my 'do' list.

Hold on Joe, you may have stumped Even-Shoshan himself! :-)

All the Best,

Moshe Denburg