Dona/Donay

[Sam Weiss <samweiss...>]

Leaving the "Adonay" midrash aside, I think an explanation for the 
occasional "Donay" in Bikel's "Dona Dona Dona" may lie in the similarity 
of this refrain with the refrain of the Israeli folksong "Dundai" :

<Eretz yisra'el b'li tora
Hi ch'guf b'li n'shama.
Dundai, dundai, dundai, dundai> ETC.

This "Dundai," in turn, probably is related to the stock Slavic song 
refrain "Dunay," no doubt also familiar to Bikel.  It is familiar to me 
from the following Yiddish worksong about the "Boss Lady" that appears 
in the Beregovski-Slobin collection (pp. 64 and 198) :

Di baleboste geyt arayn,
   Hop dunay, dunay;
Khevre, khevre, shtil zol zayn,
   Hop dunay, dunay.
Di baleboste shteyt un kukt,
   Hop dunay, dunay;
Khevre, khevre, arbet gut,
   Hop dunay, dunay.
ETC.

Perhaps this generic refrain was also a source or inspiration for the 
original Dona Dona [or Dana Dana] refrain of the "kelbl" song.

______________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

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