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A collection of Yiddish folk songs, compiled by Menachem Kipnis (1878-1942). Menahem Kipnis (1878–1942), singer, folklore collector, and writer. Born in Ushomir, Ukraine, Kipnis came from a family of hasidic rabbis and hazzanim. As a boy he sang in the choirs of Nissan Spivak ("Nissi Belzer") and Jacob Samuel Morogowsky ("Zeidel Rovner"). In 1901 he went to Warsaw where he completed his musical education, sang in the chorus of the opera, and began to publish articles on various aspects of Jewish music in the major Hebrew and Yiddish newspapers. From 1912 to 1932 he toured Poland, Germany, and France, appearing in concert with his wife and former pupil, Zimra Seligsfeld, in combined lecture-performances of the Jewish folk songs which he had collected and studied. These he published successively in 1918 (60 Folkslider), 1923 (80 Folkslider), and a combined edition 1931 (140 Folkslider), with a parallel edition of 25 tunes with piano accompaniment which appeared between 1924 and 1926. He also published three collections of songs for children, and was active in the Polish cantors organization.
Menahem Kipnis was one of the most colorful characters within the Jewish writers' community in Poland. His articles about music in 'Haynt', his incomparable humorous columns and the hundreds of concerts of folksongs over several decades made him popular and beloved. In every Jewish house the name Kipnis was mentioned with a happy smile. Young and old read his columns in 'Haynt', holding their sides from laughter about his notions and humorous situations. He was a master at the fine and pure Jewish situational humor. No satire, no jest, but causing laughter without hurting anyone was his style. He never ran out of themes for his 'humoresques'. He wrote columns that afterwards were published in book form. He wrote columns about cantors, about choirboys, about Jewish theater and artists, about the Warsaw opera, about synagogues and prayer houses. He wrote stories about ' Yankev Nar' (Jacob the Fool), the name given by Jews to Germans during World War One, told stories about the 'Chelmer Fools', wrote 'Conversations', between Jews in the Krashinski park in Warsaw. When the Hellerists tore off beards of Jews,he wrote a humorous series called 'Beards'.
Especially one column in 'Haynt' made him very popular. Kipnis created the character of a fervent Polish anti-Semite, a fool with a dense mind. He only knew one thing: Jews were the enemies of Poland and they should be put in their place. He did not have a name, only a title: Mr. Maecenas. He would address Kipnis as: "pshiyatshelu kokhani", my dear friend; an allusion to the fact that every anti-Semite has his private 'good Jew'.
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