Akhtsik er un zibitsik zi [Eighty He and Seventy She]

Akhtsik er un zibitsik zi (Eighty He and Seventy She) celebrates an anniversary of a more personal kind: the golden wedding anniversary of an idyllic couple. This song is by Mark M. Warshawsky (1848-1907), who earned his living as a lawyer while composing Yiddish poetry and songs. Thanks to the efforts of the Yiddish writer Sholom Aleichem, who discovered Warshawsky’s work and helped promote it, many of these songs – like Afn pripetshik (At the Fireplace), which was in the sound track to the movie Schindler’s List – became part of the Eastern European Jewish folk tradition.

It’s exactly 50 years since the old couple married. How well they’ve aged; God has blessed them with honor and riches. Never once did they quarrel; they spoke to each other only with endearments. The celebration becomes lively, with everyone in a circle and the aunt on one knee. The bobe gets tired and goes to sleep (her dream I’ll tell you another time…).