Yidishe Mame Opus

A wise man once asked me: "Where does a mother’s unconditional love begin?" Seeking the answer forced me to look inward and ask myself a harder question: Was I ever a good daughter?

I left home young. I prioritized my own path, ignored her advice, and brushed aside her worries. Yet, when I looked to her for the answer, she didn’t hesitate. She said, "Yes." My mother was a survivor of the Holocaust from a small town in Ukraine; she lived a life of immense strength—a life that now continues through me. I dedicate this song to her, and to the limitless love of all mothers.
Of things I should be thankful for I'd had a goodly share
And as I sit here in the comfort of my cosy chair
My fancy takes me to a humble eastside tenement
three flights up in the rear to where my childhood days were spent
It wasn't much like Paradise but amid the dirt and all
There sat the sweetest angel, one that I fondly call

My yiddishe momme I need her more than ever now
My yiddishe momme I'd love to kiss that wrinkled brow
I long to hold her hands once more as in days gone by
and ask her to forgive me for things I did that made her cry

How few were her pleasures, she never cared for fashion's styles
Her jewels and treasures, she found them in her baby's smiles
oh, I know that I owe what I am today
to that dear little lady so old and gray
to that wonderful yiddishe momme of mine

Kne malah Yiddishe mame (face of angel)
Eyney ahawa yidishe mame ( eye of love )
Enyem doagot. Yiddishe mame
Yiddishe mame of mine

Ahava ansofit ydushe mame ( endless love)
Midga agea leanaim ohavot (I miss loving eye)
Tamid belibi Yiddishe mame always( in my heart)
Yiddishe mame of mine