''Balabusta'' ( yi, בעל־הביתטע) is a

Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...

expression describing a good

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. The transliteration according to

YIVO YIVO (Yiddish: , ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. (The word '' ...

Standard

orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and mos ...

is '' baleboste.'' The expression derives from the Hebrew term for "home owner" or "master of the house" – the Hebrew compound noun (lit: "master of the house") was borrowed in its masculine from and was pronounced according to the conventions of

Ashkenazi Hebrew Ashkenazi Hebrew ( he, הגייה אשכנזית, Hagiyya Ashkenazit, yi, אַשכּנזישע הבֿרה, Ashkenazishe Havara) is the pronunciation system for Biblical and Mishnaic Hebrew favored for Jewish liturgical use and Torah study by Ashk ...

as ; in its feminine form, it is rendered as . The term ultimately became more popular than the original Hebrew expression for a (female) home owner, . (As used in

Modern Hebrew Modern Hebrew ( he, עברית חדשה, ''ʿivrít ḥadašá ', , '' lit.'' "Modern Hebrew" or "New Hebrew"), also known as Israeli Hebrew or Israeli, and generally referred to by speakers simply as Hebrew ( ), is the standard form of the He ...

, bá'al habáyit/בעל-הבית means "landlord".) Variants in pronunciation (''balabusta'' and ''baleboste'') are due to the phonologies of different Yiddish dialects, where the

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

of אָ (komets alef) as /ɔ/ becomes /ʊ/ in some regions.

Connotations

The term historically has the positive connotation of an extremely competent and self-assured homemaker, though for some, the term has come to represent the feeling of being "chained to the stove" and denied opportunities outside the home. The traditional role of the baleboste is essentially that of the wife in Judaism; that is, she must manage the home in both practical terms - housekeeping duties such as cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the household finances - and spiritual ones, as in facilitating ''

shalom bayit Shalom bayit () (also sholom bayit or shlom bayit, or (Yiddish) sholom bayis or shlom bayis) is the Jewish religious concept of domestic harmony and good relations between husband and wife. In a Jewish court of law, ''shalom bayit'' is the Hebrew te ...

'', the Jewish religious concept of general domestic harmony, and good relations between husband and wife. Due in part to the coincidental similarity of the word to the English colloquialism "ballbuster", defined as "a person who is relentlessly aggressive, intimidating, or domineering", ''baleboste'' as used by English-speakers has taken on the connotation of assertiveness or bossiness.

In popular culture

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

folk song, "Baleboste Zisinke" ("sweet homemaker"), was first recorded by Yo'el Engel, an ethnomusicologist, critic, and composer. Engel joined fellow Jewish anthropologist and writer An-Ski on his ethnographic expedition to the

Pale of Settlement The Pale of Settlement (russian: Черта́ осе́длости, '; yi, דער תּחום-המושבֿ, '; he, תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, ') was a western region of the Russian Empire with varying borders that existed from 1791 to 19 ...

, where he first heard and recorded the song. The song was later reinterpreted by musician

Socalled Joshua Dolgin (born December 28, 1976), better known by his stage name Socalled, is a Canadian rapper and record producer, known for his eclectic mix of hip hop, klezmer, and other styles such as drum & bass and folk music. A pianist and accordi ...

, who sampled a version of it for the song "Baleboste" on his 2007 album ''Ghettoblaster''. The track also features a sample from the midcentury Jewish-American comedian Belle Barth: "She says dirty words in a cute way and everybody digs her the most . . . 'cause she's a baleboste, she makes flanken hort ribswith

kasha varnishkes Kashe varnishkes (sometimes Americanized as kasha varnishkas) is a traditional dish of the American-Jewish Ashkenazi community. It combines ''kasha'' (buckwheat groats) with noodles, typically bow-tie shape lokshen egg noodles. Buckwheat groats ...

Martin Davidson Martin Davidson (born November 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, television director. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he spent four (five counting tours) years as an actor in Off Broadway shows ...

's Rechnitzer Rejects group recorded a song titled "Balabustas", an homage to the traditional role set to the theme song of the 1984 movie ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...

''.

References

Ashkenazi Jews topics Judaism and women Yiddish words and phrases {{Yiddish-stub

Connotations

In popular culture

See also

References