• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 2226 0

and He didn’t come. And even if he does, it will be too late.” He walks with his father to Shabbat services, and suddenly finds himself in the ranks of a procession toward death. He wishes he could reassure his father, console him: “Don’t worry, your son will try to be a good Jew.” But he says nothing. He soundlessly calls to a gravely smiling, beautiful little girl and caresses her golden hair. His thoughts scale mountains and hurtle down steep pathways, wander through invisible cemeteries, both seeking and fleeing solitude and receiving stories already told and those he has yet to tell.

Glossary

Aggadah Traditional Jewish literature, especially commentaries, aphorisms, legends of the Talmud

ahavat Israel Love for, attachment to, the Jewish people

aliyah “Ascent” to Jerusalem; by extension, immigration of Jews to Israel

Amidah The major daily prayer

bar mitzvah The ceremony marking the assumption of adult religious responsibilities, at age thirteen

Beit Hamidrash (or Beit Midrash) A House of Study and Prayer

Betar An organization of Jewish Zionist youth

Bund The European Jewish socialist movement preaching development of Jewish communities in their countries of exile

Eretz Israel The land of Israel

Haganah A Jewish paramilitary self-defense organization in Palestine

Halachah The body of rabbinical Law

Hasid (pl.: Hasidim) Literally, “pious man.” A disciple of the movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov and influenced by the Kabala

havdalah The separation ceremony marking the end of Shabbat

heder A religious elementary school; Hebrew school

Irgun A Jewish nationalist organization fighting against the British occupation in Palestine

Kabala The study (or practice) of Jewish mystical sciences

Kaddish The prayer for the dead

kavanah Concentration of the mind on prayer or other religious acts

kiddush The evening prayer before meals on Shabbat or holidays

kipa The skullcap, or yarmulka, worn by Jewish males

kosher Ritually pure, in accordance with the dietary laws

Kol Nidre The prayer opening the Yom Kippur evening service

Lehi An underground Jewish organization opposed to the British presence in Palestine; also known as the Stern Gang

Maariv The evening service

maggid A preacher

Makhzor The prayer book for Jewish holidays

Mapai The Labor Party in Israel

melamed A teacher who gives elementary religious instruction

Midrash Commentary and exegesis on the Scriptures

Minha The afternoon service

minyan The quorum of ten men required for a communal religious service

Mishna The collection of rabbinical laws and decisions

mitzvah A divine commandment

Musaf The additional service following the main morning service on the Shabbat and holidays

Musar A movement founded in Lithuania to foster the teaching of traditional Jewish values and ethics

niggun A song or melody

Nyilas The Hungarian anti-Semitic, fascist party

Palmach The elite Haganah troops recruited from kibbutzim

Pesach Passover, the Jewish holiday celebrating the Exodus from Egypt

phylacteries See tefillin

Purim The holiday (marked by games, exchanges of gifts, and skits) commemorating the victory of Persian Jews over their enemy Haman

Reb A title of respect accorded any man versed in study

Rebbe The title accorded a Hasidic master

Rosh Hashana The Jewish New Year

rosh yeshiva The director of a rabbinical academy

Shavuot The holiday commemorating the revelation of the Law on Mount Sinai

Shekina The presence of God among His people

Shma The fundamental Jewish prayer, Shma Israel: Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One

shofar A trumpet made of a ram’s horn used on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur

shtetl A Jewish village in Eastern Europe

shtibel A Hasidic place of prayer

shtreimel A wide-brimmed fur hat traditionally worn by Hasidim

sidra A passage of the Bible read at synagogue on Shabbat

siddur Prayer book

talit Ritual prayer shawl

Talmud The collection of rabbinical teachings and commentaries

tefillin Phylacteries—two small leather boxes containing four excerpts from the Bible, one strapped to the left forearm