The Heavens Are Empty - Avrom Bendavid-Val [71]
Balagola Wagon owner.
Baruch (kh) atoh adoinoi eiloiheinu melech (kh) haoilom … Opening phrase of many Hebrew blessings: “Blessed are you lord, our god, king of the universe …” The style of pronunciation that that Ryszard learned was the Ashkenazic, or European, style of Hebrew pronunciation.
Beitar Right-leaning Zionist youth organization that stressed self-defense.
Challah (kh) Egg bread, often braided, traditionally eaten by Jews on the Sabbath and holidays.
Chalutz, pl. chalutzim (kh) Pioneer; specifically, a Jewish settler in Palestine who went with the idea of paving the way for a Jewish state there.
Chapper (kh) Kidnapper of young Jewish teenagers for conscription into the Russian army in place of the sons of wealthy Jews.
Chazan (kh) Cantor.
Cheder (kh) Religious day-school for boys, usually held in the home of its only teacher.
Chulunt Slow-cooked stew that was a Sabbath specialty because it could be placed on the stove before the Sabbath and left there over a very low fire for the entire Sabbath, during which lighting a fire is forbidden.
Dreidel Spinning top, a toy traditionally used for Hanukah games.
Eretz Yisrael The Land of Israel; refers to the biblical Land of Israel and the Jewish homeland.
Etzel National Military Organization, a militant Jewish organization in Palestine that believed in creating a Jewish state there by using force against the British and Arabs.
Feltcher Self-taught paramedic, a healer, often also the pharmacy owner.
Goy Gentile.
Hanukah, or Chanukah (kh) Festival of Lights, an eight-day festival commemorating the reopening of the Hebrew Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C.E., following the military victory of Judah Maccabee. The holiday occurs in the same season as Christmas.
Hanukah gelt Coins given to children during the Hanukah holiday.
Kapoteh Long black or white kaftan, prayer garb.
Kichel Sweet cracker.
Kiddush Prayer sanctifying the Sabbath.
Latkes Potato pancakes, a traditional Hanukah dish.
Matzah, pl. matzot or matzos Unleavened flatbread eaten during Passover. In the plural, “matzot” represents the Sephardic, or Mediterranean style of Hebrew pronunciation that is used for modern Hebrew, and “matzos” represents the Ashkenazic, or European style of Hebrew pronunciation that was used in Europe for prayer, religious study, and other religious purposes.
Melamed Learned teacher.
Mitzvah A good deed in God’s eyes.
Pesach (kh) Passover.
Purim The Festival of Lots, a happy holiday in the Jewish calendar that falls about a month before Passover.
Seder Passover ritual meal.
Shabbat, Shabbos Sabbath. “Shabbat” represents the sephardic, or Mediterranean style of Hebrew pronunciation that is used for modern Hebrew, and “Shabbos” represents the Ashkenazic, or European style of Hebrew pronunciation that was used in Europe for prayer, religious study, and other religious purposes.
Shabbos goy “Sabbath Gentile” who performed functions for Jews like stoking fires or milking cows on the Sabbath because Jews are prohibited by religious law from performing acts of “work” on that day.
Shalom aleichem (kh) “Peace upon you,” a traditional Jewish greeting.
Shoah Hebrew for “Holocaust.”
Shtetl Community of Jews that was part of an Eastern European town. The Jews would live in a section that was exclusively Jewish and reflected Jewish religious traditions and values: in effect a Jewish village within a Gentile town. People referred to Trochenbrod also as a shtetl because the Yiddish word literally means “townlet.”
Shul Synagogue. Derived from “school.”
Sukkah Temporary field hut erected for the Feast of Tabernacles.
Sukkot, Sukkos Jewish fall harvest holiday, the Feast of Tabernacles, during which meals are taken in temporary huts where stars can be seen through fronds on the roof. “Sukkot” represents the Sephardic, or Mediterranean style of Hebrew pronunciation that is used for modern Hebrew, and “Sukkos