KSH+Vocab+-+in+progress

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 * Word/Phrase || Short Definition || Long Definition ||
 * apikoyros, apikorsim (plural) || from the Greek word epikoureios, followers of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. Means a heretic or freethinker.Aspects of these beliefs can be found in Ecclesiastes, the story of Job and other Jewish folklore. || (please add) ||
 * Ashkenazirn || Jews who currently or whose ancestors come from north, central and eastern Europe; mostly Yiddish speaking. || (please add) ||
 * aleichem sholem || To you be peace, which is the inverted Hebrew response to the customary salutation: Sholem Aleichem, "peace be to you." ||  ||
 * A sheynem dank || thank you very much || (please add definition) ||
 * assimilate || taking on the customs and views of another culture or country || (please add definition) ||
 * bagel || a doughnut - shaped hard roll, whose dough is first boiled, then baked. || (please add definition) ||
 * bisl || Yiddish for "a little bit" || (please add definition) ||
 * blintz || a thin crepe filled with cheese or fruit filling and often served with sour cream and strawberries ||  ||
 * bopkes/bupkes || Yiddish for "beans" or something of little or no value ||  ||
 * borsht || a beet or cabbage soup from eastern Europe served cold with sour cream ||  ||
 * BCE || Before Common Era; used in place of BC (Before Christ) and actually begins four years before his birth.(Ruth will check the date) || (please add) ||
 * Bible || called the Tanach in Hebrew and is actually 39 books written over 1,000 years. It includes the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses), the Nevi'm (Prophets) and the Ketuvim (Writings). It contains 613 laws, commandments and ordinances. (See also Pentateuch and Torah) || (please add) ||
 * B'nai Mitzvah || B'nai means sons and daughters and Mitzvah means either commandment or a good deed; the name given to the Peretz Centre's coming of age program || (please add) ||
 * bris/brit milah || the ceremony 7 days after the birth of a boy at which a circumcision is performed. For some secular families, this ceremony has been replaced by a baby naming ceremony for girls and boys. || (please add) ||
 * CE || Common Era, used in place of AD (Anna Domino - in the year of the Lord) || (please add) ||
 * cantor || (in Hebrew khazan) the person who leads the congregation in the songs and hymns of a synagogue service || The khazan is sometimes also called the //shaliach tzibur//, meaning "public emmisary", highlighting his/her role as the one voicing the prayers. ||
 * chai || the Hebrew word for "life" || The numerical value of the letters forming the word Chai is 18 so that many Jews when they give gifts, they give them in multiples of 18 ||
 * challah || braided egg bread eaten at Shabbes or on special days ||  ||
 * Chanukah || "The Festival of Lights" or "The Feast of Dedication" is celebrated for eight days (usually in December) with candle lighting, dreydl playing and the eating of latkes and doughnuts. It commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek Syrian king Antiochus in 165 BCE. ||  ||
 * cheder/kheder || old-style orthodox elementary Hebrew school ||  ||
 * Chelm || the setting for folk tales about a town in Poland whose wise men are actually fools. ||  ||
 * chuppah/khuppah || a marriage canopy under which the bride and groom stand during the wedding ceremony. It represents the house ||  ||
 * chutzpah || Yiddish for nerve or gall (chutzpadik - brazen) . The man who kills his parents and then begs for mercy because he's an orphan is the classic example of chutzpah. ||  ||
 * czar/tsar || the title given to the former emperors of Russia. || (please add definition) ||
 * diaspora || term given to the Jewish communities in the world outside of Israel. Now often applied to other groups who are living outside of their ancestral lands ||  ||
 * dreydel || from the German drehen, "to turn." Small tops with four sides, spun with fingers and used to gamble. Dreydel is traditionally played during Chanukah. Each side has a Hebrew letter and together they stand for Nes Gadol Hayo Shorn which means "A great miracle happened there." need secular equivalent || (please add) ||
 * exodus || mass departure from a country because of intolerable conditions. Moses was said to have led an exodus out of Egypt but there have been many exoduses in Jewish history (from Spain in 1492 during the Inquisition and eastern Europe in response to discrimination and pogroms). Many other cultures have also undergone exoduses. || (please add) ||
 * ethics || the study of right and wrong; philosophy that deals with moral conduct, duty and judgement || (please add definition) ||
 * fascist || a person who supports a system of government that demands absolute obedience to a dictator, the ruthless suppression of all opposition and the glorification of war, national chauvinism or racism. || (please add definition) ||
 * farklernpt || Yiddish for choked up with emotion ||  ||
 * freylekh || Yiddish for "cheerful," "happy", also the name for one of the traditional Eastern European Jewish dances ||  ||
 * gefilte fish || a combination of fish, roiled into balls, boiled and placed in a brine. Traditional food at Shabbos and holiday meals ||  ||
 * Gemara || Aramaic for "learning," and what people commonly refer to when they say Talmud, although they are only half right. It is commentary on and discussion of the Mishnah, the compilation of Jewish law that constitutes the first part of the Talrnud.The Babylonian Gemara was completed in 500 CE and is about three times the size of the Jerusalem Gemara. It is assumed part of the Jerusalem Gemara was lost. See Talmud || (please add) ||
 * gentile || a non-Jewish person || (please add) ||
 * ghetto || originally a walled section of a city in which all Jews were compelled to live. The first ghetto was opened in Venice in 1516. || (please add) ||
 * goy |||| (please add) ||
 * genocide || systematic extermination of a national, cultural, religious or racial group || (please add definition) ||
 * gey gezunterheyt || go in good health || (please add definition) ||
 * gut morgn || good morning gut Shabbes - happy Sabbath gut yontif - happy holidays || (please add definition) ||
 * Habiru || a social class of people, described in ancient Egyptian documents as runaway slaves, day labourers and bandits. Possibly the precursors of the Hebrews.They worked on Egyptian building projects and led a rebellion in Canaan in the 14th Century BCE. || (please add definition) ||
 * haggadah || the book read at the Pesach seder celebrating the exodus from Egypt. It includes explanations of Pesach customs, rituals connected with special foods, songs and prayers. It include~ the four questions (fir kashes) asked traditionally by the youngest child. Secular Jews have revised the haggadah to focus on the theme of liberation and the heroism and courage of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. || (please add) ||
 * hamantashen || a three sided Purim pastry filled with prunes, poppy seeds or jam. Named after Haman, the villain of the Purim story(Megillah), and shaped like the hat he supposedly wore. ||  ||
 * Haskala || the period of European Jewish "enlightenment" from about 1750 to 1880, that began in Prussia with Moses Mendelsohn and spread throughout Europe. It introduced Jews to modern ways of thought and a more rational and scientific approach to understanding life. ||  ||
 * heymish || Yiddish for "home - like", "welcoming", "warm" ||  ||
 * Hillel || a prominent rabbinic scholar, teacher and communal leader who died in 10 CE. He was known for his teachings about ethics, including the "golden rule." Jesus appears to have been heavily influenced by his teachings. ||  ||
 * Hasmonean || the name of the family that led the revolt against the Greeks in 165 BCE, including Judah the Maccabee, his brothers and his father Mattathias. || (please add) ||
 * hellenize || to make Greek (and generally more secular) in terms of culture, language, ideals and customs; the process underway during the time of the Maccabees and to which apikorsim (freethinking Jews) were drawn || (please add) ||
 * Holocaust || A western term meaning "fully burned." It usually refers to the destruction of European Jews during World War II. The parallel Hebrew term, Sho'ah, means "annihilation." In Yiddish, the term khurbn meaning "destruction" is used. One third of the world's Jews (six million) were killed in World War II; 70% of the Jews in Europe.There have been other holocausts in the history of humankind. || (please add) ||
 * humanism || a philosophy that emphasizes human cooperation and effort as the key to bringing about changes in the world, rather than reliance on supernatural forces. || (please add) ||
 * jewish || relating to the culture of Jews and can refer to food, music, art, humour, literature, dance, ethics and history || (please add) ||
 * jew || traditionally a person who has Jewish parents or converts to Judaism. Secular Jews believe that anyone who identifies with Jewish culture, history or experience can call him or herself a Jew. || (please add) ||
 * kaddish || literally meaning "sanctification" - the mourner's prayer and a prayer which marks the conclusion of a unit in the synagogue service || (please add) ||
 * kibitz || Yiddish for joke around, to chat, to kid, bullshitting - I don't want to interrupt you. Oh we're just kibbitzing. || (please add) ||
 * Kibbutz(im) || Communities in Israel founded on principles of egalitarianism and pure communism || (please add definition) ||
 * kosher || the Hebrew term meaning "fit for consumption" referring to food that is fit to eat or permitted according to Jewish religious law. The opposite of treyf ||  ||
 * keyn n'hore || said when things are good and you don't want to tempt the evil eye || (please add definition) ||
 * Kristallnakht || Literally, the "Night of Broken Glass" that took place Nov. 9 to IC, 1938, when Nazis and their supporters went on a rampage breaking the windows of Jewish shops, burning synagogues and killing dozens of Jews. Thousands more were imprisoned. || (please add definition) ||
 * kugel || a casserole made with noodles or potatoes || (please add definition) ||
 * kvel || Yiddish for beam with joy, burst with pride || (please add definition) ||
 * kvetch || a Yiddish term for "complain" || (please add definition) ||
 * Ladino || the language developed by Sephardic Jews after their expulsion from Spain and Portugal in 1942. It includes Turkish, Italian, Greek, Arabic and Slavonic words and expressions. || (please add definition) ||
 * Lag B'Omer || a spring festival when Jewish children are released from their studies and taken into the fields and woods to have a picnic and a bonfire || (please add definition) ||
 * landsman || a Jew from the same hometown in Europe || (please add definition) ||
 * latkes || potato pancakes, fried in oil and usually served at Chanukah || (please add definition) ||
 * l'chaim || means 'to life" and is said when making a toast with juice or wine || (please add definition) ||
 * lox || smoked salmon || (please add definition) ||
 * luakh || the Jewish calendar based on lunar rather than solar cycles and finally fixed in 358 CE. It features 12 months and an additional leap month every three years. || (please add definition) ||
 * luftmentsh || literally "air person," and referring to someone who has no trade or income and is forced to live by petty trade, speculation and improvisation, drawing his or her income from the air, as it were || (please add definition) ||
 * Maccabee || (Hebrew for hammer) the name given to the members of the Hasmonean [Mattathias's] family and credited with being the heroes in the Chanukah story || (please add definition) ||
 * Magen David || The "Shield of David" often called the "Star of David," a six-pointed star used as a symbol of Jewishness since the 17th century. || (please add definition) ||
 * Marrano || (Spanish for "pig") the Christian name for Jews in Spain and Portugal beginning in the late 14th century who converted tc Christianity but continued to practice Judaism in secret. Converso is a less pejorative term. || (please add definition) ||
 * matzah || unleavened cracker - like bread eaten at Pesach. According to legend, matzo commemorates the Israelites' exodus from Egypt when they were too hurried to let their bread rise. || (please add definition) ||
 * mazel tov || means "good luck" in Yiddish and is often used in place of "Congratulations!" || (please add definition) ||
 * menorah || a nine-branched candelabra used at Chanukah.The seven-branched lamp is an ancient symbol for Judaism. || (please add definition) ||
 * mentsh || the Yiddish term for person,complimentary; implies caring, responsible, honorable and ethical behavior. || (please add definition) ||
 * mezuzah || means "door post," It is a small case containing a parchment on which there is an inscription from Deuteronomy, traditionally affixed to the right hand door post of one's home and serves as a talisman against evil || (please add definition) ||
 * Midrash || means "to study" and is the interpretation of the || (please add definition) ||
 * minyan || the number of people required for public prayer, traditionally 10 men who have had their bar mitzvah || (please add definition) ||
 * Mishna || the Hebrew term for "teaching." It is a compilation of oral laws, edited by Judah ha-Nasi in the early 3rd Century CE, and which forms the text of the Talmud. || (please add definition) ||
 * mitzvah || Yiddish for a "good deed" || (please add definition) ||
 * meshuge || Yiddish for "crazy" || (please add definition) ||
 * meshugeneh || Yiddish for a crazy person || (please add definition) ||
 * mishegas || Yiddish for "craziness" || (please add definition) ||
 * mohel || the religious functionary who performs ritual circumcisions (bris or brit) || (please add definition) ||
 * Moses || In the Torah, the Jewish leader who was said to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and to freedom.According to tradition, he received the IC commandments from god and led the Hebrews during their wanderings in the desert for 40 years. He died just before their invasion and conquest of Canaan, i.e. the Promised Land. || (please add definition) ||
 * Moses Mendelssohn || A German Jew who lived from 1729 to 1786. He is considered the founder of the Haskala (the Enlightenment Movement) and grandfather of composer Felix Mendelssohn, who converted to Christianity || (please add definition) ||
 * nakhes || Yiddish for pride in a relative || (please add definition) ||
 * Nazi || a political abbreviation for the fascist National Socialist German Workers Party of Germany, led by Adolph Hitler || (please add definition) ||
 * nebikh || Yiddish exclamation of pity || (please add definition) ||
 * nu || Yiddish question equivalent to "well?" or "so what?" || (please add definition) ||
 * oy vay || Yiddish exclamation to denote pain or astonishment || (please add definition) ||
 * partisans || irregular forces that use guerilla tactics while operating in enemy occupied territory. During WWII, many Jews joined the partisans operating in the Soviet Union to fight the Nazis. || (please add definition) ||
 * Passover || the English equivalent of Pesach || (please add definition) ||
 * Pentateuch || is the Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). It contains the mitzvot or commandments and was completed in 444 BCE. || (please add definition) ||
 * Pesach/Pesakh || also called the Festival of Freedom - it celebrates the exodus of Jews from Egyptian slavery and, for secular Jews, honours the memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, including those in the Jewish resistance. || (please add definition) ||
 * Pharisees || the scholar class that took power from the Sadducees ~- after the destruction of the Second Temple in 72 CE || (please add definition) ||
 * phylacteries || the English equivalent of "tfillin" || (please add definition) ||
 * pogrom || a Russian term used to designate a violent, government-approved, unprovoked attack on a Jewish community || (please add definition) ||
 * Purim || the early spring holiday celebrating the legendary success of ancient Jews in Persia in overcoming an attempt by antiSemites to annihilate them. Considered to be a time for great revelry. || (please add definition) ||
 * rabbi || teacher and oftentimes the spiritual leader of a group of Jews || (please add definition) ||
 * rabbinic sages attempted to illuminate the inner meanings of the |||| (please add definition) ||
 * Rosh Hashanah || literally "head of the year-the Jewish New Year (usually in September), celebrated by eating apples and honey. It marks the beginning of a 10-day period of soul-searching and repentance that culminates in Yom Kippur. || (please add definition) ||
 * righteous gentiles || non-Jewish people who helped rescue Jews during World War II || (please add definition) ||
 * Sadducees || priestly and aristocratic class in charge of the Second Temple.They resisted innovations proposed by the Pharisees, insisting on a strict interpretation of the Torah. || (please add definition) ||
 * scapegoat || a person or thing made to bear the blame for the mistakes and sins of others; in the Torah, a goat on which the sins of the people were laid on Yom Kippur.The goat was then driven into the wilderness. || (please add definition) ||
 * secular || world-view based on experience and critical thinking ||  |||| secular || from Latin meaning "of this world" and a philosophy that developed as an alternative to the sacred interpretation of life. Those who subscribe to secularism are not antireligious; they simply place their focus on human endeavour. See humanism. || (please add definition) ||
 * seder || means "order - the traditional ceremony observed on Pesach that includes reference to the exodus story and explaining a number of symbols that recall ancient customs associated with the First Temple and reflect the themes of the festival || (please add definition) ||
 * Semitic || people who speak Hebrew,Arabic,Aramaic, Phoenician and Assyrian; but most commonly used when referring to the ideas and influences of the Jews || (please add definition) ||
 * Sephardim || Jews whose ancestors come from Spain and Portugal, most of whom were expelled in the I490s.They spoke Ladino,a Jewish language flavoured with Turkish, Arabic and Greek. || (please add definition) ||
 * Shabbes/Shabbat || the Sabbath, a day of rest and Jewish study that begins Friday night at sundown and ends Saturday at sundown. || (please add definition) ||
 * Shevuos/Shavuot || means "weeks" and falls 7 weeks after Pesach. Religious Jews celebrate Moses receiving the Torah. Shevuos also includes reading from the Book of Ruth, one of the most humanist stories in the Bible. It points out that a sincere attachment to the Jewish people is sufficient to become Jewish. Blintzes and dairy products are traditionally eaten at this time. || (please add definition) ||
 * shlemiel || Yiddish for a clumsy, inept person || (please add definition) ||
 * shlimazel || Yiddish for "bad luck" but also refers to a person who suffers more than his or her share of bad luck || (please add definition) ||
 * shmooz || Yiddish for "chat" || (please add definition) ||
 * shnorer || a beggar who shows wit, chutzpah and resourcefulness in getting money from others as though it was his right || (please add definition) ||
 * shofar || the horn of an animal, usually a ram, made into an instrument and blown to announce the approaching new year and special events || (please add definition) ||
 * shoykhet || a person qualified to slaughter cattle and fowl for those who observe the Jewish kosher dietary laws || (please add definition) ||
 * shtetl || the name given to Jewish towns in eastern Europe and Russia in the I 800s to early 1900s || (please add definition) ||
 * shtiter hunt || quiet dog (equivalent of the quiet coyote hand signal) || (please add definition) ||
 * shule || Yiddish for "school." Folkshule is the full name given to manyYiddish cultural schools started by secular Jews. || (please add definition) ||
 * shul || Yiddish for "synagogue" || (please add definition) ||
 * Simkhas(t) Torah || means "rejoicing over the Torah" - a holiday held on the last day of Sukkos celebrating the annual completion of the reading of the Torah in synagogue || (please add definition) ||
 * Sukkah || a booth, made of branches at Sukkos and decorated with branches and fruit where Jews eat during Sukkos || (please add definition) ||
 * Sukkes/Sukkot || Feast of the lngathering. A harvest festival in the fall celebrating the work of farmers in the fields. Ceremonies include the waving of willow branches (the lulav) and smelling the aroma of a citrus fruit (the esrog). Religious Jews say the holiday symbolically recalls the 40 years of wandering in the desert with Moses. || (please add definition) ||
 * tallis/tallit || prayer shawl with fringes (tzitzes/tzitziyot) on the four corners || (please add definition) ||
 * Talmud || means "teaching." It is the foundational text of rabbinic Judaism, consisting of the Mishna and the Gemara.A vast collection of Jewish law and legend covering religion, philosophy, hygiene, ethics, civil law and secular matters, it provided the basis for Jewish customs and traditions in the Diaspora. Its legal discussions and rulings are known as halakha.The remainder, mostly folklore, is known as Agada. It was compiled over three centuries. There are two Talmuds, the Babylonian and the Jerusalem, but only the former is considered authoritative. || (please add definition) ||
 * Tanakh || The Hebrew word for bible,completed in Babylonia in 1040 CE it is actually 24 books written over 1,000 years. It includes the Pentateuch (Five Books of Moses), the Nevi'm (Prophets) and the Ketuvim ('Writings). It contains 613 laws, commandments and ordinances. Portions that are read weekly in synagogues. (See also Midrash, Pentateuch and Torah) || (please add definition) ||
 * t'fillin || square leather boxes containing scriptural passages worn by a man over the age of 13 on the arm and head during mornin~ prayers || (please add definition) ||
 * The response is ateichem sholem |||| (please add definition) ||
 * The response is nishto farvos (it's nothing) geshmak || tasty; something done with good taste || (please add definition) ||
 * The response is vos zot zikh hem (what ever is new) |||| (please add definition) ||
 * tikkun olam || a Hebrew term for "repairing the world" or, in Yiddish, the creation of a besereh un shaynereh velt (a better and more beautiful world). It refers to every Jew's obligation to do his or her part to make the world better. || (please add definition) ||
 * Torah || means "law" and refers to the five books of Moses also called the Pentateuch and, in a wider sense, to all sacred Jewish lit. erature.While secular Jews do not see the Torah as being written by god, we do recognize that for ages it served as a "portable homeland" of the Jewish people. Its laws and its stories created a strong sense of identity that enabled us to survive in hostile environ ments. || (please add definition) ||
 * treyf || food forbidden by Jewish dietary laws or not prepared according to their regulations, and opposite of kosher || (please add definition) ||
 * tsures || Yiddish for "worries?' Bigger troubles are called gehatke tsures. || (please add definition) ||
 * Tu B'Shvat || the festival of trees (usually in late January or February) celebrating the arrival of spring in Israel. In recent years, it has become a Jewish "Earth Day." || (please add definition) ||
 * tzedakah || beyond charity, it is the moral obligation of all Jews to take care of people who are poor or needy and to respect their dignity while doing so || (please add definition) ||
 * vos herts zikh? || what's new? || (please add definition) ||
 * vos makhstu? || how are you? || (please add definition) ||
 * Warsaw Ghetto || The Nazis created the ghetto in October 1940, forcing 500,000 Jews from Poland and surrounding areas to live there. Up to 6,000 people a month died from starvation, disease, cold or shootings. Hundreds of thousands were transported to death camps. On April 4, 1943, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began.The fighters held out for 42 days.The revolt ended on May 16. Five thousands Jews were killed. Secular Jews consider the anniversary of the uprising as one of their most important holidays. || (please add definition) ||
 * Yahveh || the name of the Jewish god || (please add definition) ||
 * Yom Kippur || the Day of Atonement, following Rosh Hashanah. This is the most solemn day of the year for religious Jews.They pray and fast all day, confess their sins to god and ask for forgiveness. Secular Jews view it as a day for mutual forgiveness and a rededication to tikkun atom. || (please add definition) ||
 * yarmulke/lkipah || the cap worn by religious Jewish men || (please add definition) ||
 * yasher koyakh || (may your strength increase) job well done zaftik - juicy || (please add definition) ||
 * yeshiva || a school for training young students in traditional Jewish customs and an academy for training older students to become rabbis || (please add definition) ||
 * Yiddish || a Jewish language that developed in western Europe in the Middle Ages and flourished in central and eastern Europe. Jews who were pushed eastward from Germany wove many Hebrew and some Slavic terms into the Germanic base of the language.Yiddish was also spoken in places to which they migrated. || (please add definition) ||
 * Yiddishkayt || refers to the language of Yiddish but also a sense of secular, cultural identity that incorporates the literature, the arts and a strong ethical component that reflects concern for the common people and a passion for social justice. || (please add definition) ||
 * zay gezunt || be well, good bye; what you say after someone sneezes || (please add definition) ||
 * Zionism |||| political movement, initiated in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe, and given voice by Theodore Herzl in the late 19th century.The goal was to re-establish a Jewish state in the land of Israel (or "Zion"-one of its biblical names). Now, it often refers to support of the State of Israel. ||
 * Zionism |||| political movement, initiated in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe, and given voice by Theodore Herzl in the late 19th century.The goal was to re-establish a Jewish state in the land of Israel (or "Zion"-one of its biblical names). Now, it often refers to support of the State of Israel. ||