Acknowledgements
For their help with research I wish to thank the historian Ursulina Wyss and the helpful ladies in the ICZ Library. My wonderful daughter Tamar Lewinsky corrected the Hebrew and Yiddish expressions and wrote the glossary.
The translator wishes to thank Pro Helvetia and the Max Geilinger Foundation for their generous award in funding the translation, and the staff at Looren Translation House, as well as John Stevens, Nina-Anne Kaye and the Guggenheim family of Zurich for their help and hospitality.
Glossary
Most Yiddish expressions come from the Hebrew. The pronunciation varies according to the origins of the speaker.
adir hu
‘mighty is He’, start of a song from the Pesach Haggadah
aliya
‘ascent’. Immigration to Palestine/Israel
almemor
platform for reading from the Torah
amod no’ach!
at ease! (military language)
arba kanfes
‘four corners’; undershirt with tassels
Ashkenazi
refers to the rites, customs, texts and Hebrew pronunciation of western, central and eastern European Jews
badchen
a wedding entertainer
balebos
master of the house, owner
bar mitzvah
‘son of the commandment’; ceremony of maturity for boys reaching their 13th year
beheimes
livestock, cow
bekovedik
respectable
bentch
bless; say the mealtime prayer
bentch gomel
give thanks after a danger survived
berches m.
plaited Sabbath bread, usually covered with poppy-seed
bishge
serving girl, maid
B’nai B’rith
‘Sons of the Covenant’, name of an international Jewish charitable organisation
bocher pl. bochrim
Talmud student, pupil
boruch Hashem
God be praised
Bovo Basro
‘the last gate’; name of a Talmudic tractate
Bris, bris milah
circumcision
bronfen
spirits
bundel
stuffed cow’s stomach
Chai
life; in numerology: eighteen
chaluz pl. chaluzim
pioneer
Chanukah
eight-day festival commemorating the reconsecration of the Temple after the Maccabean revolt
Charoset
mixture of apples, nuts, wine and cinnamon. One of the symbolic meals eaten at Pesach
chassene
wedding
chaver pl. chaverim
colleague, friend, comrade
chazer-treyf
‘pig-treyf’, a strong way of describing things impure according to the dietary rules
cheder
‘room’, Jewish school in which only religious subjects are taught
chevra
society, association
chevra kadisha
a burial society
chochem
a wise man, an intelligent person (also ironic)
chochme pl. chochmes
wisdom, cleverness (also ironically)
Chol HaMoed
half-holidays between the first and last two days of Pesach and the feast of tabernacles, on which the prohibition on work is largely suspended
chossen m.
bridegroom
chumash
Pentateuch, the
chuppah
wedding baldaquin; wedding
droosh
sermon
Echod mi yodea
‘Who knows one’, the beginning of a counting song from the Pesach Haggadah (q.v.)
eretz
literally ‘country’; Palestine/Israel
Erev Shabbos
the eve of Shabbos
esrog pl. esrogim
citrus fruit used in the ritual of the feast of tabernacles
eyshes chayil
a ‘woman of valour’ ‘virtuous woman’; the beginning of a prayer spoken by the husband on Friday evening
gabbai
community chairman; secretary of a Hassidic rabbi
galekh
Catholic priest
Gan Eden
Garden of Eden, paradise
ganev
thief
gematria
numerology
Gemore
a term for the Talmud
get
letter of divorce, divorce
getzines-lecker
someone who sucks up to the wealthy
goy pl. goyim
non-Jew (adj.) non-Jewish
goyim naches
‘the pleasures of non-Jews’, unjewish things
Hachnossas Kallo
a charitable association to fund brides without dowries
haftarah, haftoroh
a Bible reading presented after the weekly selection on the Sabbath and feast days
Haggadah
collection of prayers and songs for seder (q.v.) evening
halevei!
if only!
Hallel
term applied to Psalms 113–118 in liturgical use
HaMotzi
the prayer for the breaking of the bread, spoken before meals
hanoe
delight, pleasure
Hashomer Hatza’ir
‘the youth guard’, a socialist-Zionist youth organisation
Hassid pl. Hassidim
‘pious’, devotee of Hassidism
Hatikva
‘Hope’, Zionist and later Israeli national anthem
Havdole
‘separation’; ceremony at the end of the Sabbath
heimish
home-like, friendly
Hershele Ostropoler
legendary prankster
hesped m.
funeral oration
holekrash
naming ceremony for girls, no longer practised