107 Atoh … veshorkho … vekhamorkho—“But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: on it thou shalt not do any work, neither thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates.” Deuteronomy, 5:14. Taking advantage of the fact that the verse fails to mention one’s wife, Tevye parses veshorkho, “thy ox,” to mean “thy wife”—and since the verse makes no mention of horses either, he interprets vekhamorkho, “and thy ass,” to refer to his nag.
108 Al keyn ya’azoyv ish es oviv ve’es imoy—“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife.” Genesis, 2:24.
109 Lomoh rogshu—“Why do the heathen rage?” Psalms, 2:1.
110 The Book of Life — The divine register in which, according to both rabbinic tradition and popular Jewish belief, God annually inscribes the fate of every individual. The predestined year is said to run from one Yom Kippur to the next, the ten-day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur being set aside for entering the next year’s fates, which can still be changed for the better by penitence and good works. At the end of Yom Kippur God’s decision is stamped and sealed — yet the Book of Life is left open for last-minute changes until Hoshana Rabbah, the last day of Sukkoth, thus creating a grace period of several additional days in which one can still ward off a cruel destiny. It is only on Hoshana Rabbah that the Book is shut irrevocably for the year; hence the custom referred to by Tevye of staying up all night in prayer and study on Hoshana Rabbah eve.
111 Hoydu lashem ki toyv—“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.” Psalms, 136:1.
112 Tsa’ar gidul bonim—“The sorrows of child raising.” A rabbinic expression.
113 Ad kan hakofoh alef—“That’s the end of the first hakofoh.” A hakofoh is a circling of the synagogue with the Torah scrolls on the holiday of Simkhat Torah, the Rejoicing of the Law. Seven such rounds, accompanied by singing and dancing, take place. At the end of each the sexton announces, “That’s the end of the — hakofoh,” and the Torah scrolls change hands for the next round.
114 Eyl rakhum vekhanun—“And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth.” Exodus, 34:6.
115 Hamekhaseh am mey’Avrohom—“And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” Genesis, 18:17.
116 Rotsoh hakodoysh borukh hu lezakoys—“Rabbi Hananiah ben Akashya said, The Holy One Blessed Be He wished to bestow merit upon Israel and so He gave them many laws and commandments.” From The Ethics of the Fathers.
117 Midrash — See this page.
118 Gorky — Maxim Gorky (1868–1936), Russian writer and revolutionary supporter. Gorky, who burst spectacularly on the Russian literary scene in the 1890s with his stories about the Russian lower classes, was especially popular with young Jewish readers because of his outspoken opposition to anti-Semitism and his sympathy for the Jewish victims of Czarist persecution.
119 Yegia kapekho ki toykhal—“For thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands.” Psalms, 128:2.
120 Meyayin boso ule’on atoh hoyleykh—“Akavia ben Mehalelel said, Keep in mind three things and you will not fall into sin: know whence you come, and whither you go, and to Whom you will owe an accounting.” From The Ethics of the Fathers.
121 Ish kematnas yodoy—“Every man as he is able.” Deuteronomy, 16:17.
122 Hanoyseyn lasekhvi binoh—“Blessed art Thou, O Lord God, King of the Universe, Who giveth the rooster knowledge to tell the dawn from the night.” From the opening blessings of the daily morning prayer.
123 Shivoh dvorim bagoylem—“The fool has seven traits and so does the wise man: the wise man does not speak to his superior in knowledge without being spoken to, and does not interrupt his companion, and does not answer rashly, and replies to the point, and puts first things first and last things last, and says ‘I do not know’ when he does not know, and always admits to the truth; and the fool does just the opposite.” From The Ethics of the Fathers.
124 Holakh Moyshe-Mordekhai—“Off went Moyshe-Mordekhai”; a parodistic pseudo-verse.
125 Ma pishi uma khatosi—“And Jacob answered and said to Laban, what is my trespass? What is my sin?” Genesis, 31:36.
126 Mah onu umeh khayeynu—“What are we and what is our life?” From the morning prayer.
127 Kerakheym ov al bonim.
128 Al tiftakh peh lasoton—“Do not open your mouth to the Devil.” A rabbinic proverb meaning, Do not speak of what you do not wish to happen, lest the evil eye bring it to pass.
129 “And against the Children of Israel not a dog stuck out its tongue.” Exodus, 11:17.
130 The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away.
131 Loy omus ki ekhyeh—“I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” Psalms, 118:17.
132 Be’al korkhekho atoh khai.
133 Odom kiveheymoh nidmeh—“Man … that understandeth not is like the beasts that perish.” Psalms, 49:20.
134 Oylom keminhogoy noyheyg—“The world goes on its accustomed course.” A rabbinic saying.
135 Al tistakeyl bakankan—“Rabbi [Yehuda Hanasi] said, Look not at the storage jar but at what it stores.” From The Ethics of the Fathers.
136 Kerakheym ov al bonim.
137 The ashrey—The opening section of the afternoon prayer, which begins with the verse, Ashrey yoyshvey veysekho, oyd yehalelukho seloh, “Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house; they will still be praising Thee, Selah.” Psalms, 84:5.
138 The shimenesre
139 Ish lefo’aloy ve’odom le’avoydosoy—“Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labor.” Psalms, 104:23.
140 Ad kan oymrim beshabbes hagodol—“Thus far one says on the Great Sabbath.” On the Sabbath before Passover, “the Great Sabbath,” as it is called, it is customary to recite the opening section of the Haggadah. At the end of this section, therefore, many Haggadahs bear the notation “Thus far one says on the Great Sabbath,” in order to indicate where to stop.
141 Vayishkokheyhu—“And the chief butler did not remember Joseph. And he forgot him.” Genesis, 40:23.
142 Pogroms in Kishinev — See this page.
143 The new Constantution—Tevye is referring to the Constitution of 1905 (see this page), but mispronounces the Russian word. And Sholem Aleichem has made a mistake of his own here, too: since “Hodl” was published in 1904, “Chava” in 1905, and “Shprintze” in 1907, it is inaccurate for Tevye to say in “Shprintze” that the two of them have not met since the time before the 1903 Kishinev pogroms.