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The Chosen
English Literature
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Yiddish | A language spoken by Jews since the Middle Ages .Its components are Hebrew, German, and Slavic. |
Assimilationist | One who adopts the practice of a prevailing culture. |
fanatic | Rigorous beleiever |
Talmud | In Hebrew, the word for "teachings". Applied to the collection of academic discussions and judicial administration of Jewish law written by generations of scholars over hundreds of years. |
Apikorsim | An unbeliever or skeptic. One who does not adhere to Jewish religious belief or practice. |
Rabbi | Religious leader and the head of a congregation |
Cossacks | Polish soldiers, who under the leadership of Chmielnicki, annihilated hundreds of Jewish communities in 1648, killing hundreds if thousands of people |
Tallit | Hebrew prayer shawl worn by adult males |
Tefflin | two small black boxes fastened to leather straps, containing parts of the Torah and worn during the morning prayer. |
Shofar | Ram's horn blown at various religious services |
The Kaballah | Book of Jewish Mystics |
tzaddik | According to Hasisism, a pious leader who is the intermediary between God and ma, the "soul of the World" |
Torah | The written law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, including the Talmud and related commentaries |
Gematriya | A method of interpreting a biblical word based on the numerical value of its letters in the Hebrew alphabet |
Misnaged | Opponents if the Hasidism movement who criticize belief in the tzaddik |
Teresienstadt | The name of a German concentration camp |
Goyim | The Hebrew word for non-Jews |
Zionism | The movement to secure the return of the Jewish people to Palestine |
Bar Mitzvah | The ceremony marking the initiation of a 13 year old boy into adulthood and the Jewish religious community |