KOL NIDRE (Heb.). The first prayer recited at the synagogue on the Eve
of the Day of Atonement.
KOSHER (Heb.). Ritually clean or permitted.
KOSHER-TANZ (Heb. and Ger.). Bride's dance.
KOeST (Ger.). Board.--AUF KOeST. Free board and lodging given to a man and
his wife by the latter's parents during the early years of his married
life.
"LEARN." Studying the Talmud, the codes, and the commentaries.
LE-CHAYYIM (Heb.). Here's to long life!
LEHAVDIL (Heb.). "To distinguish." Elliptical for "to distinguish
between the holy and the secular"; equivalent to "excuse the
comparison"; "pardon me for mentioning the two things in the same
breath," etc.
LIKKUTE ZEVI (Heb.). A collection of prayers.
LOKSHEN. Macaroni.--TORAS-LOKSHEN, macaroni made in approved style.
MAARIV (Heb.). The Evening Prayer, or service.
MAGGID (Heb.). Preacher.
MAHARSHO (MAHARSHO). Hebrew initial letters of Morenu ha-Rab Shemuel
Edels, a great commentator.
MALKES (Heb.). Stripes inflicted on the Eve of the Day of Atonement, in
expiation of sins. _See_ Deut. xxv. 2, 3.
MASKIL (pl. Maskilim) (Heb.). An "intellectual." The aim of the
"intellectuals" was the spread of modern general education among the
Jews, especially in Eastern Europe. They were reproached with
secularizing Hebrew and disregarding the ceremonial law.
MATZES (Heb.). The unleavened bread used during Passover.
MECHUTENESTE (Heb.). Mother-in-law; prospective mother-in-law; expresses
chiefly the reciprocal relation between the parents of a couple about to
be married.
MECHUTTON (Heb.). Father-in-law; prospective father-in-law; expresses
chiefly the reciprocal relation between the parents of a couple about to
be married.
MEHEREH (Heb.). The "quick" dough for the Matzes.
MELAMMED (Heb.). Teacher.
MEZUZEH (Heb.). "Door-post;" Scripture verses attached to the door-posts
of Jewish houses. _See_ Deut. vi. 9.
MIDRASH (Heb.). Homiletic exposition of the Scriptures.
MINCHAH (Heb.). The Afternoon Prayer, or service.
MIN HA-MEZAR (Heb.). "Out of the depth," Ps. 118. 5.
MINYAN (Heb.). A company of ten men, the minimum for a public service;
specifically, a temporary congregation, gathered together, usually in a
village, from several neighboring Jewish settlements, for services on
New Year and the Day of Atonement.
MISHNAH (Heb.). The earliest code (ab. 200 C. E.) after the Pentateuch,
portions of which are studied, during the early days of mourning, in
honor of the dead.
MISNAGGID (pl. Misnagdim) (Heb.). "Opponents" of the Chassidim. The
Misnagdic communities are led by a Rabbi (pl. Rabbonim), sometimes
called Rav.
MITZVEH (Heb.). A commandment, a duty, the doing of which is
meritorious.
NASHERS (Ger.). Gourmets.
NISHKOSHE (Ger. and Heb.). Never mind!
NISSAN (Heb.). Spring month (March-April), in which Passover is
celebrated.
OLENU (Heb.). The concluding prayer in the synagogue service.
OLOM HA-SHEKER (Heb.). "The world of falsehood," this world.
OLOM HA-TOHU (Heb.). World of chaos.
OLOM HO-EMESS (Heb.). "The world of truth," the world-to-come.
PARNOSSEH (Heb.). Means of livelihood; business; sustenance.
PIYYUTIM (Heb.). Liturgical poems for festivals and Holy Days recited in
the synagogue.
PORUSH (Heb.). Recluse.
PRAYER OF THE HIGHWAY. Prayer on setting out on a journey.
PRAYER-SCARF. _See_ TALLIS.
PUD (Russ.). Forty pounds.
PURIM (Heb.). The Feast of Esther.
RASHI (RASHI). Hebrew initial letters of Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, a
great commentator; applied to a certain form of script and type.
RAV (Heb.). Rabbi.
REBBE. Sometimes used for Rabbi; sometimes equivalent to Mr.; sometimes
applied to the Tzaddik of the Chassidim; and sometimes used as the title
of a teacher of young children.
REBBETZIN. Wife of a Rabbi.
ROSH-YESHIVEH (Rosh ha-Yeshiveh) (Heb.). Headmaster of a Talmudic
Academy.
SCAPE-FOWLS (trl. of Kapporos). Roosters or hens used in a ceremony on
the Eve of the Day of Atonement.
SEDER (Heb.). Home service on the first two Passover evenings.
SELICHES (Heb.). Penitential prayers.
SEVENTEENTH OF TAMMUZ. Fast in commemoration of the first breach made in
the walls of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar.
SHALOM (Heb. in Sefardic pronunciation). Peace. _See_ SHOLOM ALECHEM.
SHAMASH (Heb.). Beadle.
SHECHINAH (Heb.). The Divine Presence.
SHEGETZ (Heb.). "Abomination;" a sinner; a rascal.
SHLIMM-MAZEL (Ger. and Heb.). Bad luck; luckless fellow.
SHMOOREH-MATZES (Heb.). Unleavened bread specially guarded and watched
from the harvesting of the wheat to the baking and storing.
SHOCHET (Heb.). Ritual slaughterer.
SHOFAR (Heb.). Ram's horn, sounded on New Year's Day and the Day of
Atonement. _See_ Lev. xxiii. 24.
SHOLOM (SHALOM) ALECHEM (Heb.). "Peace unto you"; greeting, salutation,
especially to one newly arrived after a journey.
SHOMER. Pseudonym of a Yiddish author, Nahum M. Schaikewitz.
SHOOL (Ger., Schul'). Synagogue.
SHULCHAN ARUCH (Heb.). The Jewish code.
SILENT PRAYER. _See_ EIGHTEEN BENEDICTIONS.
SOLEMN DAYS. The ten days from New Year to the Day of Atonement
inclusive.
SOUL-LIGHTS. Candles lighted in memory of the dead.
STUFFED MONKEYS. Pastry filled with chopped fruit and spices.
TALLIS (popular plural formation, Tallesim) (Heb.). The prayer-scarf.
TALLIS-KOTON (Heb.). _See_ FOUR-CORNERS.
TALMID-CHOCHEM (Heb.). Sage; scholar.
TALMUD TORAH (Heb.). Free communal school.
TANO (Heb.). A Rabbi cited in the Mishnah as an authority.
TARARAM. Noise; tumult; ado.
TATE, TATISHE (Ger. and Russ. dimin.). Father.
TEFILLIN-SAeCKLECH (Heb. and Ger.). Phylacteries bag.
TISHO-B'OV (Heb.). Ninth of Ab, day of mourning and fasting to
commemorate the destruction of Jerusalem; hence, colloquially, a sad
day.
TORAH (Heb.). The Jewish Law in general, and the Pentateuch in
particular.
TSISIN. Season.
TZADDIK (pl. Tzaddikim) (Heb.). "Righteous"; title of the Chassidic
leader.
U-MIPNE CHATOENU (Heb.). "And on account of our sins," the first two
words of a prayer for the restoration of the sacrificial service,
recited in the Additional Service of the Holy Days and the festivals.
U-NESANNEH-TOIKEF (Heb.). "And we ascribe majesty," the first two words
of a Piyyut recited on New Year and on the Day of Atonement.
VERFALLEN! (Ger.). Lost; done for.
VERSHOK (Russ.). Two inches and a quarter.
VIERER (Ger.). Four kopeks.
VIVAT. Toast.
YESHIVEH (Heb.). Talmud Academy.
YOHRZEIT (Ger.). Anniversary of a death.
YOM KIPPUR (Heb.). Day of Atonement.
YOM-TOV (Heb.). Festival.
ZHYDEK (Little Russ.). Jew.
P. 15. "It was seldom that parties went 'to law' ... before the
Rav."--The Rabbi with his Dayonim gave civil as well as religious
decisions.
P. 15. "Milky Sabbath."--All meals without meat. In connection with
fowl, ritual questions frequently arise.
P. 16. "Reuben's ox gores Simeon's cow."--Reuben and Simeon are
fictitious plaintiff and defendant in the Talmud; similar to John Doe
and Richard Roe.
P. 17. "He described a half-circle," etc.--_See under_ GEMOREH.
P. 57. "Not every one is worthy of both tables!"--Worthy of Torah and
riches.
P. 117. "They salted the meat."--The ritual ordinance requires that meat
should be salted down for an hour after it has soaked in water for half
an hour.
P. 150. "Puts off his shoes!"--To pray in stocking-feet is a sign of
mourning and a penance.
P. 190. "We have trespassed," etc.--The Confession of Sins.
P. 190. "The beadle deals them out thirty-nine blows," etc.--_see_
MALKES.
P. 197. "With the consent of the All-Present," etc.--The Introduction to
the solemn Kol Nidre prayer.
P. 220. "He began to wear the phylacteries and the prayer-scarf,"
etc.--They are worn first when a boy is Bar-Mitzveh (_which see_);
Ezrielk was married at the age of thirteen.
P. 220. "He could not even break the wine-glass," etc.--A marriage
custom.
P. 220. "Waving of the sacrificial fowls."--_See_ SCAPE-FOWLS.
P. 220. "The whole company of Chassidim broke some plates."--A betrothal
custom.
P. 227. "Had a double right to board with their parents
'forever.'"--_See_ Koest.
P. 271. "With the consent of the All-Present," etc.--_See note under_ p.
197.
P. 273. "Nothing was lacking for their journey from the living to the
dead."--_See note under_ p. 547.
P. 319. "Give me a teacher who can tell," etc.--Reference to the story
of the heathen who asked, first of Shammai, and then of Hillel, to be
taught the whole of the Jewish Law while standing on one leg.
P. 326. "And those who do not smoke on Sabbath, raised their eyes to the
sky."--To look for the appearance of three stars, which indicate
nightfall, and the end of the Sabbath.
P. 336. "Jeroboam the son of Nebat."--The Rabbinical type for one who
not only sins himself, but induces others to sin, too.
P. 401. "Thursday."--_See note under_ p. 516.
P. 403. "Monday," "Wednesday," "Tuesday."--_See note under_ p. 516.
P. 427. "Six months' 'board.'"--_See_ Koest.
P. 443. "I knew Hebrew grammar, and could write Hebrew, too."--_See_
MASKIL.
P. 445. "A Jeroboam son of Nebat."--_See note under_ p. 336.
P. 489. "In a snow-white robe."--The head of the house is clad in his
shroud at the Seder on the Passover.
P. 516. "She knew that on Wednesdays Yitzchokel ate his 'day'," etc.--At
the houses of well-to-do families meals were furnished to poor students,
each student having a specific day of the week with a given family
throughout the year.
P. 547. "Why had he brought ... a white shirt-like garment?"--The
worshippers in the synagogue on the Day of Atonement wear shrouds.
P. 552. "Am I ... I suppose I am to lie down?"--_See_ MALKES.
P. 574. "In a hundred and twenty years."--The age attained by Moses and
Aaron; a good old age. The expression is used when planning for a future
to come after the death of the person spoken to, to imply that there is
no desire to see his days curtailed for the sake of the plan.