Jewish Culture
These Yiddish Jewish culture words have Shmelke's audio to for most of the words. You may have heard some of them, and were pretty sure you knew basically what they meant - but here's the full story.
ברכה: A blessing, in prayer, or recited before eating or performing many mitzvahs. Many Jewish prayers begin with the words, "Barukh ata Adonoy," "Blessed art thou, O Lord."
בלינץ : A cross between a crepe and a knish, very tasty…. You can fill it with anything from cheese to beef (But not together, that's treyf!)
דאַװען: Prayer. Comes from the Aramaic word D’avon meaning "of the fathers." According to the Talmud the three daily prayers were established by the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
דרײדל: Literally meaning spinner, the top like toy that is spun …..and if you know how to spin it well you might even get some Hanukah gelt.
פֿאַרפֿעל: Crumbled up, broken matzoh bits put in soup or mixed with egg to make a sort of matzo omelet called a matzo bray. Topped with some sugar, maybe a bisl frukht (a little fruit), not too bad.
פֿרום: Religious, observant.
גן עדן: Garden of Eden.
געהאַקטע לעבער: Chopped liver, both literally and in the sense of someone or something unworthy; beneath consideration. "She shook hands with everyone in the room except for me. What am I, gehockte leber?" "She spent the whole night bragging about her jewelry. And what does she think I'm wearing? Gehockte leber?" "What a bar mitzvah! They spared no expense! There was even a sculpture of their son made from gehockte leber!"
Gehennom גהינום From the Hebrew, Valley of Hinom. Hell. Well, really purgatory - the maximum sentence is 12 months. But it's really bad!
גט: A Jewish divorce, separate from a civil divorce, which must be granted to the wife by the husband. Jewish women who have not been given a get, cannot be remarried in the Jewish faith, even if according to civil law they are divorced. Many a man has held this over a woman's head on spite or as a negotiating tool in civil court for custody or alimony. Dat's why you gotta getta get.
Goy גוי A gentile. From the Hebrew word "nation." As in, the other nations. A goy tzedek is a righteous gentile.
גולם:A Jewish folk character -- an animate creature created out of inanimate material (the way God created Adam,) who acts as a rescuer or savior. Such creatures can only be created by the most holy and learned men, because the power to do so is God-like. There are many such stories in Jewish literature, the most famous of which is probably the Golem of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel who supposedly created his Golem to save the Jews of the Prague Ghetto from anti-Semitic attack. It is said that the original Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, was based on tales of golem.
קדיש: Prayer for the dead, which close relatives of the deceased are obligated to say for a year after their loved one's death. Parents might also say Kaddish for a child who has done something so terrible that, to the family, he or she is "dead." In the movie, The Jazz Singer, the father recites Kaddish for his son when he gives up his career as a cantor (one who sings the prayers in the synagogue) to pursue ragtime music. (Halevay that was the problems we're having with kids today.)
חתונה: Wedding
כפּרה: Atonement, sacrifice. Oy your new Armani got dirt? It should be a kapore.
קאַשאַָ: Buckwheat groats. Sort of poor man's tabouli. Usually cooked with fried onions and bowtie pasta ("varnishkes"). Back in Russia, groats were typically served to horses, and Jews were looked down upon for eating what the Russians considered animal feed (as if they needed another reason to justify their anti-Semitism!) What did they know! Kasho varnishkes is delicious!!! With some frizzled onions? Oy! Geshmak !"
חלה: A delicious bread made with lots of eggs, usually braided, and served at Sabbath dinner or other holidays meals (except Passover where no bread is allowed). Makes the absolute BEST French toast. OK, my eyes are rolling back in my head just thinking about it!! Mmmmm!
(Chanukah) חנוכה: Hanukah, the festival of lights. Everyone’s favorite holiday, eight fun filled night of presents and good times.
חנוכה געלט: Hankah money traditionally given to the children in honor of their role in the Hanukah story, (ask your rabbi about that). It’s also given in chocolate form… yum!
חמץ: Anything not kosher for Passover; i.e. bread, anything with leavening, anything that can be made into flour. Some people/sects also forbid rice and corn products as well. The list goes on... (and on...) (and on...) Technically, a Jewish home should be searched for and cleaned of all chumitz before the holiday begins. For more in this, go here.
Kishko (Kishka)
קישקאָ: Guts, intestines. I felt that insult in my kishkas.
קנײדל: Matzo ball, matzo meal dumpling, usually served in chicken soup.
קניש: A delicious pastry consisting of any one of a number of fillings, often mashed potato or kasha, wrapped in a thin dough, and baked. If you're ever in Brooklyn, check out Shmelke's Knishes... I don't own it, though.
קרעפּלאַך : Jewish dumplings filled with chopped meat, onions and a bisel shmalts (a little chicken fat) served in chicken soup.
לאָקשן: Egg noodles. "I heard you were sick, so I made you a little chicken soup with some nice lukshn." A lukshn strap is a whip.
מאַכאַטאַניסטע: Any female relative related by marriage, but usually used to mean your son or daughter's mother-in-law; your grandchildren's OTHER grandmother. Yiddish is one of the few languages with a word for this relationship. "My makhatayne is such a balebosta!" There's a song from the 90's - Hey Machitayne, and a little dance, you know.
משגיח : The person who makes sure everything is Kosher in restaurants, factories, slaughter houses, hotels, catering halls, etc. Literally, supervisor.
Matso (Matzah
) מצה: Passover "bread" -- aka "The Bread of Affliction" (according to the Passover story). Comes in square machine made and round hand-made variety. Which is better is room for much Rabbinic dispute... but the round definitely tastes better in my opinion.
Menoyre (Menorah)
מנורה: the candelabrum that is lit on Hanukah.
Mitsva (Mitzvah)
מצוה: A good deed. Giving to charity is a mitzva. Caring for someone who's sick is a mitzva. Literally: Commandment. God commands us to study Torah, pray, and do good deeds. In Aramaic the word is connected to the word "connection," because by doing God's will we connect ourselves to Him in the most intimate way.
מוציא: The daily prayer over bread (or any other food that is considered "fruit of the earth" vs. food that is "fruit of the vine" or "fruit of the tree," each of which have their own prayer. ) Derives from a word within the prayer, "hamotsi," which means "The One who brings forth." (The full prayer is: "Barukh ata adonoy, elohaynu melakh ha'olum, hamotsi lekhem min ha'arets" = "Blessed art though, Our Lord, Our God, King of the Universe who brings forth bread from the earth.") See also: brokho
פּרוה: Containing neither milk nor meat, and thus able to be eaten with either. For example, bread, fruit, vegetables. You could also feel "parve" towards something. Or you know it's kind of vanilla, parve.
(Pesach) פּסח: Passover. No leavened anything. Clean up the whole house to get rid of the "chamets," leavened stuff.
פּושקאַ: A charity box. Many Jews keep a pushke in their home, adding loose change each day. When it's full, the money is given to charity.
רבי: Either one’s personal Rabbinic teacher, or a Hassidic master.
: The rabbi's wife. In many religious circles this refers to any Jew's wife.
Rosh HaShannah ראש השנה The Jewish New Year, the anniversary of the creation of Adam. A two day event, with really long prayers, because it's also the day when we are judged for the rest of the year.
Shavuos שבועות:
Sukkos סוכות: The Festival of Booths. A hut with thatch, we sit in it for seven days. Meals are eaten there, and we sleep there if the climate allows.
: (Shabbos) Shabes
שבת: Sabbath. Friday night sundown to Saturday night sundown. (Observance of Jewish holidays begin at sundown the night before the first actual day, thus you would light the first Hanukkah candle the night before the first day of Hanukkah.) Traditionally, on Friday night, the lady of the house lights the Shabbos candles and says the blessing, before the whole family sits down for a nice dinner over which she's been slaving all day.
Treyf טרײף:
Unkosher food, either because it is not kosher by its very nature (i.e. pork or shrimp) or because it mixes meat and dairy together. Although a hamburger might be made of kosher meat and a milkshake might be made under the strictest rabbinical supervision, eaten together, they would be treyf.
: Literally "year time." The anniversary of a death, calculated by the Jewish calendar, at which time close relatives (children, siblings, children) light a 24 hr yortsayt candle and recite Kadish.