Midterm 1 Flashcards
Diaspora
scattering of Jews from their homeland of Israel, to other areas
Ashkenazi
Group of Jews in Eastern Europe
Yiddish
Language of mainly Ashkenazi Jews; mix of slavic language with hebrew, and mostly German
Hebrew
language of the ancient Jews, still used for reading of the Torah and for special occasions. Normally women do not learn this language in depth
Enlightenment/Haskalah
1855-1881; Alexander II possibility of secularization and Jews encouraged to move past restrictive traditions
Pale of Settlement
forced migration in Russia started by Catherine the Great late 1700’s; 6 million Jews by 1910; began the legacy of shtetls
Shtetls
small towns, Fiddler on the Roof, pale of settlement
Sabbatei Zevi
Fake messiah; mid 1600’s; devastating… precludes Hassidic movement
Maskilim
Haskalah
Chassidism
demphasis on scholarship, spiritual/mystical/universal forms of worship, rebbe, superstitious, besht
Baal Shem Tov
“Besht” a leader of the Chassidic movement; miracle worker, early 1700-1760’s
Sabbath
time of holiness; a hazan for shabbat, let the sabbath linger, restrictions, food, tchines,
T’khines
prayers for women
Cantor(Hazzan)
A Hazzan for shabbat, revered, virtuosic, each worker expresses the beauty in their own medium
Dybbuk
S. Ansky; arranged marriage of infants, boy dies and possesses body of the woman he loves
cheder
Jewish school for young boys to become scholars; raisins and almonds, Cahan describes two extremes, one that boys were malnourished and beaten and scared, and the other that the mother has the baby in a prayer shawl
Melamed
teacher in the cheder, good or bad
Torah
The Old testament to study
Talmud
Jewish interpretation of the torah
olom haboh
Jewish music Hassidic
Vilna
Larger city, problems for next generation Jews; “Oh Abraham”, “As I went walking”, “He comes to me”
Sholom Aleichem
Fiddler on the Roof, means “hello”, used Yiddish literature to expand the knowledge of the Jewish population
Catherine the Great
1700’s, began the Pale of Settlement; struggled with maintaining Russian traditions, yet also keeping up to speed with the enlightenment period
Alexander II
A time of renaissance for the Jews, increased education, unfortunately under the goal of assimilation, not preservation of the Jewish tradition
Alexander III
helped to blame the Jews for assassination, hardest period of persecution, many pogroms such as Odessa and Kishinev
Kishinev
a very bloody pogrom ~1903, initiated a strong emigration from Russia
Russo Japanese War
Russia tries to conquer the Japanese and there are many loses on both sides. Jews view this as punishment for pogroms such as Kishinev
Pogrom
massacre of Jews; primarily Odessa and Kishinev. Jews are always in balance of acceptance and this extreme
“Raisins and Almonds”
a story about giving the treats for studying Torah; told from an interesting perspective; a woman talking to her baby in the Second Temple period, discussing the great many things of the modern world that will come to pass. Possibly written supporting the Haskalah movement
Kaddish
name related to singing praises to God
Badkahn
Wedding singer, entertainment (Goldfaden was one once)
Kine Hore
superstition, essentially similar to “don’t Jink it!”
Havdalah
Saturday night ending of Shabbat, three stars, three candles, song about “Let the Sabbath Linger”
Misnagdim
a faction that appeared in resistance to the non-scholarly Chassidic movement
Rebe/Rebbe
Chassidic priests, accused for accumulating wealth of their followers, and blindly leading them
Nigunim
A Chassidic, non verbal worship. Songs composed of uttering and mumblings
Tsadik
Rebbe; righteous person
Lubavitch/Chabad
Very missionary minded Chassidic Jews
Moschiach
Jewish “Messiah”, still waiting for the right one; one major requirement was to rebuild the temple
“Let our Salvation Come”, “Tell us Rabbi, what will happen when messiah comes?” (biblical characters present)
Goldfaden
Used Yiddish theatre as a springboard to teach the Jewish population modern culture, and their history
Purimshpiel
a Mardi Gras type of celebration about the story of Esther
Broder singers
singers
Bund
Jewish labor movement; “Di Shuve” (The Oath) Hope and Faith; In Ale Gasm”
Zionism
Shulamis, Bar Kochba
May 1st
brighter, troubles have passed, Maylid
Opera
used in Goldfaden’s works
Shulamis
A man leaves and returns to Shulamis, Shulamis says women too can pray, subtle enlightenment message, Contains Raisins and Almonds
Messianic Hopes
Shabbatai Zevi, “Let our Salvation Come”, “Tell us Rabbi…” (bib characters)
Labor Song spectrum
Hope and Faith/Maylid vs. Barikadn/In Ale Gasm
