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33 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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beadle
"They called him Moshe the Beadle, as though he had never had a surname in his life. He was a man of all work at a Hasidic synagogue" (3). |
minor church official whose duties include ushering |
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encumbered
"Nobody ever felt embarrassed by him. Nobody ever felt encumbered by his presence" (3). |
weighed down; burdened |
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waiflike timidity
"Physically he was awkward as a clown. He made people smile, with his waiflike timidity" (3). |
childlike shyness |
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cabbala
"...who, according to the cabbala, awaits hi deliverance in that of man" (3). |
system of interpreting scripture |
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mysticism
"Maimonides said it was only at thirty that one had the right to venture into the perilous world of mysticism. You must first study the basic subjects within your own understanding" (3). |
belied that knowledge of God can be gained through intuition |
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esteem
"The Jewish community in Sighet held him in the greatest esteem. They often used to consult him about public matters and even about private ones" (3). |
high regard; respect |
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Zohar
"...I could not find a master in Sighet to instruct me in the Zohar, the cabalistic books, the secrets of Jewish mysticism" (4). |
books that contain the cabbala |
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deportees
"Then one day they expelled all the foreign Jews from Sighet....The deportees were soon forgotten. A few days after they were gone..." (5). |
people sent away from their homes, out of their towns, countries, etc. |
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Gestapo
"The train full of deportees had crossed the Hungarian frontier and on Polish territory had been taken in charge by the Gestapo" (5). |
Hitler's secret police |
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lorries
"The Jews had to get out and climb into lorries. The lorries drove toward a forest" (5). |
trucks |
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Talmud
"I continued to devote myself to my studies. By day, the Talmud, at night, the cabbala" (6). |
authoritative body of Jewish tradition |
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diplomacy
"Besides, people were interested in everything--in strategy, in diplomacy, in politics, in Zionism--but not in their own fate" (7). |
conducting negotiations |
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Zionism
"Besides, people were interested in everything--in strategy, in diplomacy, in politics, in Zionism--but not in their own fate" (7). |
movement for the establishment of a Jewish national or religious community in Palestine |
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liquidate
"I had asked my father to sell out, liquidate his business, and leave" (7). |
to sell everything; to close business |
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Fascist
"The Budapest radio announced that the Fascist party had come into power" (7). |
government that elevates itself above all others and is run by a dictator |
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Passover
"The week of Passover....We drank, we ate, we sang. The Bible bade us rejoice during the seven days of the feast" (8). |
Jewish holiday commemorating Hebrew liberation from slavery in Egypt |
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decrees
"But already they were issuing new decrees. We were no longer allowed to go into restaurants or cafes, to travel on the railway, to attend the synagogue, to go out into the street after six o'clock" (9). |
statement; edict; order; command |
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ghetto
"Then came the ghetto....Two ghettos were set up in Sighet. A large one, in the center of the town, occupied four streets, and another smaller one extended over several small streets..." (9). |
section of city where Jews were forced to live, segregated from non-Jews |
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illusion
"Then everything would be as before. It was neither German nor Jew who ruled the ghetto--it was illusion" (9). |
trick of the eye; not really there |
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Pentecost
"On the Saturday before Pentecost, in the spring sunshine, people strolled, carefree and unheeding..." (9). |
Jewish holiday commemorating Moses revealing the 10 Commandments |
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treatise
"...I sat in the Ezra Malik gardens, studying a treatise on the Talmud" (10). |
account; tale; story |
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anecdotes
"My father was telling them anecdotes and expounding his own views on the situation. He was a good story teller" (10).
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amusing stories |
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expounding
"My father was telling them anecdotes and expounding his own views on the situation. He was a good story teller" (10). |
expanding; explaining in detail |
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firmament
"We were only waiting for the door to open--to see the opening of the firmament itself" (10). |
heavens |
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premonition
"'I've got a premonition of evil,' said my mother" (10). |
strong sense something is about to happen; usually bad |
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haggard
"But one glance at my father's haggard face was enough" (10). |
exhausted, especially from worry or fatigue |
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expelled
"'You've got to get ready for the journey! You're going to be expelled from here tomorrow with your whole family, and all the rest of the Jews" (11). |
banish; exile; send away |
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edict
"My father ran to the right and left, exhausted comforting friends, running to the Jewish Council to see if the edict had not been revoked in the meantime" (12). |
decree; order; command |
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revoked
"My father ran to the right and left, exhausted comforting friends, running to the Jewish Council to see if the edict had not been revoked in the meantime" (12). |
taken away |
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phylacteries
"I was in the midst of prayers....I tore myself from my phylacteries and ran to the windows" (12). |
worn on the left arm and head of Jewish men during weekday prayers |
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truncheons
"The Hungarian police struck out with truncheons and rifle butts, to the right and left, without reason, indiscriminately, their blows falling upon old men and women, children and invalids alike" (12). |
night sticks; batons |
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indiscriminately
"The Hungarian police struck out with truncheons and rifle butts, to the right and left, without reason, indiscriminately, their blows falling upon old men and women, children and invalids alike" (12). |
thoughtless; lacking in judgement; without discrimination |
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morale
"The people's morale was not too bad; we were beginning to get used to the situation" (16). |
attitude; confidence; enthusiasm |
