Aliyah: quorum of ten men needed for the reading of the Torah
Beadle: Yiddish: Gabbai, a person who assists synagogue services
Bimah: stage in a synagogue upon which the ark sits and the Rabbi
conducts services
Boydem: attic
Chazzan: cantor
Chazzanasheh: cantorials
Cheder: elementary school
Cladel: dress
Conchick: leather whip
Daven: to pray
Dorfa: village
Fartik: finished; through
Freilach: to be happy
Gerferlach: terrible
Gonvenen dem grenetz: literally,"stealing the border." Refers to the act of getting to the ports of departure for the New World
Goys/goyim: gentiles; non-Jews
Hasidim: a mystical movement of the eighteenth century, which strictly adheres to a literal translation of the Bible and Talmud
Kahal: Jewish governing body
Kibbitzer: one who jokes or teases Kishinev: the location of a major pogrom in 1903
Landsman: countrymen
Lubavitcher: a Brooklyn-based sect of the Hasidim, so named for the section of Russia from which they emigrated
Maidel: pretty girl.
Matzoh balls: soup dumplings made from matzoh, or unleavened bread, commonly made in America during the festival of Passover
Melamed: Hebrew teacher
Menchen: people
Meshuggener: a crazy man
Mousaf: Saturday morning prayers
Naverra: it's a shame
Nisht gephumphet: straight and direct; to the point
Pastach: herdsman
Rebbe: Rabbi, from the Hebrew, my teacher.
Shlepping: dragging
Shmattes: rags
Shachris: Saturday morning prayers
Shochet: ritual slaughterer
Shonda: disgrace
Shtetl: a small town in the Pale of Settlement
Shtippen: to give something to someone, usually money.
Shul: synagogue
Simchas: festive occasion
Simchas Torah: the last day of Sukkoth-"Rejoicing over the Torah"
Slichas: services
Smedrish: synagogue
Sukkoth: festival celebrating the harvest"Feast of Tabernacles"
Talmud:
Tefillin: phylacteries, leather straps attached to leather boxes, within which are held scriptural passages. Placed on the arms and elbows, they are meant to focus one's attention exclusively on prayer.
Tontz: dance
Torah: the Five Books of Moses
Ti zich un: get dressed
Tsotska: angel
Tsu schmeissen: to whip
Vane a bissel: cry a little
Vertl: there is a saying
Vi fel: how many
Yontif: holiday