Shira (104 page)

Rav
–
Hebrew for rabbi.

Rebbe – Yiddish term of endearment for rabbi, especially of the hasidic variety.

Rehavia – Affluent Jerusalem neighborhood, home to many Hebrew University professors.

Ruppin, Arthur (1876–1943) – Economist, sociologist, and important Zionist leader.

Schnorrer – (Yiddish) begger, pauper.

Second Aliya – Wave of Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel between 1904–14; brought 40,000 to Ottoman Palestine, mostly from Czarist Russia.

Sephardic – Term referring to the descendants of Jewish settlers, originally from the Near East, who lived in the Iberian Peninsula until the Spanish Inquisition (cf. Ashkenazic).

Shabbat of Lamentations (Shabbat Eikha) – The Sabbath prior to Tisha B’Av which marks the anniversary of the destruction of the Temples of Jerusalem. Shabbat of Compassion (Shabbat Harahamim) – The Sabbath prior to the Hebrew month of Elul.

Stern Group (in Heb. Lehi) – Militant Zionist group headed by Abraham “Yair” Stern, which aimed to forcibly evict the British from Mandatory Palestine.

Rappaport, Shlomo Yehuda (1790–1867) – Rabbi and scholar, and important figure in the Jewish Enlightenment movement in Galicia. In
Shira
(see appended “Another Version”) the point being made is a subtle play on the fact that Herbst’s son, if named Shlomo Yehuda in honor of Rappaport (who according to the fashion of was known by his acronym, Shir) would bear a masculinized hint to the name Shira.

Shohet – ritual slaughterer of animals for meat

Shtreimels
– Festive round fur hat worn by hasidic men, especially on Sabbaths and holidays.

Sokolow, Nahum (1859–1936) – Zionist leader and pioneering Hebrew journalist.

Sukkot – Feast of Tabernacles, week-long holiday in the Fall.

Talpiot – Suburban Jerusalem neighborhood in the south of the city.

Tanaim and Amoraim – Rabbinic authors of the Mishnah and Gemara (respectively)

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology; founded in Haifa in 1912, oldest university in Israel.

Tefillin – Phylacteries; cube-shaped leather containers containing passages from the Bible, worn by men on the arm and head during morning prayers.

Templers – Members of the Temple Society (Tempelgesellschaft), a German Protestant sect expelled from Lutheran Church in 1858. Their aim was to realize the apocalyptic visions of the prophets of Israel in the Holy Land, where many members settled starting in the mid-19th century.

Terah – Father of the biblical Abraham.

Dr. Ticho, Abraham Albert (1883–1960) – Famous Jerusalem ophthalmologist; husband of artist Anna Ticho.

Watched-matzah – Matzah prepared for Passover which has been watched or guarded for extra protection against leavening. Soaked-matzah – Baked matzah that has come into contact with liquid in which case some stringent Jews are careful not to consume for fear that unbaked flour on the matzah might have become leavened after contact with liquid.

Weizmann, Chaim (1874–1952) – Scientist and important Zionist leader; first president of the State of Israel.

Yarkon – A river in central Israel that flows into the Mediterranean Sea at Tel Aviv.

Yekke – Nickname for a German Jew.

Yishuv – Settlement.

Zaddikim – Righteous.

Zohar – Foundational text of Jewish mysticism (Kabbala).

About the Author

S
.Y. Agnon (1888–1970) was a Nobel Prize laureate writer and the central figure of modern Hebrew literature. His works deal with the conflict between the traditional Jewish life and language and the modern world, and constitute a distillation of millennia of Jewish writing – from the Bible through the Rabbinic codes to hassidic storytelling – recast into the mold of modern literature.

About the Translator

Z
eva Shapiro has previously translated two novels by the highly acclaimed Israeli novelist Yoram Kaniuk:
The Acrophile
and
The Story of Aunt Shlomzion the Great
as well as
To Remember
,
To Forget
by Dan Ben-Amotz. Her translations of Hebrew poetry range from Rahel to Lea Goldberg; she is currently working on a
Dvora Baron Reader
.