"Cake Girl" by Hyeyoung Kim.
glossary of Southern/Jewish Culture
Passover: Jewish holiday commemorating the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery: read more
challah
confederacy
anti Semitism: anti-Jewish thought and action
peddlers
Ashkenazi (Jews of Central Europe)
Sephardic (Jews of Spain, Portugal, North Africa)
Mizrahi (Jews of the Middle East/Asia, including: Syria, India, Pakistan: read more here
Maghrebi: Jews in North Africa not of Spanish/Portuguese descent
diasporah: the dispersion of Jews (and Israelites, their predecessors) out of Israel and settlement in other parts of the world
"Jew Store": small-town dry goods store in the South owned by Jewish family/individual
assimilation: adopting the dominant culture and perhaps losing some of one's minority culture/traditions/religion/etc
cheder: Jewish school
mishpochah: family
goyim: non-Jews
Gentiles: non-Jews
bar mitzvah/bat mitzvah: religious ceremony undertaken after studying the torah/bible at age 13, a coming of age initiation into Jewish manhood/womanhood
shul: temple or synagogue: Jewish place of worship
mensch: a human being, a stand-up person, a good person, literally "man" but interpreted as "human"
bris: religious circumcision ceremony for male Jewish children, usually soon after birth
shmata: rag
alta kockas: older persons
kook-off-der-kinder
Leba-dicka-velt
chak-kees or chachkees: trinkets
ganuff: thief or shoplifter
yiddisha kop: adding numbers in your head
tray-gezunt-a-hait: (after you sold a garment to a Jewish customer)
zionist: promoting the foundation of the state of Israel (or pre-state settlement)
treyfa: non-kosher food
cantor: the person who leads religious song in the congregation
Kosher: food approved by Jewish law
ballyhoo: big Southern Jewish social annual event designed for young people to meet (and find a mate)
Zionism: founding a Jewish State in Palestine
Hadassah: Jewish women's voluntary organization
Torah: first five books of the Old Testament or the entire Jewish bible: read more
shrek: monster (Yiddish)
Kippa (Yarmulke in Yiddish), Tallit (Tallis in Yiddish), and Tefillin
challah
confederacy
anti Semitism: anti-Jewish thought and action
peddlers
Ashkenazi (Jews of Central Europe)
Sephardic (Jews of Spain, Portugal, North Africa)
Mizrahi (Jews of the Middle East/Asia, including: Syria, India, Pakistan: read more here
Maghrebi: Jews in North Africa not of Spanish/Portuguese descent
diasporah: the dispersion of Jews (and Israelites, their predecessors) out of Israel and settlement in other parts of the world
"Jew Store": small-town dry goods store in the South owned by Jewish family/individual
assimilation: adopting the dominant culture and perhaps losing some of one's minority culture/traditions/religion/etc
cheder: Jewish school
mishpochah: family
goyim: non-Jews
Gentiles: non-Jews
bar mitzvah/bat mitzvah: religious ceremony undertaken after studying the torah/bible at age 13, a coming of age initiation into Jewish manhood/womanhood
shul: temple or synagogue: Jewish place of worship
mensch: a human being, a stand-up person, a good person, literally "man" but interpreted as "human"
bris: religious circumcision ceremony for male Jewish children, usually soon after birth
shmata: rag
alta kockas: older persons
kook-off-der-kinder
Leba-dicka-velt
chak-kees or chachkees: trinkets
ganuff: thief or shoplifter
yiddisha kop: adding numbers in your head
tray-gezunt-a-hait: (after you sold a garment to a Jewish customer)
zionist: promoting the foundation of the state of Israel (or pre-state settlement)
treyfa: non-kosher food
cantor: the person who leads religious song in the congregation
Kosher: food approved by Jewish law
ballyhoo: big Southern Jewish social annual event designed for young people to meet (and find a mate)
Zionism: founding a Jewish State in Palestine
Hadassah: Jewish women's voluntary organization
Torah: first five books of the Old Testament or the entire Jewish bible: read more
shrek: monster (Yiddish)
Kippa (Yarmulke in Yiddish), Tallit (Tallis in Yiddish), and Tefillin