Frum = from the German fromm, meaning “devout” or “pious”, is a Yiddish word meaning committed to be observant of the 613 Mitzvot, or Jewish commandments, specifically of Orthodox Judaism. This appellative is used especially in reference to haredim (i.e. the “Ultra-Orthodox”), and to a lesser extent among the Modern Orthodox. The opposite of frum is frei (pronounced “fry”) meaning someone who is “not religious” and “free” from the yoke of the mitzvot, or feels “free” to do whatever they feel like doing. Someone who is extremely frum or devout is known as a frummer. This term is generally used in a positive sense if he/she is frum “unto themselves” but does not force their frumness (frumkeit) on others. (Read the other half of this definition, stolen from wikipedia, here)
Bushniki – a Jewish BeatnikBushwick resident
In Jewish folklore, a dybbuk is a malicious possessing spirit, believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person.
Pesach = Passover, Jewish holiday celebrating Spring and the Exodus from Egypt
Shomer (conjugation of Hebrew verb “Lishmor”) = literally watch or observe. In relation to Shabbat, it means keep.
IDF = Israeli Defense Force
Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim, lit. “to investigate” or “study”) is a Hebrew term referring to the not exact, but comparative (homiletic) method of exegesis (hermeneutic) of Biblical texts, which is one of four methods cumulatively called Pardes. The term midrash can also refer to a compilation of homiletic teachings (commentaries) on the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), in the form of legal and ritual (Halakhah) and legendary, moralizing, folkloristic, and anecdotal (Aggadah) parts.
Yishuv (Hebrew): literally, ‘settlement,’ (eek), but also refers to all Jews living in the land of Israel before the formation of the actual state of Israel, in 1948. Distinction is often made between Old Yishuv (Yishuv haYashan) and New Yishuv, and the line drawn between them is 1881, when the first major wave of Zionists moved to the land of Israel.
Yom Ha’atzmaut (יום העצמאות) is the national independence day of Israel, commemorating the declaration of the state of Israel by David Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948 and the end of the British Mandate of Palestine. The holiday is always preceded by Yom Hazikaron, the Israel fallen soldiers Remembrance Day.
