The Devil's Arithmetic

Donna M.
47 words 274 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. adamantly
    inflexibly; unshakably
  2. alienate
    arouse hostility or indifference in
  3. assent
    agree or express agreement
  4. bar mitzvah
    a traditional coming-of-age ritual for Jewish boys
  5. barrack
    lodge in buildings used to house military personnel
    The men are caught and are shot in front of the inmates, Gitl and Hannah return to their barracks and Yitzchak escapes.
  6. billet
    provide housing for (military personnel)
  7. Bris
    the Jewish rite of circumcision performed on a male child on the eighth day of his life
  8. camp
    temporary lodgings in the country for travelers
    At her "uncle's" wedding, the Nazis come to transport the entire population of the village to a concentration camp near Donavin, and only Hannah knows all the terrors that they will face: starvation, mistreatment, forced labors, and finally execution.
  9. chamber
    a natural or artificial enclosed space
    The women are lead to the gas chamber.
  10. compensation
    the act of making amends for service, loss, or injury
  11. concentration
    the spatial property of being crowded together
    At her "uncle's" wedding, the Nazis come to transport the entire population of the village to a concentration camp near Donavin, and only Hannah knows all the terrors that they will face: starvation, mistreatment, forced labors, and finally execution.
  12. conspiratorial
    relating to or characteristic of a secret plot or agreement
  13. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
  14. drone on
    talk in a monotonous voice
  15. Elijah
    a Hebrew prophet in the Old Testament who opposed the worship of idols; he was persecuted for rebuking Ahab and Jezebel (king and queen of Israel); he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire (circa 9th century BC)
  16. goy
    a Christian as contrasted with a Jew
  17. gruesome
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
  18. guttural
    relating to or articulated in the throat
  19. Haggadah
    Talmudic literature that does not deal with law but is still part of Jewish tradition
  20. holocaust
    an act of mass destruction and loss of life
  21. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
  22. kosher
    conforming to the dietary laws of Judaism
  23. leaven
    a substance used to produce fermentation in dough
  24. Lublin
    an industrial city of eastern Poland
  25. lucid
    transparently clear; easily understandable
  26. matzo
    brittle flat bread eaten at Passover
  27. matzoh
    brittle flat bread eaten at Passover
  28. mesmerized
    having your attention fixated as though witchcraft
  29. midden
    a heap of dung or refuse
  30. muse
    reflect deeply on a subject
  31. Passover
    (Judaism) a Jewish festival (traditionally 8 days from Nissan 15) celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt
  32. pelt
    the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
  33. plague
    any large-scale calamity
  34. profound
    situated at or extending to great depth
  35. prophet
    someone who speaks by divine inspiration
    When Hannah symbolically opens the door for the prophet Elijah, she is transported back in time to 1941 in Poland of World War II.
  36. Sabbath
    a day of rest and worship: Sunday for most Christians
  37. schnorrer
    a scrounger who takes advantage of the generosity of others
  38. Seder
    the ceremonial dinner on the first night of Passover
  39. shtik
    (Yiddish) a contrived and often used bit of business that a performer uses to steal attention
  40. Torah
    the first of three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures comprising the first five books of the Hebrew Bible considered as a unit
  41. uncomprehending
    lacking understanding
  42. undecipherable
    not easily deciphered
  43. unleavened
    made without leavening
  44. uproariously
    in a hilarious manner
  45. yarmulke
    a skullcap worn by religious Jews, especially at prayer
  46. yeshiva
    an academy for the advanced study of Jewish texts
  47. Yiddish
    a dialect of High German including some Hebrew and other words; spoken in Europe as a vernacular by many Jews; written in the Hebrew script
Created on Thu Jul 25 01:04:38 EDT 2013 (updated Mon Aug 05 15:22:02 EDT 2013)

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