From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women between Religion and Culture

Glossary

GLOSSARY abe: Persian word translated as something bad, wrong, or negative. abji: Sister. Abji Golbahar: Sister Golbahar, a game. Aid-e-Nissan: Persian for “holiday of Nissan.” Passover takes place during the month of Nissan. aliyah: Being called up to read the Torah in the syngagogue. Anusim: The term for Iranian Jews who were forced to convert to Islam, yet secretly remained Jewish. ba’alat teshuvah (pl. ba’alot teshuvah): A woman who adopts Orthodox Judaism as an adult. bar/bat mitzvah: According to Jewish law, when Jewish children reach the age of thirteen for boys and twelve for girls they become responsible for their actions, and “become a bar (boy) or bat (girl) mitzvah.” bazi (pl. baziha): Persian word for game. Beit Knesset: Synagogue. bimah: Stage, theater. “black hat”: A man who belongs to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. chador: A loose robe. charoset: Traditional Passover food that has a symbolic role in the ceremonial seder meal. chastegaree: When a mother of a boy approaches a mother of a girl and asks permission for her son to meet her daughter in order to date for marriage. chasterghar: Male suitors for marriage. chashm ham cheshmi: Competition. chelo-kabob: National dish of Iran consisting of basmati rice and kabob. Chosen Mishpat: Laws about judges and witnesses, etc.; part of the Shulhan Arukh. dorehs: Social gatherings. esphan/esphand: Wild rue, a sacred herb whose smoldering fumes are said to ward off the evil eye. ettefaqh: Jewish elementary and high school in Tehran. Even Ha-Ezer: Laws of procreation, marriage, and divorce, part of the Shulhan Arukh. 205 206 GLOSSARY Farangi: Persian word for a foreigner. A person from Europe. fitna: Arabic word, generally regarded as very difficult to translate but at the same time is considered to be an all-encompassing word referring to schism, secession, upheaval, and anarchy. Gemara: Discussion of the Mishnah and related writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Bible. get: A divorce document, which, according to Jewish Law, must be presented by a husband to his wife to effect their divorce. ghondi: Persian meatballs. glatt kosher: Meat from animals with smooth or defect-free lungs; today the term is often used informally to imply that a product was processed under a stricter standard of kashrut. haftorah: A short selection from the Prophets read on every Sabbath in a Jewish synagogue following a reading from the Torah. haftsin: The Seven S’s is a traditional table setting of Nowruz, the traditional Iranian spring celebration. halakhah (pl. halakhot): Jewish law. Hamadanian Jews: Jews from Hamadan, Iran (did not live in ghettos and were, thus, more integrated into the community). hames: Persian term referring to anything that is forbidden to eat during Passover. Not to be confused with the Hebrew chametz, leavened bread. hammams: Public bath houses. hennah-bandan: Before a wedding, the women would gather in the home of the bride’s family and put henna on the bride’s hair and on the hands of all the women for good luck. Hozrei-bi-tshuvah: “Those who return.” Becoming a religiously observant Jew. Hillula: An annual celebration commemorating the saint’s death anniversary . Ishalah aroos beshi: Persian phrase meaning “God willing, you will be a bride.” Juhud: A derogatory way of calling someone a Jew in Persian. kadosh: Holy. kashrut: System of Jewish dietary laws. ketubah: Jewish marriage contract. khanevadeh: Family. knisa: Persian word for synagogue. kosher: Foods that conform to the rules of the Jewish religion. kurosh: Jewish Day school located in Tehran. Lag b’Omer: A Jewish feast celebrated on the thirty-third day of the counting of the Omer (the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot). 207 GLOSSARY lashon ha-ra: “Evil speech.” One is prohibited, in Jewish Law, of telling gossip—negative disparaging of truthful and untruthful remarks about a person or party who is not present. Maghreb: A term generally applied to all of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. Mahaleh: Jewish ghetto in Iran. Majles: A place of “sitting,” used to describe various types of special gatherings among common interest groups. mikveh: Ritual bath that a woman immerses herself in seven days after she stops menstruating. minyan: Quoraum of ten male Jewish adults required for certain religious obligations. Mishnah: The first written compendium of Judaism’s Oral Law. mitzvah: A commandment of the Jewish law. A worthy deed. mollah/mullah: Religious leader. Although...