Enchantress: A Novel of Rav Hisda's Daughter (61 page)

Adonai
God’s holy name

Agunah
woman whose husband has disappeared or died without witnesses, leaving her unable to remarry

Am-ha’aretz (pl. amei-ha’aretz)
Jew who doesn’t accept rabbinic authority

Av
eleventh month of Jewish year, in midsummer

Bamidbar
Hebrew name for biblical book Numbers

Bar
son of

Baraita
literally “outside,” additional teachings from the Sages of Eretz Israel not included in the Mishna

Bat
daughter of

Bavel
Babylonia

Beit din
Jewish court

Bereshit
Hebrew name for the biblical book Genesis

Brit milah
circumcision ceremony, done eight days after birth

Chaldean
Babylonian astrologer

Charasha
sorcery

Charasheta
sorceress/enchantress

Cheshvan
second month of Jewish year, in midautumn

Ctesiphon
capital city of Babylonia and Persia, on east bank of the Tigris River

Cubit
an arm’s length, roughly twenty inches

Dashtana
menstruating

Devarim
Hebrew name for the biblical book Deuteronomy

Elohim
God’s secular name

Elul
last month of Jewish year, in late summer

Etrog
citron

Exilarch
ruler of the Jewish community in Babylonia, descended from King David

Get
Jewish bill of divorce

Ha-Elohim!
exclamation, “Oh God!”

Haluk
slip, a thin undergarment

Hametz
leavened bread or cakes, forbidden during Pesach

Hanukah
winter solstice holiday, celebrates Jewish victory over Greeks in 167 BCE

Haroset
mixture of fruit, wine, and nuts eaten at Pesach

Huppah
bridal chamber

Kafri
southernmost Babylonian city, on the Euphrates River

Karga
Persian poll tax

Kasa d’charasha
incantation bowl

Kashafa (pl. kashafot)
witch, evil sorceress

Katlanit
woman who has been widowed twice

Kavanah
intent, concentration

Ketuba
Jewish marriage contract specifying husband’s financial obligations to his wife in the event of divorce or his death

Kohen (pl. kohanim)
Jewish man from a priestly family

Kosher
meat from a biblically permitted animal, slaughtered according to Jewish Law

Lilith
female demon and a type of demon who preys on newborn babies, women in childbirth, and men sleeping alone

Machoza
suburb of Persian capital Ctesiphon, on west bank of the Tigris River

Magus (pl. magi)
Zoroastrian priest

Mamzer (pl. mamzerim)
child from a forbidden sexual relationship such as adultery or incest

Matzah
flat, unleavened bread eaten during Pesach

Mazal
luck, fortune

Mazik (pl. mazikim)
impish demon

Mikvah
pool or bath for ritual immersion

Mishna
Jewish Oral Law, teachings of the Sages in Eretz Israel compiled in ca. 200 CE

Mitzvah (pl. mitzvot)
commandment from Torah

Mokh
wad of cloth inserted vaginally to absorb menstrual blood

Nasus
Persian corpse demoness

Nehardea
central Babylonian city, located on the Euphrates River

Nehar Malka
canal connecting the Euphrates River at Nehardea to the Tigris River at Ctesiphon

Niddah
menstruating woman, forbidden to her husband until she immerses in a
mikvah

Palla
Roman shawl-like garment worn by married women

Parasang
Persian mile, approximately six kilometers

Pesach
Passover, spring equinox festival celebrating Exodus from Egypt

Pumbedita
northernmost Babylonian city on the Euphrates River, site of a Torah school since the third century

Purim
holiday celebrating how Queen Esther saved Persian Jews from annihilation

Rosh Hashana
Jewish New Year, in early autumn

Ruchim
evil spirits

Samael
Angel of Death

Shabbat
the Jewish Sabbath, Saturday

Shalom aleichem
greeting, “peace unto you”

Shavuot
late spring festival, celebrates giving of Torah at Mount Sinai

Shayd (pl. shaydim)
demon

Shaydim shel Beitkisay
demons of the privy

Sheloshim
first thirty days of mourning after a close relative’s death

Shema
passage from Deuteronomy said morning and evening, begins with “Hear O Israel, Adonai our God, Adonai is One.”

Shemot
Hebrew name for the biblical book Exodus

Shiva
first seven days of mourning for a close relative

Shofar
ram’s horn

Sivan
late spring month in which Shavuot occurs

Stola
Roman woman’s outer garment

Sukkah
flimsy booth where Jews dwell during festival of Sukkot

Sukkot
autumn equinox festival that recalls the forty years the Hebrews wandered in the desert after leaving Egypt

Sura
southern Babylonian city on the Euphrates River, site of the prophet Ezekiel’s tomb and one of the earliest Torah schools

Tammuz
summer solstice month (tenth month of Jewish year)

Tefillin
two small leather boxes with verses of Torah inside, worn by rabbis on their forehead and dominant hand

Tesserae
small ceramic tiles used in mosaics

Tevet
winter solstice month (third month of Jewish year)

Tisha B’Av
black fast, day of mourning in late summer for destruction of both first and second Temples in Jerusalem

Tishrei
first month of Jewish year, in autumn

Torah
Jewish scriptures, Written Law given to Moses at Mount Sinai

Tractate
volume of Talmud or Mishna, contains many chapters

Traklin
dining room or large hall

Treif
not kosher, food forbidden to Jews

Tzitzit
ritual fringes attached to a Jew’s four-cornered garment

Vayikra
Hebrew name for the biblical book Leviticus

Yetzer hara
evil inclination, sexual urge

Yetzer tov
good inclination

Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement, observed ten days after New Year, with fasting, asking forgiveness, and confession of sins