Vocabulary (specifically for text):
Many of the words and phrases spoken in My Name Is Asher Lev are Hebrew. Below
are some of the frequently mentioned terms, their English translation, and a detailed explanation for some.
Gay guzunt un cum guzunt: “Go in health and return in health”
Goyim: Nation; Explanation: Yiddish word for a non-Jew
Kabbalah: That which is received;Explanation: another word such as shalshelet hakabbalah, the chain of tradition, or kabbalat Shabbat, the traditional ushering in of the Sabbath. It also refers to a particular credential for doing something within the context of a religious community, particularly for the Shochet, who ritually slaughters animals for food. In addition, this term also refers to the general mystical tradition in Judaism.
Kibud ov: Parental honor
Narishkeit: Foolishness
Ribbono Shel Oylom: Master of the Universe
Payas: Earlocks; Explanation: Hair that is allowed to grow so that a blade might never get near the sideburn area. A custom of the pagans to be avoided assiduously was the engraving of the skin in that area.
Rebbe: The title of the spiritual leader of the Hasidim
Sitra achra: The Other Side; Explanation: In Kabbalist traditions, this term is used to refer to the forces of evil which underlie all of reality. The power of Sitra Achra derives largely from the sins of humans.
Talmud: Study; Learning Explanation: From the Hebrew word "lamed"--to study. An encyclopedic collection of legalistic interpretations based upon the Mishnah, but also containing homiletic material, some unclear in nature.
Yeshivah: Seated Explanation: The oldest institution of Jewish learning, devoted primarily to Talmud and rabbinic literature. Originally, this term signified a meeting of scholars, a council, a session, over which presided an elected rosh yeshivah. The yeshivot that were established in medieval Europe were a direct continuation of the academies that flourished during the talmudic and geonic period.
Yom Kippur also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews.
About Asher’s Religion and Home
Ladover and Chabad-Lubavitch Asher and his family were Ladover Hasidic which is actually a fictitious sect of Hasidic Judaism based on the Chabad-Lubavitch sect. Chabad-Lubavitch is one of the largest Hasidic movements in Orthodox Judaism, and is based in the Crown Heights
neighborhood of Brooklyn (The Lev family’s neighborhood). Chabad is a Hebrew acronym for Chochmah, Binah, Da'at meaning Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge. Lubavitch is the only extant branch of a family of Hasidic sects once known collectively as the Chabad movement; the names are now used interchangeably. Chabad philosophy incorporates the teachings of Kabbalah as a means to deal with one's daily life and psyche. It teaches that every aspect of the world exists only through the intervention of God. Through an intellectual approach and meditations, Chabad teaches that one can attain complete control over one's inclinations. In a break with early Hasidism, Chabad philosophy emphasizes mind over emotions. Different from earlier formulations of Hasidic thought, Chabad stresses the individual responsibilities of every Jew. The Rebbe serves as a teacher and advisor. He is there to recognize the vocation of each of his followers, guide them towards it and rejoice in their achievements.
Location (setting of story): Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Crown Heights is a neighborhood in the central portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The main thoroughfare through this neighborhood is Eastern Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard designed by Frederick Law Olmsted extending two miles east-west. Crown Heights had begun as a posh residential neighborhood, a "bedroom" for Manhattan's growing bourgeois class. Beginning in the 1880s, many upper-class residences, including characteristic brownstone buildings, were erected along Eastern Parkway. Away from the parkway was a mixture of lower middle-class residences. This development peaked in the 1920s. Before World War II, Crown Heights was among New York City's premier neighborhoods, with tree-lined streets, an array of cultural institutions and parks, and numerous fraternal, social and community organizations. Many second and third generation people of Jewish descent had settled in the area. During the '40s, '50s and '60s, many middle class Jews lived in Crown Heights. There were a number of large synagogues on Eastern Parkway, including Chovevei Torah between Albany and Troy, and 770 Eastern Parkway, home of the world-wide Lubavitch movement. In 1950, the neighborhood was 89 percent white, with a small but growing black population. Some 50- 60 percent of the white population, about 75,000 people, was Jewish, and had about thirty-four synagogues, from reform to Hasidic. By 1957, there were about 25,000 blacks in Crown Heights, about one fourth of the population. There were two very prominent Yeshiva
elementary schools in the neighborhood, Crown Heights Yeshiva on Crown Street between New York and Nostrand Avenues and the Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway, located on Eastern Parkway between Troy and Schenectady Avenues. Another famous school in the neighborhood was the Reines Talmud Torah which was not a day school, having only afternoon and Sunday morning classes. In the mid-twentieth century, many of the more established residents left for newer housing and jobs in the suburbs. With increased apartment vacancies, property owners rented to tenants who would not have been able to afford the area earlier. Concurrently, the values of private homes began to fall. Both white and non-white middle class families felt compelled to move out before their houses were devalued further. Their places were taken by African Americans, later immigrants from the Caribbean. As of 2007, of the approximately 150,000 residents in Crown Heights, 90 percent were of African descent (70 percent from the Caribbean and 20 percent of American birth), 8 percent were Hasidic Jews, and 2 percent were Latino, Asian and other ethnic groups.
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