3 Responses to “Levi Okunov & Diwon discuss their residencies at the Jewish Museum”

1. it just happened - Levi Okunov | 7fatcow.com
   March 24th, 2008 at 10:02 am

   

   […] Okunov discusses his residency at the Jewish Museum from mobius1ski on Vimeo. nolink]from JMblog  Share […]

2. it just happened - Levi Okunov | 7fatcow.com
   March 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am

   

   […] here to see what Mr. O has to say. Share […]

3. elisheva
   March 26th, 2008 at 11:03 pm

   

   The following is a glossary of the Hebrew and Yiddish terms that Levi Okunov uses in the video discussion of his residency at the Jewish Museum. They are listed in the order in which they are spoken:

   Hasidic (adjective): Describes an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect that originated in Eastern Europe in the 18th century.

   Ba’al Shem Tov (proper noun): Literally, “Master of the Good Name,” is the traditional Hebrew name for Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698–1760), the founder of Hasidic Judaism. It is a movement whose emphasis is spirituality and joy, in addition to academic Talmud study.

   Mashiach (noun): Hebrew and Yiddish for “Messiah.”

   Simchas Toirah (noun): Is the Yiddish term/Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation for the holiday of Simchat Torah, which means “rejoicing with the Torah,” and is when Jews celebrate the conclusion and beginning of the annual public Torah reading cycle.

   Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (nouns): Respectively, the Jewish New Year (literally, “the head of the year”) and the Day of Atonement, which altogether mark the Ten Days of Repentance, the holiest time in the Jewish calendar.

   Sukkos (noun/plural noun): The Yiddish term/Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation for the holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, which is a biblical pilgrimage holiday marked by building and eating in temporary huts.

   Seifer Toirah (noun): The Yiddish term/Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation for a Torah scroll.

   Toiras Ha’Ba’al Shem (Ishpitzeh, etc.) (nouns): The teaching, or literally “the Torah” of these Hasidic rabbis; the words of wisdom that they spread to their followers, in Yiddish and Hebrew, such as: “The entire Torah is every Jew,” and, “To love another human is the most important part of the Torah.”

   Menoirahs and Chanukiot (plural nouns): Yiddish term/Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation for Hanukkah lamps.

   Taleysim and Tzitzis (plural nouns): Respectively, Yiddish/Ashkenazi Hebrew for traditional Jewish prayer shawls and the twined and knotted fringes that hang from the religious garments’ four corners.

   Halakhic-ly (adverb): According to binding rabbinic Jewish law.

   Yiddish (adjective): Yiddish for Jewish, as in “I’m taking inspiration from the Yiddish [or, Jewish] territory.”