The Book

• If your new boss slaps you on the back and says, “Bob, you are such a shmeggegge,” should you expect a raise or a pink slip?
• Your Jewish mother-in-law asks if you’ve found hazeret for the holiday. Where should you look – the supermarket, the dry cleaner or the library?
• A friend’s father has died. He was Jewish; you’re not. What should you expect when you make a condolence call on the family?

Find answers to these and other questions in the fun-to-read, easy-to-understand Dictionary of Jewish Words (A JPS Guide, 2006), an updated and expanded edition of the best-selling JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words (Jewish Publication Society, 2001). It’s a handy reference to Jewish words — with more than 1200 entries in Yiddish, Hebrew, Aramaic and English.

Organized in an A to Z format, the dictionary lets you quickly and easily look up words associated with Jewish holidays and life-cycle events, Jewish culture, modern Israel, sacred texts, synagogue life, etc. Since it’s a dictionary, you’ll definitely find the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of each word, but you’ll also get a real feel for the rituals, foods, holidays and customs of Judaism. Word lists at the back of the book, arranged by categories, tell you which words go together.

After you read the definition of shmeggegge, you’ll know that he’s not a bad guy, just a whiner – and he’s very different from a shnorrer. You’ll find out what King Antiochus has to do with Hanukkah, what a gabbai does at the synagogue, and the answer to the age-old dilemma: “What is the difference between rugelach and shnecken?”

The dictionary is an indispensable resource for Jews, for intermarried families, and for anyone living in a diverse community. It’s become the “go-to” guide when newspaper and magazine editors are looking for the right spelling or definition of a Jewish word.