Here is the second post I've written with the help of reader Debbie, a follow-up to
From Aaron to Zion. This one focuses on
Yiddish and
Hebrew answers; also ones associated with the state of
Israel, which often have a Hebrew etymology.
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Abba [Eban] | Israel's first U.N. representative; "My People" writer |
| Acre | Israeli seaport; Third crusade siege site |
| Adar | Month before Nisan; When Purim is observed |
| alef or aleph | Hebrew letter; Beth's predecessor |
| Amir | Israeli political leader Peretz |
| Amos [Oz] | "A Tale of Love and Darkness" author; "My Michael" author |
| Arens | Former Israeli minister Moshe |
| Ariel | Sharon of Israel |
| Asch | Yiddish writer Sholem; "The Nazarene" novelist; "Moses" author |
| Aviv | Tel ____; Hebrew for "spring" |
| ayin | 16th letter in Hebrew |
| bagel | Food whose name means "ring"; zero in sports slang |
| Barak | Israel's Ehud; P.M. between Netanyahu and Sharon |
| Beame | New York City's first Jewish mayor |
| Beth | ____ Israel; Letter before gimel |
| Bibi | Israel's Netanyahu, familiarly |
| Bethel | Hebrew for "house of G-d"; Ancient city north of Jerusalem |
| blintz(e) | Jewish crêpe |
| B'nai | ____ B'rith; Sons of, in Hebrew |
| bris | Rite for a newborn Jewish boy |
| bubbe | Jewish grandma |
| chutzpah | Cheekiness; Impudence |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Dayan | Israel's Moshe; Six-Day War hero |
| dreidel | December spinner; Top of the holiday season? |
| Eban | Israel's Abba; "Voice of Israel" author |
| Ehud | Israeli statesman Barak; Former Israeli P.M. Olmert |
| Eilat | Israeli city on the gulf of Aqaba |
| El Al | Airline to Tel Aviv; Carrier whose name means "skyward" |
| Elihu | Hebrew name meaning "He is my G-d" |
| Elul | Month before Tishri; Av follower |
| Emanuel | Hebrew for "G-d is with us"; Common temple name |
| Essene | Ancient Jewish ascetic; Dead Sea Scrolls scribe |
| Ezer | Former Israeli president Weizman |
| ganef | Thief, in Yiddish; Swindler, slangily |
| gelt | Traditional Hanukkah gift; Moolah |
| Golda | Israel's Meir; 1977 biographical Broadway play starring Anne Bancroft |
| golem | Automaton of Hebrew lore; Dimwit, in Yiddish slang |
| Haifa | City at the foot of Mt. Carmel; Port near Nazareth |
| halva | Mideast confection |
| Hasid | Member of a strict Jewish sect |
| Hava | ____ Nagila (song title that means "Let us rejoice") |
| Hebrew | Whence the word "Sabbath"; Like the letters on a dreidel |
| Herzog | Israeli president, 1983-93 |
| heth | Eighth Hebrew letter; The H in Hanukkah |
| Hillel | Jewish campus group; Noted Talmudic sage |
| hora | Bar mitzvah highlight; Dance done to "Hava Nagila"; Wedding ring? |
| Isr. | Med. country; Its highest mtn. is Meron; Leb. neighbor; Syr. neighbor |
| Israel | Hebrew for "one who wrestles with G-d"; Creation of 1948 |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Jaffa | Port of Israel; Port captured by Napoleon in 1799 |
| Jerusalem | It was captured by British forces in 1917 |
| Jew | Observer of Yom Kippur; Mishnah follower |
| jewfro | Curly ethnic hairstyle, colloquially |
| Judaic | Like the laws of kosher food; Like bar mitzvahs |
| kibitz | Offer advice from around a card table |
| klutz | Butterfingers; China shop persona non grata |
| Knesset | Israeli Parliament; It has over 120 seats in Israel |
| knish | Jewish turnover; New York nosh |
| Kol | ___ Nidre (Yom Kippur prayer) |
| kosher | Like some Jewish delis; Legit |
| kreplach | Jewish ravioli |
| kvetch | Bellyache; Crab |
| latke | Potato pancake; Hanukkah nosh |
| L'Chaim | “To life!”; Toast at a bar mitzvah |
| Leumi | Israel's Bank ______ |
| Likud | Israeli party |
| Lilith | Adam's first wife, in Jewish folklore; Demon of Semitic lore |
| Lod | Former name for Ben-Gurion Airport; City in the Plain of Sharon |
| lox | Cured salmon; Bagel topper |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Masada | Israeli tourist attraction on the Dead Sea; 1981 miniseries set in A.D. 72-73 |
| matzo(h) | _____ ball soup; Passover bread |
| mazel [tov] | "Congratulations!"; Literally, "Good luck" |
| Meir | Golda of Israel; Predecessor of Rabin |
| mem | Hebrew letter after lamed |
| menorah | Hanukkah centerpiece; Candle site |
| mensch | Person of integrity and honor; Stand-up guy |
| meshuga | Yiddish for "crazy" |
| mezuzah | Jewish parchment scroll put on a doorpost |
| Mogen | _____ David (six-pointed star) |
| mohel | Bris participant |
| Moshe | Dayan of Israel; _____ Arens, former Israeli defense minister |
| Mossad | Israeli intelligence group |
| Negev | Israeli desert; Beersheba locale |
| Nisan | Passover month; Month after Adar |
| Noam | Hebrew name meaning "sweetness"; Linguist Chomsky |
| nosh | Snack; Have a knish, say |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| oys | Jewish laments; Yiddish plaints |
| oy vey | Kvetcher's cry; “Leaving Brooklyn: __________!” (Williamsburg Bridge sign) |
| par(e)ve | Like some foods for Jews; Made without milk or meat |
| Peres | Israel's Shimon; Netanyahu's predecessor as P.M. |
| Picon | Molly of Yiddish theater |
| pita | Falafel bread; Hummus holder |
| Purim | Jewish holiday in Adar; Celebration of deliverance |
| qoph | Hebrew letter before resh |
| rabbi | "My teacher," in Hebrew; Torah reciter |
| Rabin | Israel's Yitzhak; 1994 Peace Nobelist |
| Reb | Yiddish Mr. |
| rebbe | Jewish teacher |
| resh | Letter before shin |
| Rosen | Baseball's Al aka the Hebrew Hammer |
| Rosh | ____ Hashanah; Hebrew for "beginning" |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Sabra | Native-born Israeli |
| s(c)hlep | Lug; Not a quick jaunt |
| s(c)hlock | Junk |
| schmaltz | Excessive sentimentality; Mush |
| schmear | The whole _______ (everything); Bribe |
| s(c)hmo | Stupid jerk; Joe _____ (average guy) |
| Seder | Meal in Nisan; Passover feast; Exodus commemoration |
| Semite | Arab or Jew; Mideast native |
| shalom | Hello or goodbye |
| Shavuot | Spring Jewish holiday |
| shekel | Israeli money; 100 agorot |
| Shema | Jewish pledge of faith |
| shin | Hebrew letter |
| shiva | Jewish mourning period |
| Sholom | Tevye creator ______ Aleichem |
| shtetl | Yiddish for "small town"; "Fiddler on the Roof" setting |
| shul | Synagogue; Holy Ark's location |
| Suez | 1956 crisis site; City rebuilt after the Arab-Israeli wars |
| Answer | Common Cluing Options |
| Talmud | Rabbi's text; Much studied religious writings |
| tav | 23rd Hebrew letter; Torah's beginning |
| tel | Hill, in Hebrew |
| Tel Aviv | Shalom Meir Tower locale; Home of the newspaper Haaretz |
| Tevye | "Fiddler on the Roof" milkman; "If I Were a Rich Man" singer |
| Tisha | _____ B'Av, Jewish day of fasting |
| Tishri | Jewish calendar starter |
| tov | "Mazel ___!"; Yom ___ (Jewish holiday) |
| tref | Not kosher |
| tsuris | Woes, to a Yiddish speaker; "Oy, vey!" cause |
| tush | Backside; Sitting spot |
| Uzi | Gun produced by Israel Military Industries; Weapon in "The Terminator" |
| Wye | ___ Accords, 1998 Israeli-Palestinian agreement |
| yenta or yente | Gossipmonger; "Fiddler on the Roof" role; Musical matchmaker |
| Yentl | Story subtitled "The Yeshiva Boy"; Gender-bending Streisand film |
| yeshiva | Where the Talmud is studied; Rabbi's alma mater |
| Yitzhak | Shimon's predecessor |
| YMHA | Jewish youth org. |
| yod | Letter after teth |
| yom | ___ Kippur; Day, in Hebrew |
| zaftig | Well-proportioned; Rubenesque |
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