186 Shloyshoh she’okhlu—“Rabbi Simeon says, Three men who eat together at the same table and speak no words of Torah may as well have eaten the flesh of a pagan sacrifice.” The Ethics of the Fathers.
187 “A righteous man knows the soul of his beast.” Proverbs, 12:10.
188 Marbeh nekhosim marbeh da’ogoh—“He [Hillel the Elder] used to say, Much meat, many worms, much possessions, many worries.” The Ethics of the Fathers.
189 Loy dubim veloy ya’ar.
190 Holakh le’oylomoy—“He has gone to his world.” A rabbinic euphemism for saying someone has died.
191 What Onkelos has to say in his Targum.
192 Miznavto dekhazirto loy makhtmen shtreimilto—A comic concoction of Aramaic and Yiddish meaning, as Tevye tells Podhotzur, that one cannot make a shtreimel, a Hasidic round fur hat, out of the tail of a pig.
193 Wailing Wall — The western wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the one remaining feature of the destroyed Temple and the holiest of Jewish shrines.
194 Rachel’s Tomb — A small mausoleum near Bethlehem supposedly containing the grave of the matriarch Rachel, who died in childbirth, according to the Bible, on her way to that city. It is traditionally a place where Jews, particularly women, come to ask for their prayers to be granted.
195 Cave of the Patriarchs — A structure in Hebron which is a shrine for Jews and Moslems. According to popular belief it houses the graves of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah.
196 Kheyt shekhotosi lefonekho—“The sin that I have sinned before Thee.” A recurrent phrase in the confessional section of the Yom Kippur prayer.
197 Vayisu vayakhanu.
198 Im eyn ani li mi li—“He [Hillel the Elder] said, If I am not for myself, who will be? And if I am for myself what am I? And if not now, when?” The Ethics of the Fathers.
199 Veyoda shor koyneyhu—“The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib.” Isaiah, 1:3. Tevye is punning here, as koyneyhu, “his owner,” can also mean “his buyer.”
200 Zeh khelki mikoyl amoli—“And this was my portion of all my labor.” Ecclesiastes, 2:10.
201 Each of the hundred-and-seven-and-twenty lands of King Ahasuerus — Esther, 1:1.
202 Harey ani keven shivim shonoh.
203 Shmo’eyni—“And Abraham … spoke unto Ephron, saying … I pray thee, hear me.” Genesis, 23:12–13.
204 What Bible reading — The Pentateuch is traditionally divided into fifty-four weekly readings (there are occasional doublings), each chanted in the synagogue on one Sabbath of the year. Each reading is named for one or two of the words occurring in its first verse; thus the third reading in Genesis, which starts with Genesis, 12:1, is called Lekh-Lekho, “Get thee out.”
205 Lekh-lekho … meyartsekho … umimoyladitkho … el ha’orets asher arekko—“And the Lord said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee.” Genesis, 12:1.
206 Al tashlikheynu le’eys ziknoh—“Cast us not away [O Lord] in our old age.” From the penitential and High Holy Day prayers.
207 Al hatoyroh ve’al ha’avoydoh—“Simeon the just … said that the world rests on three things: on Torah and on work and on charity.” The Ethics of the Fathers. Tevye is being ironical, of course: the only “Torah” Motl knew was work itself.
208 Vayomos Moysheh—“And Moses died.” Deuteronomy, 34:5.
209 The battel prayer.
210 Mekimi … mi’ofor dal.
211 Oylim veyordim.
212 Be’al korkhekho atoh khai.
213 Nakhzor le’inyoneynu harishon—“Let us return to our original matter.” A rabbinic expression used to terminate a digression in a scholarly discussion.
214 The story of the Amalekites — Exodus, 17.
215 “Then came Amalek and fought with Israel.” Exodus, 17:8.
216 Bo’u mayim ad nefesh.
217 Ka’asher ohavti—“And Isaac … called Esau, his eldest son, and said unto him … make me savory meat, such as I love.” Genesis, 27:1,4. Tevye, however, means “such as you love.”
218 Vayehi bimey Mendel Beilis—“And it came to pass in the days of Mendel Beilis.” On the Beilis case, see Introduction, this page.
219 Zdrastvoytye—“Good day” in Russian.
220 Tsoras rabbim khatsi nekhomoh—“The troubles of others are half a comfort [for one’s own].” A rabbinic proverb.
221 Mah onu umeh khayeynu.
222 Li hashomayim veli ha’orets—“The heavens are mine and the earth is mine.” Psalms, 89:12; there, though, it says, “The heavens are Thine and the earth is Thine too.”
223 Lekh-lekho meyartsekho.
224 El ha’orets asher arekko.
225 Ad kan oymnm beshabbes hagodol.
226 Kerakheym ov al bonim.
227 Eyl erekh apoyim—A long-suffering God.
228 Solakhti kidvorekho.
229 Bonim uvney vonim—“Sons and sons of sons.” A rabbinic expression for “sons and grandsons.”
230 Mi ke’amkho yisro’eyl goy ekhod—“And who in the whole earth is like the one nation, thy people Israel?” Samuel II, 7:23. A vintage Tevyism. Whereas in the Bible the word goy simply means “nation” and refers here to the Israelites themselves, Tevye construes it in the postbiblical sense of “Gentile” and ungrammatically but ingeniously reinterprets the verse to mean: how can even one goy (goy ekhod) be like a Jew (ke’amkho yisro’eyl)?
231 Ashrekho yisro’eyl—“Happy art thou, 0 Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord?” Deuteronomy, 33:29.
The Railroad Stories
232 Places Jews are barred from — See this page — this page.
233 “As much as a catcall on Purim bothers Haman”—On the holiday of Purim, when the Book of Esther is read in the synagogue, it is customary for the congregation to boo, stamp its feet, and jeer whenever the name of Haman is mentioned.
234 Darovanomu konyu vzuby nye smotryat—Russian: “One doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”
235 Rashi.
236 Vedno pana po kholavakh—Russian: “You can tell a squire by his boots.”
237 Sukkos.
238 Eating a chicken cooked in butter — Jewish dietary laws forbid the eating of meat and dairy products together.
239 Going beardless or hatless — Not shaving one’s beard and keeping one’s head covered at all times are two of the hallmarks of the Orthodox Jew and (a litmus test mentioned more than once in The Railroad Stories) the chief signs by which he is immediately recognized as such by other Jews.