Vocabulary WordsCreated by M. Coliadis

Vocabulary Words…

• Jewish• modern• tenement• ignorant• Russia• synagogue• embroidered• taunted

• aisle• corkscrew• Yiddish• paskudnyaks• Cossack• Shaynkeit• Malkelech• Goraduk• Sukkos

Jewish

• Relating to the Jews who are descendents of an ancient people called Hebrews

• At Molly’s school there weren’t other Jewish girls.

modern

• Relating to the present time or times not long past

• Molly’s mother is a modern pilgrim.

tenement

• A building divided into separate apartments for rent

• Molly lived in a poor tenement apartment in New York.

ignorant• Having little

knowledge, not knowing, unaware

• Joe was ignorant about the process of photosynthesis and could not explain it to his teacher.

Russia

• A country that makes up most of the continent of Asia

• Russia used to be called the Soviet Union.

synagogue

• A Jewish house of worship

• Jewish people go to the synagogue to worship.

embroidered

• To make or fill in a design with

needlework

• Molly’s mother made an embroidered handkerchief for her.

taunted

• To make fun of or say mean insulting things to

• Elizabeth taunted Molly because she could not speak English like everyone else.

aisle

• A passage between sections or seats

• The bride will walk down the aisle on her wedding day.

Corkscrew curls

• Hair that is curled in the shape of a corkscrew

• Elizabeth’s hair was long and black with corkscrew curls.

Yiddish

• A language; A blend of German and Hebrew

• Molly’s mother spoke Yiddish at home.

paskudnyaks

• naughty girls

• Molly’s mom wanted to talk with theteacher so that thepaskudnyaks would stopteasing Molly.

Cossack

• Russian calvary

• The Cossacks burned down the synagogue in the town of Goraduk.

Shaynkeit

• “pretty one”

• Molly’s mama often called her “shaynkeit.”

Malkeleh

• means “little Molly”

“Oi, Malkeleh, we can’t go back to New York City,” said Mama.

Goraduk

• Russian city

• Goraduk is the city from which Molly came to America in the children's novel Molly's Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen. Molly and her family left Goraduk because the Cossacks were persecuting the Jews in that place.

Sukkos (Sukkoth)

• The Jewish harvest holiday

• Molly celebrated the Jewish holiday of Sukkoth.