Night Chapters 1-2 Vocabulary

encumbered

loaded down; burdened

cherished

valuable

mysticism

vague, obscure thinking or belief' doctrine that states it is possible to achieve communion with God through contemplation and love

anecdote

short, entertaining, personal story

expound

explain or interpret, clarify

farce

exaggerated comedy; something that is ridiculous

hermetically

sealed in a completely airtight way

monotonous

tiresome because of little or no variation

pestilence

fatally contagious or infectious disease

firmament

the expanse of the heavens;sky

billeted

to be lodged, especially in reference to troops

ghetto

an area of a city which contains and restricts a certain portion of the population

Passover

a holiday celebrating the Jew's freedom from slavery in Egypt

Talmud

the codified body of Jewish civil and religious law including rabbinical commentaries on the Torah

Torah

the first five books of the Old Testament of the Bible

truncheon

a club

waif

a forsaken or homeless child

Zionism

a political movement concerned with founding a Jewish state in Palestine

stench

offensive smell or odor

abominable

nasty and disgusting; highly umpleasant