gornisht helfn. Nothing at all helped.
goyishe narishkeit. Gentile childish foolishness.
haredi. Ultra-Orthodox Jews.
HaShem. Literally, “the name.” A periphrastic way of referring to God in contexts other than prayer or scriptural reading, because the name itself is considered too holy for such use. HaShem Yaazor. God should help.
HaShem Yisborach. God be blessed. Interchangeable with Baruch Hashem and Yisborach HaShem.
HaShem Yishmor. God watch over us.
hashgacha pratis. Divine providence.
hechsher. Rabbinical stamp of approval, mostly referring to kosher status of food.
heimish. Homey, informal, cozy.
imyertza HaShem. God willing. Also abbreviated as: Mertsishem.
kallah moide. A young girl ready for marriage.
kapara. Expiation for one’s sins.
kaynahora. May the evil eye not see. Said in times of joy.
kibood av. The biblical obligation to honor one’s father.
kinderlach. Little children. Often used as an endearment.
kiruv. Outreach to non-Orthodox Jews to encourage belief in God and adherence to Orthodox Jewish law.
kollel. Talmudic academies of higher learning for men after high school, usually married men.
levayah. Funeral.
Litvish. Of or pertaining to Jews from Lithuania.
machashefa. Witch.
maggid shiur. Rabbi that lectures in a yeshiva or kollel.
mamash. Really, truly, actually.
mechalal Shabbos. A desecrator of the Sabbath.
mechilah. Formal forgiveness for sin.
mein kindt. Literally, “my child.” Term of endearment.
middos. Character traits.
midrash. Ancient Rabbinic commentary attached to the biblical text.
mishagas. Craziness. meshuganah, meshuga. A crazy person.
misphocha. The family.
Moshe Rabeinu. Moses our teacher.
nebbech. Sad, unfortunate.
niddah. A woman who is in a state of spiritual impurity during and after menstruation, preceding immersion in the ritual bath.
nigun. Tune, usually sung with sacred texts.
nesoyon. Spiritual test, usually something difficult or tragic. Nesyonos. (plural)
nivul peh. Desecration of the mouth by using foul language.
off the derech. Literally, “off the path,” referring to someone who has ceased to observe Orthodox Judaism.
parnosa. Income.
parsha. Torah portion.
prutza. An immoral woman, a whore.
rachmones. Piteous.
Rambam. Acronym for one of the greatest Jewish philosophers Moses ben Maimon (1135–1204), commonly known as Maimonides.
rechilus. False slander.
Rosh Yeshiva. Head of Talmudic academy.
rosha. Hebrew word for villain.
Shabbos. Affectionate term for Sabbath day.
shadchan. Matchmaker. shadchonim, shidduch. (plural). Match arranged by shadchan.
shayich. Relevant. Its opposite, “not shayich,” which denotes something that is irrelevant or a waste of time.
shechina. Divine presence.
shefelah. Literally, “little lamb.” Term of endearment.
Simchas Torah. Holiday in which Torah scrolls are taken from the ark and honored with dancing and singing.
Talmid chochom. A Torah scholar.
tisha b’Av. The ninth of Av, a day of fasting and mourning to commemorate the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans.
tumah. Spiritual impurity.
tzitzis. Four-cornered, fringed ritual garment worn by males under their clothes.
vort. Yiddish, literally, “word,” an engagement party where couple give their word to marry.
yeshivish. A version of ultra-Orthodoxy rooted in the Lithuanian followers of the Vilna Gaon who emphasized logic and scholarship as opposed to the Chassidic emphasis on feeling and emotion.
yichus. Good pedigree, important lineage. Observance.
yiras shomayim. Literally, “fear of heaven,” a pious, praiseworthy fear of sin.
zchus. Merit, reward.
Also by Naomi Ragen
FICTION
Sotah
Jephte’s Daughter
The Sacrifice of Tamar
The Ghost of Hannah Mendes
Chains Around the Grass
The Covenant
The Saturday Wife
The Tenth Song
The Sisters Weiss
The Devil in Jerusalem
Women’s Minyan, A Play
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
NAOMI RAGEN is the author of eleven novels, including several international bestsellers, and her weekly email columns on life in the Middle East are read by thousands of subscribers worldwide. An American, she has lived in Jerusalem for the past forty years and was voted one of the three most popular authors in Israel. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Also by Naomi Ragen
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group
AN UNORTHODOX MATCH. Copyright © 2019 by Naomi Ragen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Michael Storrings
Cover photographs: woman © Malgorzata Maj / Arcangel; tattoo © Eremeychuk Leonid / Alamy Stock Photo; man © Dov Makabaw Israel / Alamy Stock Photo
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-1-250-16122-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-16124-6 (ebook)
e-ISBN 9781250161246
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.
First Edition: September 2019
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