Name:______________________________________________
STUDY
GUIDE
CHAPTERS 1-2
NIGHT
Date:___________________
NIGHT
STUDY GUIDE FOR CHAPTERS 1-2
2
Place Location: Locate and explain what happened in each place as it relates to Night.
Sighet, Transylvania (p. 1)
Galicia, near Kolomaye (p. 4)
Budapest, Hungary (p. 7)
Kaschau, Czechoslovakia (p. 21)
Auschwitz (p. 24)
Birkenau (p. 26)
Glossary of Terms in Night:
Moshe the Beadle (p. 1)
Moshe—Hebrew name for Moses; Moishe in the Yiddish vernacular.
Beadle—the caretaker or “man of all work” in a synagogue.
Hasidic (p. 1)—Jewish religious movement started in eastern Europe in the eighteenth century. Hasidism
is composed of many groups, usually headed by a charismatic leader. A Hasid (plural Hasidim) often
devotes his life to the study of Jewish scriptures, the Talmud, or the cabbala.
Synagogue (p. 1)—Jewish place of worship and study.
Talmud (p. 1)—collection of commentaries on biblical texts that form the foundation for the religious
laws of Judaism.
Cabbala (Kabbalah) (p. 1.)—Jewish mysticism, which interprets the Torah and classical Jewish texts
and practices as expressing a mystical doctrine concerning God’s simultaneous immanence (existing or
remaining within, as in being inherent) and transcendence (being above and independent of the material
universe), an attempted resolution to the ancient paradox of how the ultimate Being nevertheless comes to
be known and experienced by the created world. It began as an oral tradition of Judaism that dates from
Adam and was preserved by only a privileged few.
Maimonides (1135-1204) (p. 1)—Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco, and Egypt
during the Middle Ages. Although his copious works on Jewish law and ethics were initially met with
opposition during his lifetime, he was posthumously acknowledged to be one of the foremost rabbinical
philosophers in Jewish history.
Zohar (p. 3)—from the Hebrew meaning “light” or “splendor.” It is widely considered the most
important work of cabbala, Jewish mysticism. It is a mystical commentary on the Torah. It contains a
mystical discussion of God, the origin and structure of the universe, the nature of souls and sins,
redemption, good and evil, and related topics.
Gestapo (p. 4)—German acronym for Geheime Staatspolizei, the German secret state police during the
Nazi regime, organized in 1933 and notorious for its brutal methods and operations.
Admiral Miklos Horthy (1868-1957) (p. 6)—served as Regent of Hungary from 1920-1944. When
Soviet troops entered Hungary in 1944, Horthy sent an armistice commission to Moscow and announced
the surrender of Hungary. The Germans immediately forced Horthy to countermand his order and resign.
Nyilas Party (p. 6)—from the Hungarian, meaning “Arrow Cross,” a fascist, anti-semitic political party
that assumed power in October 1944 after Horthy’s resignation. They were responsible for assisting the
Germans in the deportation of Jews.
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Death’s Head (p. 7)—the skull insignia used by the SS brigades working in the concentration camps
Passover (p. 8)—in Hebrew, Pesach. This is the Greek word for the celebration to commemorate the
Exodus of Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. The celebration takes place in the spring.
Rabbi (p. 8)—the chief religious official of a synagogue, trained usually in a theological seminary and
duly ordained, who delivers the sermon at a religious service and performs ritualistic, pastoral,
educational, and other functions in and related to his or her capacity as a spiritual leader of Judaism and
the Jewish community.
Yellow Star (p. 8)—what Jews were forced to wear by the Nazis. It was a cloth badge with Jew, or Jude
in German, written in the center of a yellow six-pointed Star of David.
Ghetto (p. 9)—area set apart from the rest of a city where the Nazis began to confine the Jews.
Jewish Council (p. 9)—in German, Judenrat. They were administrative bodies that the Germans
required Jews to form in each ghetto. These bodies were responsible for local government in the ghetto,
and stood between the Nazis and the ghetto population. They were generally composed of leaders of the
Jewish community. They were forced by the Nazis to provide Jews for use as slave labor, and to assist in
the deportation of Jews to extermination camps during the Holocaust. Those who refused to follow Nazi
orders or were unable to cooperate fully were frequently rounded up and shot or deported to the
extermination camps themselves.
Pentecost (p. 10)—in Hebrew, Shavuot. This is the Greek word for the celebration for the giving of the
Torah. The celebration takes place on the 50th day after Easter.
Phylacteries (p. 13)—in Hebrew, tefillin. This is the Greek word for the straps of leather to which is
attached two black leather cubes that are worn during daily morning prayer and contain verses from the
Torah. According to Deuteronomy, two phylacteries were used, one for the head and one for the arm.
They were put on in such a way that one box rested on the head, between the eyes (seat of the mind) and
the other on the left arm opposite the heart (seat of the actions and the emotions, denoting that one loves
the Lord with one’s heart).
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Captivity of Babylon (p. 14)—refers to the Babylonian Exile, in which the Chaldeans under
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first Temple in Jerusalem in 86 B.C.E. and exiled the Jews from the
Kingdom of Judah to Babylon.
Spanish Inquisition (p. 14)—Church court to seek out and punish heretics that waged a brutal campaign
to punish nonbelievers in Spain, including Jews and Muslims. It was established by Ferdinand and
Isabella in 1478.
Boche or Bosche (p. 18)—derogatory French slang for a German, usually a soldier, that was used in
World War I and World War II.
“Saturday, the day of rest” (p. 19)—The Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat in Hebrew, which is the weekly
day of rest. It is observed from before sundown on Friday until after nightfall on Saturday.
“traditional Friday evening meal” (p. 19)—Three sumptuous meals are eaten each Shabbat after
synagogue services conclude: on Friday night, Saturday around noon, and late Saturday afternoon before
the conclusion of the Shabbat.
Vocabulary: Find the definition for each of the words below. Be sure to chose the definition that
best fits how the word was used in Night.
lorries (p. 4)
liquidate (p. 6)
truncheons (p. 13)
invalids (p. 14)
melancholy (p. 18)
guerrillas (p. 18)
farce (p. 19)
hermetically (p. 22)
pious (p. 22)
pestilential (p. 24)
abominable (p. 25)
electric torches (p. 26)