by Nickidewbear August 20, 2011
The head caste in Ancient and future Israel, the koheinim (priests) are Levi'im (Levites) who are descended from Aharon ben-Amram-v'Yokheved HaLevi.
"Cohen" is a variant of "Kohein". In turn, "Cohen" has variants such as "Katz" ("Kohan Tzedek", as in Phoebe Katz (Cates) Klein), "Kagan" or "Kajan" (variants of "Kahan" or "Kahane"; as in Associate SCOTUS Justice Elena Kagan), "Kohn" and "Kahn" (as in John Kohn (changed to Kerry by his granddad, Fritz Kohn)), and "Cohan" (a variant of "Kohein" not to be confused with the variant for the Irish "Keohane", though that may have some, if any, origins among koheinim based in Ireland).
by Nickidewbear August 19, 2011
Paradoxical or contradictory. Has both good and bad aspects and/or sides, but the bad may or does outweigh the good.
by Nickidewbear June 14, 2013
An awful time in Jewish and general history, the Spanish Inquisition was commenced by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand of Spain. Jews were systematically and specifically persecuted, forced either to convert to Roman Catholicism or be killed by the monarchy.
The Spanish Inquisition may have affected Christopher Columbus to be quiet about his own Jewish heritage.
by Nickidewbear November 26, 2011
A former gubernia or district in the Polish and Lithuanian divisions of the Russian Empire, Suwałki was one of the main areas of the Jewish Diaspora in Eastern Europe. Today, it is divided into areas in Podlaskie Province.
Suwałki City is in Northeastern Poland. From the former Suwałki gubernia area hails Jewish Diasporan fashion designer Marcela J. "Mia" Daniłowicz.
by Nickidewbear August 23, 2011
A Slavic and Ashkenazic Jewish surname meaning "new" (e.g., "Novy"), "Nov-ak" could also be a play on "Nov akh" or "frutiful brother" (Hebrew).
Bearers of the "Novak" surname include actress Kim Novak (who took "Novak" as her stagename), columnist and cancer victim Robert Novak, the psychotic astronaut and honorably-discharged Navy servicewoman Lisa Nowak, and Marysia "Maria" Novakova Rusnakova (1855-c. 1907) -- who was married to Jakub Rusnak (a member of the late Kosice, Slovakia Jewish Rusnaks) and was the paternal grandmother of Sgt. and Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander Carl Stephen Rusnak (January 2, 1922 - November 7, 1999; US Army, WW2, European Theater, honorably discharged after the war). By the way, Maria's relative Leopold Novak was an early victim of the Holocaust in then-Czechoslovakian Zlata Idka: he was murdered in a then-Aranydka mine in 1936.
by Nickidewbear August 19, 2011
An Ethnic Jew who believes in Jesus (Yeshua) as the Jewish Messiah (Mashiach/Moshiach). He or she may or may not be a member of the group Jews for Jesus.
A Jew For Jesus is also called a Messianic Jew or Jewish Christian. Among the most controversial Jews For Jesus was a Jewish man who was a Southern Baptist pastor named Martin Meyer "Moishe" Rosen (1932-2010). The late Moishe Rosen founded the group known as Jews For Jesus. Like individual Jews for Jesus are, the group Jews For Jesus is often a target of every kind of intolerance and persecution imaginable--most often from Anti Semitic and Anti Messianic ("Anti Missionary", "Counter Missionary") individuals and groups; ranging from individuals and groups who are racist against all Jews, anyway (such as David Duke and Stormfront, and Malik Zulu Shabbaz and the Pseudo-Jewish Black Hebrew Israelites), to individuals such as Tracey Rich of JewFAQ and groups such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis of the Union of Reform Judaism, who have issued multiple responsa against Messianic Jews and Messianic Judaism (e.g., "CCAR RESPONSA 'On Patrilineal Descent, Apostasy, and Synagogue Honors', 5758.11").
by Nickidewbear June 14, 2013