TEXT: By benjamin rosenbaum
  Dedicated to Avraham & Hanalee Lampert, Avraham & Basha Gelman, and Michael 
  Rosenbaum, who left the shtetl; and to those they left behind.
  A game of belonging outside belonging
  Illustrations by Ezra Rose
  Released 2018
  Dream Apart was written on the ancestral lands of the Piscataway; and also 
  in Europe, on lands that have welcomed a tapestry of shifting peoples since 
  Paleolithic times.
  Dream Apart
  The Overview
  Dream Apart gives us demons and wedding jesters; betrothals and pogroms; 
  mystical ascensions and accusations of murder; rabbis’ daughters running away 
  to be actresses or bandits or boy soldiers; the sounds of the shofar ringing 
  through cramped and muddy streets, of cannon fire, of the wolf’s footfalls in the 
  snowy pine forest; asking “What do you do next?” 
  In Dream Apart you play a Jew of the shtetl, a little mostly-Jewish market town 
  in the Eastern European countryside. In the cities, the industrial revolution has 
  begun. Prussia, Russia and the Hapsburgs have devoured the small countries 
  between them. Surrounded by an often hostile Christendom, by wild forests 
  in which anything might creep, and by the invisible creatures of the Unseen 
  World—angels, demons, ghosts, and dybbuks—we Jews of the shtetl try to 
  outwit or outlast those who would do us harm. We feud and reconcile, bargain 
  and gossip, celebrate and mourn, and snatch a little joy and love while we can. 
  Life in the shtetl is sweet as raisin pastries and bitter as horseradish: may it be the 
  Divine Will that it endures another season...
  Jewish fantasy of the shtetl.
  Immerse yourself in a fantastical version of history.
  Content warnings: violence, war, oppression, anti-Semitism.
  For 3-6 players across 3-4 hours.
  
  Welcome to The 
  SHTETL
  Circle 2 BLESSINGS
  friends among the peasants, a bustling market,  
  a favorable imperial decree, wise sages,  
  visionary leaders, a sympathetic goyish priest,  
  a secret benefactor, holy relics, fellowship,  
  solidarity, an unprecedented opportunity,  
  leverage with the nobles, robust health 
  Circle 3 CURSES
  hauntings, oppressive laws, ritual humiliations,  
  a pogrom brewing, demonic possessions, bandits, 
  war, plague, a murder, famine, crop failure, 
  dissension, false accusations, confiscations, 
  conspiracies, something monstrous
  Scrawl notes as you need.
  Draw a map to the right.
  some things you might draw
  the market square, the main synagogue,  
  the breakaway chassidic synagogue,  
  the inn and its stables, the mikveh,  
  the goyish church and its churchyard, the mill,  
  the peasants’ huts, the road to the manor,  
  a garrison, the borders of the wild forests
  Dream Apart
  
  Tips
  •	 Find people in their moments of weakness or 
  need, and offer them costly bargains.
  •	 Explore deviance, debt, and secrets.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever someone tells you a secret that gives you 
  leverage over them, they gain a token.
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN  
  •	 Get out of harm’s way.
  •	 Move unseen. 
  •	 Discover a secret name, human or otherwise.
  •	 Compel obedience with a secret name.
  •	 Forgive someone who wronged you.
  •	 Ask “What do you secretly desire right now?”
  •	 Ask “What do you wish I would do next?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Stare into someone’s eyes without blinking.
  •	 Listen in on the gossip of spirits.
  •	 Make a powerful bargain with demons or ghosts, 
  with a terrible or unexpected price.
  •	 Seek intimate seclusion with someone.
  •	 Ask “Who longs for you?”
  •	 Ask “What price would you pay for that?”
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Provoke others’ enmity, suspicion, or distrust.
  •	 Reap the consequences of meddling with the 
  Unseen World.
  •	 Invite a spirit to possess someone you care about.
  •	 Tell someone your secret name.
  •	 Give in to fear, greed, or malice, to your peril.
  •	 Ask “What makes me vulnerable in this situation?”
  Choose a Name
  ♀ Khaya, Malka, Rayna, Shifra-Tzirel, Taibeleh
  ♂ Khaim, Meishl, Sholom, Yosl, Zalman
  Choose A Look & an outlook
  calculating eyes, dead eyes, arresting eyes, 
  charming eyes, earnest eyes, terrified eyes
  pious, tormented, cynical, Lurianist, Frankist, 
  Sabbatian
  Choose an origin story
  witch’s apprentice, got the better of a bargain, 
  followed a false messiah, born with the gift,  
  a dead twin’s whispers, danced with Lilith
  Choose 2 of the unseen whose 
  names you know
  the tempting whisperer, the protector in childbirth, 
  the ghost of the miller’s wife, the record-keeper,   
  the thieves’ helper, the prince of fire, a pagan faerie, 
  the red-winged poisoner, the finder of the lost
  choose What The Spirits 
  revealed to You
  the murderer’s name, the abbot’s plot,  
  the time and manner of your death,  
  a spell for inducing passion, the rebbetzin’s secret vice,  
  the coming massacre, the heretical truth
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  the Rabbi fears you, the Rebbe enjoys your company, 
  a lover spurned you, the goyishe peasants come to you, 
  your estranged spouse despises you,  
  a rival mystic challenges you
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 What secret did I learn about you yesterday?
  •	 Why do you seek my help, and what are you 
  afraid it will cost?
  play to find out
  Will you redeem others, or lead them to ruin?
  What price will you pay for the knowledge you seek?
  Where do your obsessions come from?
  The world teems with spirits. They whisper in our ears 
  — devils that tempt us, angels that soothe, ghosts 
  that hunger to seize back life. Everyone hears the 
  whispers, whether they know it or not. The Sorcerer 
  whispers back.
  The Sorcerer is an unnerving individual. 
  Their power is mysterious, fraught, and otherworldly.
  Introducing the
  sorcerer
  Dream Apart
  
  Dream Apart
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN 
  •	 Get out of harm’s way.
  •	 Persuade mutually hostile groups to ally for now.
  •	 Alter the shtetl’s opinion of something.
  •	 Forgive someone who wronged you.
  •	 Fall out of love.
  •	 Ask “What is your greatest fear?”
  •	 Ask “Who or what do you secretly love?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Know the value of something.
  •	 Poke your nose into other people’s business.
  •	 Make introductions and manage clients.
  •	 Cave to someone’s demands. 
  •	 Ask “What do you need right now?”
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Alienate and make enemies of people
  •	 Stubbornly refuse to reconcile, at significant cost.
  •	 See one of your schemes go terribly awry.
  •	 Accidentally encounter the Unseen World.
  •	 Fall in love. (While in love: desperately avoid doing 
  anything that would dismay your beloved.)
  •	 Ask “Why do you resent me?”
  play to find out
  What threatens the shtetl’s peace, and your role?
  Whose happiness do you prioritize?
  Do you sow harmony, or jealousy and discord?
  Choose a Name
  ♀ Bayla, Dvorl, Gittel, Zelda, Zusa 
  ♂ Faivish, Velvel, Yonah, Zusman
  Choose A Look & an outlook
  laughing eyes, sharp eyes, resentful eyes, rueful eyes, 
  sparkling eyes, eyes that dissect pretense
  romantic, skeptic, opportunist, haredi, pietist, Musar 
  Choose 2 useful allies
  a crafty apprentice, a lovestruck blacksmith, 
  giggling schoolgirls with inquisitive ears,  
  the rebbetzin, a wealthy merchant
  Choose 1 that you lack and 
  desperately want, and 1 that 
  you have in abundance
  true friends, wealth, learning, a reputation for piety, 
  a clear conscience, faith in the World to Come,  
  self-control, true love, self-respect
  choose what they call you 
  behind your back
  a humorless prude, an indulgent fool,  
  a sucker for any pretty face, vulgar and unrefined, 
  miserly and cruel
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  the rival matchmaker is out to ruin you,  
  your sister knows your secret,  
  your daughter is in love with a goy,  
  your son was drafted by the czar,  
  you owe the miller money
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 How has our relationship changed recently?
  •	 Why have I been sizing you up lately?
  •	 What have you been trying to persuade me of?
  Tips
  •	 Use social power, reputation, and charisma to put 
  yourself in the center of the action.
  •	 Sometimes take foolish risks, unpopular positions, 
  and reckless gambles.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever someone relies on you to mediate a 
  dispute or secure their happiness, they gain a token.
  Introducing the
  matchmaker
  Your game: reconciling irreconcilable demands, turning 
  goats into darlings, knowing everyone’s price and 
  everyone’s vice! Let the rabbis of the bet din pontificate: 
  it’s the gossip of the market square and the mikveh 
  which is the shtetl’s lifeblood… and you own that.
  The Matchmaker is a persuasive individual.  
  Their power is social, material, and contingent.
  
  Dream Apart
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN 
  •	 Get out of harm’s way. 
  •	 Save the life of a patient, or ease someone’s pain.
  •	 Overpower someone, for their own good.
  •	 Reveal that someone present owes you a debt.
  •	 Fall in love. (While in love: see, keenly and 
  compassionately, your beloved’s true nature).
  •	 Ask “Who do you need to forgive?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Listen compassionately
  •	 Brew a stimulant, relaxant, or abortifacient
  •	 Forgive someone who wronged you.
  •	 Announce a pregnancy, miscarriage, or birth.
  •	 Ask “What aren’t you telling me?”
  •	 Ask “What kind of trouble are you in?” 
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Make an error of judgement, endangering 
  someone under your care or protection.
  •	 Succumb to depression, guilt, or shame.
  •	 Trust someone you shouldn’t.
  •	 Interfere with an ally out of scruples.
  •	 Accidentally encounter the Unseen World.
  •	 Ask “What loss do you blame me for?”
  Tips
  •	 When anyone is hurt or silenced, decide if you will 
  heal, support, or stand up for them.
  •	 Sometimes be so driven, rash, or grief-stricken 
  that you cause trouble for yourself and others.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever  someone places themselves under your 
  care, or follows your advice, they gain a token.
  Choose a Name
  ♀ Khannah, Miriam, Ruti, Tovah, Tzipporah, Zula 
  ♂ Binyamin, Khatskl, Tevye, Tzvi 
  Choose A Look & an outlook
  strong hands, gentle hands, restless hands, callused 
  hands, stubborn hands
  pragmatist, idealist, traditionalist, pantheist, Musar, 
  Nachmanidean
  Choose 2 advantages
  a remarkable sense of smell, perfect memory, 
  prodigious strength, keen eyesight, quick reflexes, 
  unending patience, an unreadable expression, 
  humility, an unflappable sense of humor
  Choose what you’ve seen
  a wolf cub born to a woman, a brutal murder,  
  the abbey’s secret catacombs, three talking ravens, 
  armies on the move nearby, a demon’s bride,  
  a desperate girl, a cottage deep in the forest
  Decide who you’ve angered
  •	 the rabbinical council, by defying a ban
  •	 your child, by vetoing a marriage arrangement
  •	 the tailor’s guild, by speaking up for  
  the apprentices
  •	 the market women, by defending the prostitutes
  •	 your sister, with your intrusive advice
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  the goyish peasants come to you,  
  the goyish priest suspects you,  
  your daughter has run away,  
  the city-educated doctor resents you,  
  you are a young bride’s only hope,  
  your lover broke your heart
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 What have you come to me for recently?
  •	 What terrible event did we live through together?
  play to find out
  How can you cope with the suffering you witness?
  Where does your stubborn sense of justice come from?
  Does your life have balance?
  Introducing the
  midwife
  Birth is always in the shadow of death — blood, pain, 
  labor, Lilith plotting to steal infant breath. And yet, 
  in that first breath, the world and all its joy are born 
  anew. This is where the Midwife stands: in the balance. 
  The Midwife is a resourceful individual.
  Their power is material, reactive, and humane. 
  
  Dream Apart
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN 
  •	 Get out of harm’s way.
  •	 Defuse a tense situation with jokes or beauty.
  •	 Pull off an impossibly daring stunt.
  •	 Find one of your contacts in an unexpected place
  •	 Fall out of love.
  •	 Ask “How could I make you admire me?”
  •	 Ask “What do you have that I might want?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Entertain with one of your arts.
  •	 Show up where you’re least expected.
  •	 Lie fairly convincingly.
  •	 Bolt for the nearest exit.
  •	 Ask “What are you thinking about right now?”
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Blunder into a bad situation, totally unprepared.
  •	 Lie unconvincingly, or get caught with no alibi.
  •	 Spectacularly screw up a hustle, prank, or gambit
  •	 Fall in love. (While in love: do foolish, desperate 
  things to win or impress your beloved).
  •	 Accidentally encounter the Unseen World. 
  •	 Ask “How have I earned your ire?”
  Tips
  •	 Pursue bold schemes, immoderate appetites, 
  outrageous beauty, and improbable adventures.
  •	 Explore the tensions between individual and 
  community, between joy and duty.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever someone  offers you a new gig, or is 
  moved to change by your practice of an art, they 
  gain a token.
  Choose a name
  ♀ Esther, Glukel, Mirl, Shayna, Shira
  ♂ Alchonon, Dovid, Mordekhai, Motke, Yossi, Zelig 
  Choose A Look & AN OUTLOOK
  nimble hands, furtive hands, lovely hands, rough 
  hands, soft hands, bold hands
  mercenary, opportunistic, philosophical, libertine, 
  chassid, maskil
  Choose 3 arts you practice
  fiddle, clarinet, song, dance, seduction,  
  picking pockets, flattery, horn, drums, balalaika, 
  gambling, fencing stolen goods, confidence games, 
  leading prayers, officiating at weddings, poetry, 
  storytelling, sleight of hand, purimspiel, theater
  Choose 2 contacts in the 
  outside world
   the Pinsker rebbe, the Bandit Queen,  
  the lieutenant of the regiment,  
  the Cossack leader’s bride, a band of revolutionaries, 
  a band of Romany horsetraders, a traveling magician, 
  a theater manager in Odessa
  choose What you long for
  love, revenge, reconciliation, wealth, adventure, 
  respect, renown, homecoming
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  your estranged father resents you,  
  the rabbi’s daughter longs for you,  
  the boy whose heart you broke wants to kill you, 
  your mentor wants to control you,  
  your erstwhile spouse wants you back
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 What did I borrow from you recently?
  •	 How did I capture your attention yesterday?
  •	 Why don’t you trust me?
  play to find out
  How do your creations and exploits affect the shtetl?
  Can you resist temptations and distractions from what 
  you truly long to create?
  Introducing the
  klezmer
  Is it that you break too many hearts? Too many rules? 
  Too many promises? You’ve been chased onto the 
  roads by dogs, Jews, goyim, and your own restless 
  nature. Still, every wedding or Purim, the shtetl needs 
  you. To spin joy from its suffering.
  The Klezmer is a charming individual. 
  Their power is artful, ephemeral, and inspiring. 
  
  Dream Apart
  Tips
  •	 Argue passionately for your standards and 
  interpretations, and rebuke those who fail them.
  •	 Bring forward epistemic, ethical, and legal 
  dilemmas, and make them matter.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever someone comes to you for knowledge, 
  or is guided by your interpretation of the Law, they 
  gain a token.
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN 
  •	 Get out of harm’s way.
  •	 Deduce a hidden truth.
  •	 Persuade someone with reason and learning.
  •	 Enter or confront the Unseen World, with 
  determined preparation and knowledge.
  •	 Fall in or out of love. (While in love: make unwise 
  choices for love, but pursue them with great vigor 
  and skill). 
  •	 Ask “What do you wish I would do next?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Peform (or scorn) obligatory daily rituals.
  •	 Advise someone on a point of fact or law.
  •	 Look for solace in ritual and contemplation.
  •	 Peform a deed of lovingkindness.
  •	 Ask “What troubles you?”
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Admit wrongdoing and ask for forgiveness.
  •	 Insist on contentiously debating a minor point.
  •	 Withdraw into your studies, avoiding 
  responsibility.
  •	 Attract unwanted attention, human or otherwise.
  •	 React with rigid dogmatism and resentment.
  •	 Ask “What temptation am I at risk of succumbing to?”
  play to find out
  Will you be forced to revise your interpretations?
  Will you yield to your temptations?
  How creative or rigid are you?
  Choose a name
  ♀ Bruria, Fruma, Yentl
  ♂ Eli, Ephraim, Menakhem, Mendl, Meyer, Moysheh
  Choose A Look & an outlook
  pensive face, austere face, joyful face, stern face, 
  inquisitive face, youthful face, weary face
  rationalist, traditionalist, skeptic, misnagid, 
  Maimonidean, maskil
  Choose 2 areas of expertise
  agricultural law, protective amulets, ritual purity, 
  Gentile sciences, mystical ascension, property law, 
  family law, ritual slaughter, portents of the Messiah
  choose 2 great temptations
  ultimate knowledge, fame and honor,  
  proving yourself superior to your rivals,  
  the lusts of the body, wealth and influence,  
  despair and self-loathing
  decide what brings salvation
  •	 we must return physically to Jerusalem to pray
  •	 we must decode the secrets of the Book of Creation
  •	 we must suffer our deserved exile humbly
  •	 we must build a truly just society on Earth
  •	 we must stand up to our enemies with valor
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  your feuding children break your heart,  
  your mentor conspires on your behalf,  
  your rivals spread rumors,  
  the court weighs a ban against you,  
  the one you love ignores you,  
  the people seek your legal opinions
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 What problem did I solve for you?
  •	 What have I failed to ask your forgiveness about?
  Introducing the
  SCHOLAR
  The Law is a Tree of Life for those who cling to 
  it, nourishment in the wilderness. Our temple is 
  destroyed, our people scattered among the nations. 
  What we have: the Law, and those who study it. Our 
  glory, our burden.
  The Scholar is a discerning individual. 
  Their power is discursive, methodical , and 
  constraining.
  
  Dream Apart
  Strong Moves              SPEND A TOKEN 
  •	 Get out of harm’s way.
  •	 Kill someone.
  •	 Eavesdrop undetected on a conversation. 
  •	 Forgive someone who wronged you.
  •	 Fall in or out of love. (While in love: conceal your 
  love, taking secret risks on your beloved’s behalf).
  •	 Ask “How are you vulnerable to me right now?”
  •	 Ask “What should I be on the lookout for?”
  Regular Moves
  •	 Take action, leaving yourself vulnerable.
  •	 Try to take part in the normal life of the shtetl.
  •	 Use a skill or object brought back from the war.
  •	 Draw a weapon.
  •	 Chafe against the shtetl’s rules and limits. 
  •	 Ask “What do you remember about me, from before?”
  Weak Moves                    Gain A TOKEN
  •	 Get drunk at the worst possible time.
  •	 Confuse the present with the horrors of the past
  •	 Demand an explanation from someone
  •	 Accidentally encounter the Unseen World.
  •	 Fail to react at a crucial moment.
  •	 Ask “Why are you sorry that I returned?”
  •	 Ask “Whose motives should I second-guess right 
  now?”
  Tips
  •	 Bring your traumas and unfinished business  
  into play.
  •	 Explore themes of alienation, regret, and 
  homecoming.
  •	 Make your character fallible and relatable.
  Lure
  Whenever someone gives you an opportunity to
  prove yourself to the shtetl, they gain a token.
  Choose a name
  ♀ Dverye, Golda, Yudit, Yael 
  ♂ Avrum, Ber, Herschel, Leyb, Sasha, Shimshon
  Choose A Look & an outlook
  scarred face, empty face, yearning face, open face, 
  haunted face, innocent face
  cynic, romantic, survivor, Bundist, nationalist,  
  proto-Zionist
  Choose 3 skills from the war
  tactics, sharpshooting, staying awake for days, 
  passing as a goy, passing as male, dueling, 
  embezzlement, brawling, interrogation,  
  hard drinking, enforcing discipline with brutality, 
  inspiring followers by example and appeals to honor, 
  looting and scavenging, gambling,  
  suppressing all emotion
  Choose 2 you brought back
  a loaded pistol, a rifle with fixed bayonet,  
  three pounds of shrapnel in your body,  
  a chest of looted silverware, nightmares,  
  the memory of forbidden love, tuberculosis, 
  syphilis, a saber, a forbidden book
  CHOOSE What haunts You most
  his feverish face, the moment before the blast,  
  what you did in Sevastopol, your mother’s wish,  
  the screams
  Choose 2 shtetl relationships
  your true love married another,  
  your siblings resent your return,  
  your best friend fears you, a casual lover is using you, 
  a stranger’s face has stolen your heart
  Choose one to ask left
  •	 Why do you wish I had never come back?
  •	 How did you get me to let my guard down,  
  if only for a moment?
  play to find out
  Can you overcome your past and find your way back?
  Are you a guardian, a troublemaker, or a trainwreck?
  Do you miss the war?
  Goyim they draft at 18, Jews at 12. Six years of drills 
  and beatings to try and get the yid out. Or did you 
  lie your way in? Then hunger, marching, torn bodies 
  in the mud. Now you’ve come back, to a place you 
  barely remember...
  The Soldier is a lost individual. 
  Their power is violent, suspect, and hard-won.
  Introducing the
  soldier
  
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Dream Apart
  Circle 2 desires
  competition, complicity, luxury, 
  uncomfortable bargains, suffering 
  without, the big score, honest dealing, 
  less for some and more for others, 
  collapse of supply lines
  Tips
  •	 Demonstrate how economic 
  tensions and compromises affect 
  the shtetl.
  •	 Introduce customers, suppliers, 
  debtors, creditors, and dependents, 
  with their own agendas, needs and 
  perspectives.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Someone enters the market, tries 
  to make a deal, lacks something 
  important, or is enjoying material 
  comfort.
  Trade away when
  You need something material and don’t 
  immediately know where to get it.
  Moves
  •	 Show someone acting foolishly out 
  of need and desperation.
  •	 Present a risky opportunity with an 
  enticing upside.
  •	 Introduce a threat to the shtetl’s 
  livelihood or necessary supplies.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  Forbidden to farm, we find other solutions. A few of us serve the interests of the 
  powerful -- as tax collectors, estate agents, financiers, advisors — so that when 
  the goyish peasants rise up against their oppression, it’s killing us that sates their 
  discontent. Others are millers, tailors, shoemakers, bakers, blacksmiths, distillers, 
  tavernkeepers, carters, peddlers, rag-pickers, beggars, thieves, and prostitutes.
   
  The lords own the land; the peasants work the land. We are landless, go-betweens, 
  living by wit, grit, and moxie. Eating potato peels and kasha, but maybe just one good 
  deal away from dining on goose and white bread...
  You also play the 
  market
  The head of the yeshiva can barely drag his pair of peasant boots across the ﬂoor, 
  while the student’s coarse shoes are slipping off his bare feet. That’s all that remained 
  of the famous yeshiva! .... So be it: they would fast, mortify their ﬂesh, and open all the 
  gates of the universe—with its mysteries, spirits, and angels! 
   — I. L. Peretz, “The Kabbalists”
  My mother pawned the silver sabbath candlesticks and her silk shawl, which, as she 
  had told us, had been a wedding present from her grandmother. She took several 
  rubles, bundled me into an old sheepskin coat... and we were off to the city. 
   — Israel Rabon, “The City Doctor”, tr. Leonard Wolf
  Among us Tartakovsky had the nicknames Yid-and-a-Half and Nine Holdups. He 
  was called Yid-and-a-Half because no one Jew could contain so much insolence and 
  so much money as Tartakovsky. He was taller than the tallest policeman in Odessa 
  and he weighed more than the fattest Jewess. And he was nicknamed Nine Holdups 
  because [our gang] had held up his place not ten or eight times, but exactly nine.
   — Isaac Babel, “In Odessa”
  Reb Isaac earned his living with [a cane that had once belonged to Rabbi Chozkele 
  of Kuzmar]. Women who were having difficult pregnancies borrowed it; it was also 
  used to cure children suffering from scarlet fever, whooping cough, and croup, and 
  was reputed to be helpful in exorcising dybbuks, stopping hiccups, and finding buried 
  treasure.
   — Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Three Tales”, tr. Ruth Whitman & Cecil Hemley
  They carried out hot samovars with glasses of tea, sugar and preserves, delicious 
  omelets, fresh, wonderful-smelling butter cakes, and afterwards all kinds of food, the 
  most expeensive tarts, rich, fatty soups, roasts, geese, along with the finest wines and 
  ales. I stood off to the side and marveled at the way, kayn eyn horeh, the rich folks from 
  Yehupetz eat and drink, God bless them.... The crumbs that fell off that table would 
  have fed my children for a week, at least until Saturday.
  — Isaac Bashevis Singer, Tevye the Dairyman, tr. Aliza Shevrin
  
  Dream Apart
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Circle 2 desires
  transcendance, intimacy with the living, 
  implacable justice, leading astray, 
  destruction & transformation, rebellion, 
  cosmic revelation, eternal rest
  Tips
  •	 Describe the subtle impact that 
  the Unseen World has on everyday 
  people and places.
  •	 When people interact with the 
  Unseen World, add terrifying, 
  mysterious, and numinous sensory 
  details, resonances, and memories.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Someone calls out to angels or 
  demons, remembers the dead, or 
  longs for something they can’t or 
  shouldn’t have.
  Trade away when
  You do any of the above, or otherwise 
  encounter the Unseen World.
  Moves
  •	 Enter into someone’s perceptions, 
  recollections, appetites, and 
  unconscious associations.
  •	 Tempt someone with a half-heard 
  whisper.
  •	 Reveal something hidden.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  The air is thick with fearsome radiant angels. On every shoulder, a demon whispers 
  temptations in an ear. Our souls split in three parts when we die — the nefesh and 
  the ruach linger, longing for mortal flesh, long after the neshama has ascended to its 
  reward. And the Divine Will is fractured, exploded in Its own Exile from Itself. Three of 
  the four Sages who mystically entered Paradise ended up dead, mad, or apostate.
  It can offer guidance, protection, transformation... but never safely. Let those who seek 
  the Unseen World — or who attract its notice — beware..
  You also play the
  unseen
  world
  “Now, now, child! That will do. A holy scroll must not be kissed too long. They are 
  written in black fire upon white fire.” 
   — S. Ansky, “The Dybbuk”
  I dozed inside the mirror. The net had been spread; the victim was ready. Yawning, I 
  considered my next step. Should I seduce a rabbi’s daughter? deprive a bridegroom of 
  his manhood? plug up the synagogue chimney? turn the Sabbath wine into vinegar? 
  — Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Mirror”, tr. Norbert Guterman
  “Before leaving your house, throw the prayer book into the rubbish and spit on the 
  mezuzah.... Then come straight to me. I’ll bear you on my wings from Krashnik to the 
  desert. We’ll fly over fields filled with toadstools, over woods inhabited by werewolves, 
  over the ruins of Sodom where serpents are scholars, hyenas are singers, crows are 
  preachers, and thieves are entrusted with the money for charity. There ugliness is 
  beauty, and crooked is straight....”
  “I’m afraid, little devil, I’m afraid.”
  “Everyone who goes with us is.”
  — Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Mirror”, tr. Norbert Guterman
  Igrath the daughter of Mahalath [queen of the demons] met Rabbi Hanina ben Dosa 
  [and] said to him, ‘Had they not made an announcement concerning you in Heaven, 
  “Take heed of Hanina and his learning,” I would have put you in danger.’ ‘If I am of 
  account in Heaven,’ replied he, ‘I order you never to pass through settled regions.’ ‘I beg 
  you,’ she pleaded, ‘leave me a little room.’ So he left her the nights of Sabbaths and the 
  nights of Wednesdays.
  — Pesachim 112b, Talmud
  “The angel in charge of Edom has marshalled a clan of demons against you. Satan lies 
  in wait also. Asmodeus is undermining you, Lilith and Namah hover at your bedside. 
  You don’t see them, but Shabriri and Briri are treading at your heels. If the Angels were 
  not defending you, that unholy crowd would pound you to dust and ashes. But you do 
  not stand alone, Rabbi of Tishevitz. Lord Sandalphon guards your every step. Metatron 
  watches you from his luminescent sphere. Everything hangs in the balance, man of 
  Tishevitz...”
  “Forgive me, my lord, but I require another sign.... show me your feet.”
  The moment the rabbi of Tishevitz speaks these words, I know everything is lost. We 
  [demons] can disguise all parts of our body but the feet. From the smallest imp right 
  up to Ketev Meiri we all have the claws of geese.
  — Isaac Bashevis Singer, “The Last Demon”, tr. Martha Glicklich
  
  Dream Apart
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Circle 2 desires
  universally acknowledged supremacy, 
  hierarchy and order, connection and 
  solidarity, profit, military dominance, 
  conversion of the Jews, cathartic 
  violence against scapegoats and 
  outsiders 
  Tips
  •	 Give the goyim names, and give 
  people reasons to care about and 
  sympathize with them.
  •	 Make decisions about the privileges, 
  rights, and restrictions that apply to 
  different castes of society.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Someone enters a goyish place or 
  attracts the attention of the goyim, or 
  you see an opportunity for the goyishe 
  world to intrude.
  Trade away when
  You need to deal with the goyishe 
  world, or they come looking for you.
  Moves
  •	 Introduce someone who could help 
  the shtetl, or needs the shtetl’s help.
  •	 Manifest threats of persecution, 
  exploitation, expulsion or violence.
  •	 Expose factions and tensions among 
  the goyim, and pressure the shtetl to 
  take sides.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  Fair business dealings, moments of alliance, true friendships: they exist between Jews 
  and goyim, but they all rest uneasily, as if on melting ice. At any moment, murderous 
  violence can break through.
  Bishop and Brigadier, peasants and brigands, the chaste Abbess and the trysting 
  Baroness, all know: that all redemption in this sinful world is from the the Lord Jesus 
  Christ. That the Jews, filthy and conniving, denied Him. That they murdered Him. 
  And the worst thing, the unforgivable thing — the secret wound at the heart of 
  Christendom — that they gave birth to Him. That He was theirs first.
  You also play the
  goyishe
  world
  We were all in great danger. But Rebekah was everywhere in front as well as behind 
  and she told us not to despair: she knew for certain that the corpse would be found, for 
  the servant had sworn on her life and had given her all the particulars.... Meanwhile 
  the news had spread throughout the town and all sorts of workmen and [riff-raff] in 
  countless numbers had collected before the door of the murderer’s house. The mob 
  had decided, “if the Jews find the murdered man, it will be well for them. If not, there 
  will not remain a Jewish hide.”
  — Glückel of Hameln, Memoirs
  The officer who escorted them said, “They have collected a crew of cursed little Jew 
  boys of 8 or 9 years old.  Whether they are taking them for the navy or what, I can’t say.  
  At first, the orders were to drive them to Perm; then there was a change and we are 
  driving them to Kazan.  I took them over [sixty miles] farther back...It’s dreadful, and 
  that’s all about it;  a third were left on the way’ (and the officer pointed to the earth).  
  ‘Not half will reach their destination.’
  — Russian proto-socialist Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen, describing a meeting in 1835 
  with a convoy of Jewish children drafted into military service; khappers (press-
  gangers) sometimes took children younger than the official minimum of 12 years old
  Some soldiers... were allowed after retirement to trade without having special 
  permission.... Such an old corporal was sometimes used as a shield by Jews from 
  Lithuania who had no rights to enter Kurzeme and Vidzeme. As a small boy I saw 
  several times an old gray soldier sitting like a king on the load of manufacture in a cart 
  owned by a Jew, who paid salary, served and supplied food to this soldier.
  — Jēkabs Štūlis, describing life in a Latvian fishing village in the 1850s
  [At one side of the oven, traveling] Jews slept for a night and, if they happened to 
  spend nights here during the winter festivity, stuck small candles on the bricks while 
  praying.
  — Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš, recalling his childhood in the 1880s as a poor Latvian 
  Christian farmer
  “One-third will die, one-third will emigrate, and one-third will disappear (i.e. be 
  converted).”
  — Konstantin Petrovich Pobedonostsev, adviser to Tsar Alexander III 1881-1893, 
  lay head of the Russian Orthodox Church 1890-1905, on his approach to the 
  Jewish question
  
  Dream Apart
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Circle 2 desires
  infusion of meaning in everything, 
  human obedience, shared knowledge, 
  epiphanies, division of the forbidden 
  from the permitted, schism and dispute
  Tips
  •	 Introduce experts, savants, zealots, 
  heretics, and skeptics -- Jewish and 
  goyish. Make them relatable, and 
  give them names.
  •	 Suggest details of the texts and 
  traditions, for others to flesh out.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Matters of law and tradition arise, 
  there is a debate over what’s right or 
  what to do, or you have an idea for 
  how the demands of tradition could 
  intrude
  Trade away when
  You are centrally involved in debates, 
  researches, or ceremonies.
  Moves
  •	 Reveal where valuable information 
  can be found, and the barriers to 
  getting it.
  •	 Give voice to the tradition.
  •	 Introduce a divisive debate about 
  interpretations or practices.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  When the Sages of the Academy debated the matter of the oven of Aknai, a Divine 
  Voice spoke from Heaven, saying, “Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus is correct!” But the 
  scholars retorted, “the Law was given to us; it is not in Heaven.” 
  The tradition, eternal but ever-changing, is a Tree of Life, nourishing those who cling 
  to it with serenity, mercy, and wisdom. But the Evil Urge is a scholar too, tempting 
  the arrogant. Applied without lovingkindness, tradition can become tyranny. The 
  sheltering branches can become a thicket, and seekers can go astray...
  You also play the
  texts &
  traditions
  R. Eliezer then said to the Sages, “If the Law agrees with me, let it be proved from 
  heaven.” Sure enough, a divine voice cried out, “Why do you dispute with R. Eliezer, 
  with whom the Law always agrees?” R. Joshua stood up and protested: “The Torah is 
  not in heaven!” (Deut. 30:12). We pay no attention to a divine voice because long ago 
  at Mount Sinai You wrote in your Torah at Mount Sinai, `After the majority must one 
  incline’. (Ex. 23:2)”  R. Nathan met [the prophet] Elijah and asked him, “What did the 
  Holy One do at that moment?” Elijah: “He laughed [with joy], saying, ‘My children have 
  defeated Me, My children have defeated Me.’”
  — Baba Mezia 59b, Talmud
  The prophets handed [the Torah of Moses] down to the men of the Great Assembly.... 
  Shimon the Righteous was one of [its] last survivors.  He used to say: The world stands 
  upon three things: on the Torah, on prayer, and on deeds of loving kindness.
  — Pirke Avot 1-2, Mishna
  The twenty-two sounds and letters are the foundation of all things... Air, Water and 
  Fire... Life and Death; Peace and War; Wisdom and Folly; Riches and Poverty; Grace 
  and Indignation; Fertility and Solitude; Power and Servitude...Sight, Hearing, Smell, 
  Speech, Taste, Sexual Love, Work, Movement, Anger, Mirth, Imagination, and Sleep.
  — Sefer Yetzirah (the Book of Creation), ancient mystical text, tr. Wm. Wynn Westcott
  On the eve of every Sabbath, Rab Hanina and Rab Hoshaiah... used to create a 
  delicious calf by means of the Sefer Yetzirah, and ate it on the Sabbath.
  — Sanhedrin 65b, 67b, Talmud
  R. Kahana said: If the Sanhedrin [assembly of judges] unanimously find [the accused] 
  guilty, he is acquitted.
  — Sanhedrin 17a, Talmud
  R. Tarfon.... used to say: it is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are 
  you free to desist from it. 
  — Pirke Avot 2:21, Talmud
  [T]he beadle... proclaimed the peace of the Sabbath. Then [the golem] was seized as if 
  by madness; his eyes rolled and burned like flaming wheels, his breath was visible and 
  sparkled with wonderful colors, and he began a terrible destruction in the house.
  — Ludwig A. Frankl, Vaterländische Sagen und Legenden IV, 1836
  
  Dream Apart
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Circle 2 desires
  community, intimacy, honor, self-
  destruction, safety, the moral high 
  ground, judgement, compassion, 
  defiance, nonconformity, vindication, 
  fame, joy in the misfortunes of others
  Tips
  •	 Explore the potential tensions, 
  secrets, disappointments, and 
  dissatisfactions in every relationship.
  •	 Make sure reputation matters 
  profoundly in the shtetl.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Someone does something 
  transgressive or praiseworthy, defies or 
  upholds the shtetl’s norms, or shares a 
  secret.
  Trade away when
  You do any of the above, or your 
  actions or words command the 
  attention of the whole shtetl.
  Moves
  •	 Offer someone an opportunity to 
  condemn, forgive, rebuke, redeem, 
  or exclude.
  •	 Put two people alone together.
  •	 Introduce a scandal that others must 
  decide whether to reveal or cover up.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  Our Sages taught that gossip slays three: the speaker, the listener, and the one 
  discussed; that the tongue is a sharpened arrow that kills, not merely at forty or fifty 
  cubits, but throughout the heavens and the earth. 
  But the shtetl has a genius for gossip: our neighbors’ doings are as tasty as borscht. 
  How else will we know who is up and who is down, who is wise and who a fool, who 
  to be envied and who to be pitied? Are we not also commanded — not only to love —  
  but also to rebuke our neighbors? Without gossip, how will we know who to rebuke?
  You also play
  gossip &
  reputation
  Her husband Haim-Barukh was... a holy vessel, a blessing from God. He used to sit 
  for hours with the Rebbe, long may he live, without speaking a word... Well, would 
  you talk to such a man about taking a job? Why, then, did people... call him... “Sarah-
  Rivka’s husband”? Why did they hang all his wisdom on the pot of peas with yeast that 
  Sarah-Rivka sold at the market? It was incomprehensible. It caused her, Sarah-Rivka 
  herself, terrible anguish.
   — I. L. Peretz, “The Rebbe’s Pipe”
  “The matchmaker Berl-Mikhl told me,”  Grandfather went on, “that you drove him 
  away in anger for suggesting a match between your brilliant brother and a sborshchik 
  [tax-collector and representative of the czarist government]. So, let me tell you brieﬂy, 
  my dear rabbi... either you arrange the match, or ﬁnd yourself another town.” In this 
  instance all of Grandfather’s despotism and wildness was revealed. The rabbi was left 
  stunned, white as chalk.
   — Yekhezkel Kotik, Journey to a Nineteenth-Century Shtetl
  Two scandals at once! ...And such an oddly matched pair: the poor cantor’s daughter 
  and the richest man’s son... Shopkeepers locked up their shops, teachers left their 
  schoolrooms, workers laid aside their tools, and housewives abandoned their stoves. 
  All went to the town center to gather in small circles... It looked just like a Shabbes after 
  shul... Then yet another person... elbowed his  way in and posed a perplexing question. 
  “Hear me out, Jews... how is it that our young couple decided to disappear on the very 
  same Saturday night that the Yiddish acting company left town?” 
   — Sholem Aleichem, Wandering Stars, tr. Aliza Shevrin
  If one gazes even at the little finger of a woman with the intent to have pleasure from  
  it, it is as though he gazed at her shameful place.
  — Josef Karo, Shulchan Aruch
  The tongue can be as murderous as the hand.
  — Arachin 15b, Talmud
  Rabbi Hanina said: Jerusalem was destroyed only because the people [there] did not 
  rebuke one another.
  — Shabbat 119b, Talmud
  
  Dream Apart
  Dream Apart
  sources
  Circle 2 desires
  secrecy, the smell of fear, freedom from 
  constraint and custom, return to the old 
  ways, human flesh and bone, refuge, 
  revenge,  found family
  Tips
  •	 Give people a reason to enter the 
  Wild Forest.
  •	 Demonstrate the impact of the Wild 
  Forest and its denizens on local 
  plans, traditions, imaginations and 
  resources.
  •	 Ask compelling questions and build 
  on the answers that others give.
  Pick up when
  Someone wanders into the Wild Forest, 
  or confronts its creatures or denizens, 
  or you see an opportunity for it to 
  intrude its tendrils into the story.
  Trade away when
  You venture beyond the shtetl, seek out 
  the natural world, or interact with the 
  creatures of the Wild Forest.
  Moves
  •	 Put the Wild Forest in someone’s 
  way.
  •	 Bring in reports and rumors from the 
  Wild Forest.
  •	 Offer an opportunity to those 
  who dare to loosen their grip on 
  civilization.
  After every move, ask “What do you do?”
  Bandits, of course. Lone cottages of woodcutters. Revolutionaries, and who knows if 
  they’ll want to claim the shtetl, or to burn it. The Roma with their wagons and horses 
  and fiddles, ready to trade melodies. Fairies and trolls, and stranger things — things 
  the goyim here worshipped, before the Cross found them — hiding in the deep silence.
  Beyond the shtetl’s bounds, past the farms, over the rushing brook, its shadow  
  creeps onto acorns and fallen leaves. Sooner or later, perhaps, you too will  
  have to venture into the Wild Forest.
  You also play the
  wild
  forest
  “You probably never heard what happened between [the witch of the forest caves, 
  mother of the bandit king Dobosh] and Rabbi Leib Saras. She was still young and lusty 
  at the time, a shameless harlot. Well, the rabbi liked to go into the woods and immerse 
  himself into a pool there before saying his prayers. One morning he looked up and saw 
  the Dobosh woman standing naked before him with her hair unloosened down her 
  back. When he cried out the Holy Name, a whirlwind caught hold of her and carried 
  her to the top of a tree. ‘Rabbi, marry me,’ she called out from the branch from which 
  she was sitting, ‘and we’ll rule the world together.’”
  — Isaac Bashevis Singer, “Three Tales”, tr. Ruth Whitman and Cecil Hemley
  One night, [the Cossacks] drew near in order to torch the city and carry out a slaughter 
  among its residents. A tumult arose...and half the [town’s] residents fled to the nearby 
  forests. One could already hear the shooting from the direction of Janów.... The 
  municipal policeman, an older military man, together with the sexton of the cloister, 
  raised an alarm. Banging on the cloister drum, they gave orders in a loud voice, and in 
  doing so, gave the impression that there was a large military detachment present. The 
  Cossacks .... decided to pull back.
  — Wincenty Dawid, recalling the 1863 January Uprising; many Jews sided with 
  Polish rebels, against the czarist army and the Cossack paramilitaries
  In a village, Kovencik, there were tall mountains and deep valleys and even deeper 
  hidden caves. In one of these caves, the Jews gathered and studied Talmud and the 
  laws.... The goyim..., would tell them when the authorities, who persecuted them, were 
  coming. The spot was holy to the goyim... [t]hey called it “the Jewish School”.
  — Feige Ethel Boim, retelling a legend of Szczebrzeszyn
  Scarcely had she uttered her wish when the good rabbi leaped out of the window an 
  dashed off into the deep forest... here, he started devouring people.
  — “The Rabbi Who Was Turned into a Werewolf”, from the Mayse-Book (1602)
  
  glossary
  abbot leader of a Christian monastery
  angel divine messenger; may be 
  terrifying or comforting
  bet din rabbinical court of three rabbis
  Book of Creation mystical text with 
  symbolic visions of the Divine world
  Bundist of a Jewish socialist movement
  chassid devotional follower of a 
  hereditary dynasty of populist, 
  charismatic, miracle-working rebbes 
  Christendom lands where Christianity is 
  dominant, seen as a unitary civilization
  Cossacks a militarized Ukranian group, 
  originally runaway serfs; feared by Jews 
  for their participation in massacres
  czar emperor of Russia
  demon a spirit charged with 
  tempting humans and leading them 
  to destruction. Angels and demons 
  answer to the same Divine order; some 
  demons are even pious and scholarly
  epistemic relating to what we know, 
  and how we can know it 
  Evil Urge natural human temptation 
  to selfishness, excess, and cruelty, 
  tempered by its twin, the Good Urge; 
  sometimes seen as a literal demon; but 
  needed to strive, build, and procreate.
  faerie magical otherworldly sprite of 
  European folk legend, known to Jews 
  from goyish folktales
  Frankist secret follower of Joseph 
  Frank, a Jewish heretic and supposed 
  messiah, accused of orgies, murder, and 
  denouncing other Jews to the goyim
  Gentile non-Jew
  goy a non-Jew, literally "(other) nation". 
  Plural goyim, adjective goyish.
  golem a magic servant fashioned of mud
  haredi lit. "fearing G-d"; ultra-Orthodox, 
  unbending in the face of modernity
  Haskalah secularizing movement 
  embracing Western education and 
  science, and seeking political equality 
  for the Jews 
  libertine devoted to the pursuit of 
  personal pleasure
  kosher suitable for use according to 
  Jewish law; meat, for instance, must be 
  ritually slaughtered and kept separate 
  from milk. Noun form: kashrut.
  Lilith demoness of Jewish legend, 
  Adam's first wife who ran away to birth 
  monsters; often imagined as stealing 
  the souls of infants
  Lurianist follower of the Kabbalist mystic 
  Isaac Luria, for whom human piety has 
  mystical powers to heal the broken 
  universe and its shattered Divinity 
  kayn eyn horeh "No evil eye"; said 
  when praising, to ward off misfortune
  Maimonidean follower of the 
  medieval sage Moses Maimonides, 
  who united rational philosophy with 
  Jewish law, regarding many scriptural 
  passages as metaphorical
  mercurial changing moods swiftly
  maskil literally "enlightener", follower 
  of the Haskalah
  mikveh ritual bathhouse used for 
  purification, e.g. at the conclusion 
  of menstruation; center of womens' 
  society in the shtetl
  misnagid intellectual and political 
  opponent of the chassidim, insisting 
  on the primacy of scholars over 
  rabble-rousing miracle-workers 
  moshiach (or messiah) not a divinity, but 
  a perfected human, whose promised 
  arrival will usher in universal peace
  Musar proponent of introspection, self-
  criticism, and strict ethics
  Nachmanidean disciple of the medieval 
  jurist and philosopher Nachmanides, 
  who rejected rationalist explanations  
  of scripture, insisting on traditional 
  interpretations
  nationalist patriot of one of the 
  European states; e.g. Poland, which 
  had been a refuge for the Jews until its 
  partition by Russia, Austria, and Prussia.
  nefesh one of three aspects of the 
  human soul; believed to linger near the 
  body for thirty days after death before 
  departing for the afterworld
  neshama one of three aspects of the hu-
  man soul; believed to depart immediately 
  at death for the presence of the Divine
  Odessa city on the Black Sea, renowned 
  for its beauty and bustle
  pantheist believer in the holiness and 
  divinity of the entire universe itself, 
  without a separate, transcendent Divine.
  pietist follower of a movement empha-
  sizing piety, repentance, and prayer
  Pinsker from the town of Pinsk
  pogrom an anti-Jewish riot
  proto-Zionist someone proposing to 
  solve European antisemitism by a literal 
  return to Zion (Jerusalem) 
  Purim joyful, carnivalesque spring 
  festival celebrating the averted genocide 
  of the Book of Esther
  purimspiel theatrical spectacles 
  celebrating Purim
  Rabbi an expert in Jewish religious 
  law, able to preside over a community 
  and interpret the Law. "The Rabbi" may 
  refer to the rabbi of the shtetl's main 
  synagogue, often a misnagid 
  Rebbe an affectionate name for a 
  Chassidic rabbinical leader, often regarded 
  by his disciples as a saintly miracle-worker
  Rebbetzin a Rabbi's wife, often charged 
  with the oversight of women's society
  Rosh Hashana New Year's festival
  Roma, Romany member of a semi-
  nomadic ethnic group, often persecuted 
  by sedentary Christendom; pejoratively 
  called "gypsies" 
  ruach literally "breath" or "wind";  one 
  of the three aspects of the human soul, 
  believed to remain with the body until 
  the Day of Judgement
  Sabbatian secret follower of the mystic 
  Shabbetai Zvi, who claimed to be the 
  messiah and led masses of poor European 
  Jews on foot to reclaim Jerusalem; that 
  he was captured, converted, and made a 
  harem eunuch by the Ottoman emperor, 
  was interpreted by his followers as a 
  divinely purposed ordeal
  Sevastopol port city on the Black Sea; 
  scene of much carnage, besieged for 
  eleven months during the Crimean War 
  Shabbos or Shabbes the seventh day of 
  the week, devoted to rest, study, and joy; 
  productive labor and craft is forbidden 
  shofar ram's horn, blown like a trumpet 
  on Rosh Hashana, and ten days later, on 
  Yom Kippur, when the Gates of Heaven 
  close and human fates are sealed
  shtetl "little city", a Yiddish-speaking market 
  town in the Eastern European countryside
  Talmud the great compendium of 
  Jewish law, debate, philosophy, and 
  legend, composed 100-600 CE
  yeshiva school of higher Jewish learning
  yid the Yiddish word for Jew, used as 
  a term of respect in Yiddish and as an 
  insult by goyim 
  Yiddish the dialect of medieval German, 
  with Hebrew, Aramaic and Slavic 
  admixtures, spoken by the Jews of 
  Eastern Europe and Russia
  
  Poles
  ♂ Bogdan, Konstanty, Maciej, 
  Mariusz, Przemek, Radzim, 
  Szczepan, Teodor, Łucjan
  ♀ Apolonia, Asia, Filipa, Gloria, 
  Gosia, Joanna, Lucja, Marta, 
  Otylia, Teodozja
  last names   Andrysiak, 
  Dubanowski, Dubicki, 
  Gomolka, Jagoda, Klimek, 
  Niemczyk, Pasternak, Slaski, 
  Wolanski
  HUNGARIANS
  ♂ Alajos, Dani, Fabó, Józsi, Krisztián, 
  Mózes, Teodor, Tivadar, Zoltán, Éliás
  ♀ Anett, Aranka, Cecília, Erzsébet, 
  Ilonka, Kamilla, Klára, Kornélia, Linda
  last names   Baráth, Dali, Jakab, 
  Kedves, Király, Tamás, Tóth, Vastag
  romanIANS
  ♂ Decebal, Haralamb, 
  Horațiu, Neculai, Ovidiu, 
  Simon, Theodor, Vasilica, Victor
  ♀ Adina, Alex, Claudia, Delia, 
  Gavrila, Margareta, Natalia, Rodica, Valeria, Victoria
  last names   Albescu, Anghelescu, Antonescu, 
  Constantin, Dumitru, Iliescu, Nicolescu, Sala
  germans
  ♂ Dominik, Eckehard, Franz, Gerold, Gustav, 
  Hartwig, Matthias, Reimund, Ruedi, Timotheus
  ♀ Christiane, Elise, Friederike, Hanna, Henriette, 
  Karen, Luitgard, Marianne, Marita, Raffaela
  last names   Amsel, Everhart, Geiszler, 
  Grimmelshausen, Habich, Kneib, Kunkle, 
  Müller, Meier, Sulzbach, Von Wegberg
  RUSSIAns
  ♂ Alyosha Ilyich, Genya Ivanovitch, Ipatiy Dmitriyevitch, 
  Maksim Aleksándrovich, Saveliy Olegovitch,  
  Spartak Ivanovitch, Vitya L’vovich
  ♀ Ekaterina Ilyichna, Irina Ivanovna, Katerina Dmitriyevna, 
  Kristina Aleksándrovna, Maria Olegovna, Raisa Ivanovna, 
  Serafima L’vovna
  last names   Antonov(-a= ♀), Golovin(a), 
  Lebedev(a), Kuznetsov(a), Markov(a), 
  Nikolaev(a), Pushnoy(a), Ryzhov(a), 
  Sokolov(a), Volkov(a), Yezhov(a)
  Jews
  ♂ Anshel, Avrum, Chatzkel, Dovid, Dudel, Faivel, Fishke, Gavrel, Haskel, Hirshel, Iser, Koppel, Lazer, Moishe, Motel, Selig, Shimon, Shimmel, Tevye, Velvel, Yankel, Yudel, Zusman
  ♀ Baila, Bluma, Breindel, Eidel, Faigel, Freyde, Fruma, Gittel, Gluke, Golda, Henda, Henye, Kaila, Kreine, Perele, Raisa, Rayna, Rifka, Ruchel, Shaindel, Sisel, Yutke, Zelda, Zusa 
  last names  are formed with the patronymics bat (daughter of) and ben (son of), e.g. Freyde bat Moishe, Shimon ben Dovid
  ROMA
  personal names ♂ Babik, Camlo, Durril, Ferka, Lasho, Lolo, Lumas, Kem, Thurles   ♀ Araunya, Begonia, Florica, Grauni, Kisaiya, Leanabel, Lela, Minditsi, Tiena, Tsura
  nicknames  Amal(friend), Bi-lasho(shady), Chavo/a(kid), Čhinbali(cheeky), Godjaver(clever), Phuro(respected elder), Pravi bal(straight hair), Rom Baro(leader)           
  insulting nicknames Baro Šero(big-headed), Buchlo Nakh(big nose), Dilo(fool), Pušomori (busybody), Šuki (skinny)     come-ons Husa, Papin (delectably sexy goose)
  family names Badi, Badžo, Banga, Červeňák, Čhureja, Čonka, Daniel, Džugi, Holomek, Horváth, Kaleja, Karela, Lakatoš, Mačho, Mirga, Taragoš, Tokár, Thuleja
  ukranIAns
  ♂ Alexey Ivanovich, Hryhoriy 
  Oleksandrovich, Klim Mykhaylovych, 
  Leonid Semenovych, Olexiy Ivanovich, 
  Pavlo Leonidovich, Yuriy Mykhaylovych
  ♀ Anastasia Ivanovna, Larysa Oleksandrivna, 
  Liliya Mykhaylovna, Natali Semenovna, 
  Ruslana Ivanovna, Svitlana Leonidovna,  
  Yana Mykhaylovna
  last names   Antonov(a= ♀), Boiko, Chayka, 
  Holub(a), Kohut(a), Kompaniyets(a),   
  Kostyshyn(a), Stasiuk(a), Shevchenko, 
  Tereshchenko, Vasylyshyn(a)
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dream Askew & Dream Apart (PbtA)/Dream Apart Play Kit.pdf