What are some allusions in The Devil's Arithmetic?

An allusion is a casual reference to a well-known
place,story, book, historical event or work of art.  There are many literary and
Biblical allusions in The Devil's
Arithmetic.

When Hannah first meets Rachel and
the girls at the wedding, she tells them stories  and totally entertains them.  The
stories she tells them are current day movies, stories, and
books. 

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"Stories seems to tumble out of Hannah's mouth,
reruns of all the movies and  books she could think of.  She told the girls about
Yentl and then about Conan the Barbarian with
equal vigor; about Star Wars, which confused them; and
Fiddler on the Roof, which did not.  She told them the plot of
Little Women in ten minutes, a miracle of compression, especially
since her book report had been seven typed pages." (pg
50)

These are literary
allusions since they are about movies and books.  Jane Yolan is alluding to literary
works that she feels the reader will know and make a connection.  Another literary
allusion is

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"'So let me tell you about the Wizard
of Oz' she said.  She couldn't remember which was the movie and which was the
book.  Shrugging her shoulders. she began a strange mixture of the two, speeding along
until the line 'Gosh, Toto, this sure doesn't look like Kansas." (pg
51)

This makes a literary
allusion by not only giving the title of the book and movie but also by giving a famous,
well-known line from the story.

An illusion that comes from
Jewish mythology and deals with God is the story of Lilith's Cave.  According to
mythology, when God first made man and woman, he made Adam and Lilith.  Adam wanted to
govern Lilith, and she rebelled, leaving Adam and taking residence with the demons. She
told the angel that God sent to get her that she was going to kill all the children. The
entrance to the gas chambers was called "Lilith's Cave" in the book as an allusion to
this myth. God then made Eve for Adam.  Fayge tells
Hannah,

"Your
words will fly up to heaven and call down the Angel of Death, Lilith's bridegroom, with
his poisoned sword." (pg
67)

When Reuven is taken to
the gas chamber, Hannah gets upset and feels that all humans are monsters for letting
the Holocaust happen, Rivka tells her,

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"God is letting it happen....But there is a
reason.  We cannot see it yet.  Like the binding of Issac." (pg
142)

This is a Biblical
allusion to the story of Abraham and Issac.  God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son
to him, and Abraham went as far as binding his son to the sacrificial altar until an
Angel of God stops him.  God had a reason for his request, and Rivka believes that God
has a reason for what is happening to them. Rivka also
says,

"You
want to be a hero, like Joshua at Jericho, like Samson against the Philistines." (pg 
142)

Again, these are
Biblical allusions. Joshua, following God's orders, destroyed the city of Jericho and
led his people into the Promised Land.  Samson, to whom God had given unbelievable
strength, was betrayed by Delilah and captured by the Philistines, who cut out his eyes
and made him work for them.  He pulled down the pillars around the Philistines, killing
them and himself.

Finally, there is an allusion to a
Yiddish proverb.  I do not know what it means, but it
says,

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"Afile brenen un bruin....
even if you should be burned and roasted.  Here that is not a proverb to be spoken
aloud." (pg 143)