Balabusta is a Yiddish

Yiddish language

Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...

 expression describing the good homemaker

Homemaker

Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...

 among Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...

. The word derives from the Hebrew

Hebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...

 word ba'alat-habayit, meaning mistress of the house.

It usually has purely positive connotations, although there are sources that claim otherwise. The traditional role of the balabusta also includes, besides fulfilling the household duties for the family, its spiritual bonding and helping its members hold together.

Variations on this word include the Yiddish Balabuste or Balabusteh and the Ladino Balabusha among Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews

Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...

.

In popular culture

Martin Davidson

Martin Davidson

Martin Davidson is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. After attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he spent five years as an actor in Off Broadway shows and regional theater. His directorial debut was The Lords of Flatbush starring Sylvester Stallone and Henry...

's Rechnitzer Rejects group recorded a song titled "Balabustas", an homage to the traditional role set to the theme song of the 1984 movie Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters

Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...

.

Socalled

Socalled

Josh Dolgin, aka Socalled, is a Canadian rapper and producer, known for his eclectic mix of hip hop, klezmer and other styles, for example drum & bass and other types of folk music. A pianist and accordion player, he has taught the latter at Klezfest London, where he has also run workshops in...

's song

See also

• Homemaker
  Homemaker
  Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
  
  
• Jewish views of marriage
• List of English words of Yiddish origin
• Rebbetzin
  Rebbetzin
  Rebbitzin or Rabbanit is the title used for the wife of a rabbi, typically from the Orthodox, or Haredi, and Hasidic Jewish groups...
  
  
• Role of women in Judaism
  Role of women in Judaism
  The role of women in Judaism is determined by the Hebrew Bible, the Oral Law , by custom, and by non-religious cultural factors...
  
  
• Tzniut
  Tzniut
  Tzniut is a term used within Judaism and has its greatest influence as a concept within Orthodox Judaism...