Jew final
Terms
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- Afikoman
- Greek word meaning dessert; matzah hidden & found during Passover seder; later eaten (device to keep kids' attention)
- Aliyah
- literally to "go up;" honor of being called to the Torah to recite a blessing
- B.C.E.
- Before the Common Era
- Bar/Bat Mitzvah
- at puberty, a boy (bar) or girl (bat) becomes responsible for keeping religious duties.
- B'rit
- the Hebrew word for covenant
- Berit (B'rit) Milah
- ritual of circumcision, marking the covenant between God and the Jewish people
- C.E.
- Common Era
- Challah
- braided loaf of bread, ritually baked and eaten on Shabbat and holidays
- Chametz
- leavened products; removed from home in preparation for Passover
- Chanukah
- dedication; refers to 8 day holiday celebrating victory of Maccabees & their rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem to God
- Chazzan
- The cantor or prayer leader of the synagogue or services
- Charoset
- mixture of apples, wine, and nuts; one of the ritual foods eaten during Passover seder symbolizing the mortar used in making bricks
- Cheder
- Jewish elementary school
- Chevra Kaddisha
- Jewish burial society; help clean & prepare the body for burial
- Chuppah
- bridal canopy
- Conserative Judaism
- modern Jewish religious movement, originating in U.S. in late 19th c. that emphasizes both tradition and change
- Conversos
- Spanish & Portuguese Jews who converted to Catholicism during the Middle Ages (many of them secretly remained Jewish)
- Covenant
- an agreement, or contract, between God and the Jewish people that binds each party to adhere to certain stipulations/promises
- Daaven
- the Yiddish term meaning to pray
- Diaspora
- Jews living outside the land of Israel, as citizens of the nations in which they dwell
- Erusin
- Betrothal. Originally separate from the wedding ceremony, but is incorporated since Middle Ages
- Eruv
- symbolic boundary around a neighborhood or town enclosing & transforming it into a private domain, thereby permitting one to carry objects w/in the circumference on Shabbat
- Essenes
- Jews who lived in communities near the Dead Sea around the time of Jesus
- Etrog
- citron, used in celebration of Sukkot
- Galut
- exile; term usedto describe Jewish existence outside the land of Israel
- Gemara
- commentary on the Mishnah
- Get
- Jewish bill of divorcement
- Haggadah
- he narrative of the exodus o the Israelites from Egypt, recited at the Passover seder
- Halakhah
- the rabbinic legal tradition; traditional Jewish law; rabbinic prescriptions for living a Jewish life
- Ha Shem
- "the name;" term used by traditionally religious Jews in referring to God (don't say god's name or even term like "King" or "Lord" out of respect for God's holiness)
- Hasidism
- Jewish religious movement that first arose in Eastern Europe in the 18th c. in reaction to what some perceied to be the elitism of medieval Jewish mysticism; sought to bring Judiasm to the (male) masses, by emphasizing religious feeling; Leaders of Hasidic groups called tzaddikim (holy men; rebbes) who were believed to have a special relationship w/ God
- Havdalah
- ceremony marking the end of Sabbath (sunset on Saturday night) & the beginning of the ordinary work week
- Hebrew
- holy language of the Jewish people & native language of the State of Israel today; also name given to Abraham & his descendants up until they settled in the land of Israel
- Hellenistic period
- 300 BCE-300 CE; refers to period in which Jews influenced by fusion of Syrian & Greek culture (Hellenism)
- Israel
- "one who wrestles w/ God;" homeland of the Jewish people
- Israelite
- name given to the Jews after they settled in the land of Israel
- Jew
- term first used in the 6th c. BCE after fall of Southern Kingdom, & tribe of Judah went into exile in Babylonia.
- Kabbalah
- medieval Jewish mysticism
- Kaddish
- prayer of sanctification & praise of God recited at certain points in liturgy, including as a memorial prayer for the dead
- Kashrut
- Jewish dietary laws; kosher = suitable, treif = unsuitable
- Kedushah
- holiness
- Ketubah
- Jewish marriage contract; is a document providing support for a woman if her husband divorces her or dies
- Kiddush
- sanctification prayer proclaiming holiness of Sabbath or holidays; recited over cup of wine
- Kiddushin
- sanctification; refers to Jewish marriage ceremony; also name of tractate in Mishnah focusing on betrothal
- K'vod HaMet
- principle of honoring the dead (not desecrating the body; burial w/in 48 hrs after death)
- Kohen
- Jew of priestly descent; descendant of of house of Aaron
- Lashon Hara
- speaking evil of someone; gossip
- Lubovitch
- the largest Hasidic group in the world today. most live in the U.S. & Israel; place special emphasis on outreach to nonobservant Jews & on Jewish education
- Lulav
- palm branch, willows, and myrtle waved as part of celebration of Sukkot
- Maariv
- evening liturgical service
- Maccabees
- the Jewish family that fought against Syrian-Greek rule & in 167 BC restored the Jewish state in Jerusalem
- Maror
- biter herb; one of the ritual foods eaten at Passover seder
- Matzah
- unleavened bread eaten at Passover
- Mechitzah
- the divider set up between men and women in Orthodox synagogue
- Mezuzah
- ritual object placed on door posts of Jewish homes (contains parchment w/ lines from Deut.)
- Midrash
- interpretation of a biblical text
- Mikveh
- ritual bath of running water; one of women's 3 special mitzvot (other 2 are baking challah and lighting Sabbath candles)
- Mehorah
- candelabra; the special candelabra used on Chanukah is called a Chanukiyah
- Minchah
- 2nd of 3 daily prayer services, recited in later afternoon twilight
- Minyan
- Quorum of 10 adult Jews necessary for public worship
- Mishnah
- earliest corpus of Jewish law; forms the basis of the Talmud
- Mitzvah
- commandment; obligation; can also be understood as a blessing
- Modern Orthodoxy
- 19th c. Jewish religious movement founded in Germany by Samson Hirsch; rejects view that cannot be a traditionally religious Jew & participate in modern world
- Mohel
- someone qualified to perform ritual circumcisions
- Niddah
- menstruating woman
- Othodox Judaism
- term coined by Reform opponents of traditionalism in 19th c. as one of derision, but adopted by various groups of observant Jews, indicates authenticity of their belief that to be a Jew is to strictly adhere to he law of the Torah
- Passover
- The spring festival commemorating & reenacting the exodus of the Israelites from Eygpt ca. 1200 BCE
- Pharisees
- separatists; Jewish religious/political party that came into being after the Maccabeean revold in the 2nd c/ BCE; emphasized importance of the Oral Law; became the dominant group and their descendants = rabbis
- Piyyutim
- prayers used in synagogue liturgy
- Purim
- joyous celebration of victory of biblical Esther and Mordecai over Haman, who tried to destroy the Jews
- Rabbinic Judaism
- the Judaism, formed in the 1st 6 c. CE that believed that Moses revealed the Torah 2 ways- written & oral- & that the sages at any given time are those who are masters of that dual Torah and are therefore here to define the holy life of Israel
- Rabbi
- teacher/interpreter of Jewish law; today is also socio-spiritual head of a Jewish community or congregation
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- 20th c. American Jewish movement founded by rabbi Mordecai Kaplan that views God as a transnatural power or process; rejects belief in Jews as chosen people; sees Judaism as evolving religious civilization
- Reform Judaism
- 19th c. religious movement founded in Germany that attempted to adapt Judaism to perceived spirit of the modern age; places greatest emphasis on teachings of prophets & social justice
- Responsa
- formal rabbinic responses or answers to legal questions posed to them
- Rosh Hashanah
- the Jewish New Year; literally, the head of the year
- Rosh Hodesh
- new moon; 1st day of the month, special holiday for Jewish women
- Sadducees
- a Jewish group of the 2nd temple Period, the opponents of the Pharisees. Denied validity of the Oral Law & insisted on a highly literal interpretation of Scripture; didn't survive destruction of hte 2nd Temple in 70 CE
- seder
- order. refers to the Passover ritual meal
- Sephardic Jews
- Jews whose ancestors came from Spain, Portugal, or European Mediterranean countries
- Shabbat
- the 7th day, Sabbath; holy day of rest
- Shacharit
- 1st of 3 daily services; morning liturgy
- Shavuot
- Pentacost; Jewish holiday commemorating the giving of the Torah at Sinai
- Shema
- cental prayer of Jusaism (from book of Deut.)
- Shemoneh esre
- 18 benedictions; the silent prayer, recited while standing, morning, noon, & night, in traditional Jewish liturgy which consists of 19 paragraphs ending in blessings
- Sheva berakhot
- 7 blessings recited under the marriage canopy in celebration of a wedding
- Shofar
- ram's horn, sounded on New Year & celebration of New Moon
- Shulkhan Arukh
- 16th c. compendium of Jewish law
- Siddur
- the term for the Hebrew prayer book, derived from the Hebrew word for "order"
- Simchat B'rit Bat
- contemporary Jewish ceremony celebrating birth of daughter & her entrance in God's covenant w/ Jewish people
- Simchat Torah
- rejoicing in the Torah; festival in which yearly cycle of Torah reading ends & begins; dance w/ Torah
- Sukkah
- booth erected in celebration of fall week-long festival of Sukkot
- Synagogue
- Jewish house of assembly, study, and prayer
- Talmud
- Mishnah & Gemara; 2 Talmuds: 1st completed in 400 CE (Jerusalem), 2nd completed in 500 CE (Babylonia)
- Tanach
- the Hebrew Bible; T = toarh, N = Prophets, K = Ketuvim
- Tashlich
- ritual on afternoon of 1st day of Rosh Hashanah; symbolically cast your sins into water
- Teshuvah
- to return to God; repentance
- Tikkum Olam
- repair of the world; working w/ God to make the world a better place where we all can live
- Torah
- God's revelation to Moses at Sinai; 1st 5 books of Hebrew Bible
- Torah Im Derekh Eretz
- a phrase in Mishnah to refer to goodness of studying Torah & earning a living; taken by Samson Hirsch to mean that it is good to study & live a life of Torah while also participating in the modern world
- Torah I'ishmah
- studying Torah for its own sake
- Tzedakah
- approximates concept of charity, more than giving money, relate to concept of justice or making the world right; obligation of all Jews
- Tzelem Elohim
- image of God. All juman beings are created in God's image
- Yeshiva
- academy of higher Jewish learning
- Yom Kippur
- Day of Atonement; 10 days after Rosh Hashanah; holiest day of the Jewish year
- Zionism
- modern Jewish nationalism; movement founded at the end of the 19th c. by Theodor Herzl to create Jewish state in the land of Israel