Words

Conversion

• giyur – conversion process
• ger tzedek – righteous convert
• beit din – court of 3 Jews
• mikvah – ritual pool of immersion
• tevillah – immersion
• hatafat dam brit – circumcised male converts have a ritual circumcision with a drop of blood taken from the glans

Terms for G-d

• Adonai – our L-rd
• Avinu malkeinu – our father, our king is used during the High Holy Days
• El – g-d
• Elohim – our g-d
• HaKadosh Barukh Hu – the holy One, blessed be He
• HaShem – literally, the name, so as to avoid unnecessarily profaning G-d’s name
• Ribono Shel Olam – master of the universe
• Shekhinah – the feminine presence of G-d, the dwelling place in the Temple in Jerusalem

Jewish Values

• Bikur holim – visiting the sick
• Chesed – acts of loving kindness
• Hakhnasat Orhim – welcoming the guests, hospitality
• ma-asim tovim – good deeds
• nihum avelim – comforting mourners
• tzedek – justice, righteousness
• tzedakah – charity, good deeds

Jewish Terms

• aggadah – narrative in the Talmud
• derek eretz – “the way of the land”, customs of the country
• halakha – Jewish law
• kabbalat ol mitzvot – accepting the yoke of the commandments
• mishpat – judgment or justice
• mitzvot – commandments, good deeds
• simchah shel mitzvah – the joy of performing the commandments
• hag – holiday
• yom tov – holiday (literally, good day)
• chol hamoed – weekdays of the festivals
• yom tov sheni – the second day of holidays celebrated by some movements in the Diaspora

Shabbat

• Kabbalat Shabbat – Friday evening service welcoming the Sabbath
• Kiddush – blessing over wine
• Menuchah – rest
• Hadlakat nerot – blessing over candles
• Havdalah – ceremony that ends Shabbat
• Melakhah – work, specifically 39 creative kinds that are prohibited on the Sabbath

High Holy Days

• Yamim Noraim – Days of Awe
• Mahzor – prayer book for Yom Kippur and Rosh HaShannah
• Aseret Y’mei Teshuvah – ten days of repentence
• Rosh HaShannah – Jewish New Year
• Shofar – ram’s horn blown during Rosh HaShannah
• Teshuvah – repentance
• Yom HaDin – Day of Judgment (Rosh HaShannah)
• Tzom – fast
• Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement
• Kol Nidrei – Friday evening service on the Eve of Yom Kippur

Sukkot

• Sukkah – booth lived in during the holiday
• Arba-ah Minim – four species of plants needed for the holiday’s mitzvot
• Lulav – branch of the date palm tree, one of the four species
• Etrog – citron, one of the four species
• geshem prayer – prayer for rain

Other Fall Holidays

• Shemini Atzeret – holiday right after Sukkot, to congregate Israel a little longer
• Simchat Torah – holiday celebrating the completion of the annual Torah reading cycle
• Hakafot – dancing with the Torah

Hanukah

• Latkas – fried potato pancakes consumed during the holiday
• Hannukiyah – 8-branched candlebra
• Dreidel – top used to play a game of the same name

Purim

• Magillat esther – scroll of Ester read on the holiday
• Grogger – noise maker used to drown out the name of the villain
• Hamantaschen – triangle cookies consumed on the holiday
• Mishlo’ah manot – Purim packages exchanged by friends
• Purim se’udah – festive meal

Pesach

• Hag HaMatzot – another name for Pesach  (literally, the holiday of the matzot)
• Matzah – unleavened bread consumed during the holiday
• Maror – bitter herbs eaten during the seder
• Hametz – leavened product forbidden during the holiday
• Seder – traditional ritual meal
• Haroset – apple-wine mixture consumed during the seder
• Haggadah – book used to tell the story of Passover
• Korban pesach – the Passover sacrifice
• Karpas – green vegetable used during the seder
• Beitzah – roasted egg
• Four Questions – a memorable time during the telling of the story
• Dayeinu – famous song typically sung during the seder
• Omer – the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot, counted as a means of preparing one’s self to receive the Torah

Other Spring/Summer Holidays

• Yom HaShoah – Holocaust Memorial Day
• Yom Ha’Atzma’ut – Israeli Independence Day
• Yom Yerushalayim – day celebrating the reunification of Jerusalem with the state of Israel

Birth

• Brith Milah – covenant of circumcision
• Mohel – ritual circumciser
• Sandek – honored individual who holds the baby during a circumcision
• Simhat HaBat – ceremony welcoming a daughter and naming

 

Adult Life

• Bar/Bat Mitzvah – son/daughter of the commandments
• Haftarah – section of the Tanakh chanted on the day of a bar/bat mitzvah

 

Marriage

• Kiddushin – betrothal
• Chuppah – marriage canopy
• Ketubah – marriage contract
• Sheva B’rakhot – seven blessings
• Aufruf – ceremony where groom is called up for an aliyah prior to marriage

 

Death

• Tohorah – system of ritual purity
• Kevurah – mitzvah of burial
• Kriah – tearing a piece of clothing
• Shivah – seven days of mourning
• Shloshim – 30 days of mourning
• Kaddish – mourner’s prayer