A Book that Was Lost

Glossary

AMIDAH A sequence of nineteen petitionary prayers recited three times a day; also known as the Shemoneh Esreh or the Eighteen Benedictions. Together with the Shema, it is the most important Jewish prayer.

ARK, OR HOLY ARK (aron kodesh) An ornate cabinet in which the Torah scrolls are kept in the synagogue.

BAREKHU The beginning of the morning and evening statutory prayer, which can only be recited in the presence of the quorum of ten.

CHALLAH (pl. challot): The braided loaf of bread that is prepared specially for the Sabbath and for holidays.

COMMANDMENTS (mitzvot) The obligations of Jewish life as ordained in the Torah or derived from it by the rabbis.

DAYAN A respected rabbi who serves as a judge in matters of communal, religious, and legal disputes.

DAY OF ATONEMENT See Yom Kippur.

DAYS OF AWE The solemn holiday season including Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement).

DAYS OF JOY The festive holiday season immediately following Yom Kippur, including Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simhat Torah.

Glossary

EIGHTEEN BENEDICTIONS See Amidah.

ERETZ YISRAEL The Land of Israel.

ETERNAL LIGHT (ner tamid) A perpetually burning lamp hung over the ark containing the Torah scrolls in synagogues; it is a remembrance of the daily sacrifice offered in the Jerusalem temple.

ETROG A citron (a fruit resembling a lemon), one of the “four species” used in the celebration of the Sukkot holiday.

FOUR SPECIES Leaves from the palm, myrtle, and willow trees, together with the citron (etrog), are used to celebrate the holiday of Sukkot.

GEMARA The commentary on the Mishnah; another name for the Talmud, the compendium of post-biblical legal and scriptural interpretation.

HALACHA The corpus of Jewish law and jurisprudence; literally “the way” of life of the observant Jew.

HALLEL A liturgy of praise included in the synagogue service on festivals and New Moons.

HANUKKAH An eight-day winter holiday, observed by lighting lamps, which commemorates the repurification of the Jerusalem Temple after the successful revolt of the Maccabees in the second century b.c.e.

HAVDALAH A ceremony employing a candle, spices, and wine that marks the conclusion of the Sabbath and the reentry into the workaday week.

HEDER A private one-room schoolhouse for boys which was the basis of Jewish education in eastern Europe.

HOSHANA RABBAH A semi-festival that concludes the week of Sukkot; it is marked by beating willow branches against the synagogue altar.

INTERMEDIATE FESTIVAL DAYS (hol hamo’ed) The days that fall between the first two and the last two days of Passover and Sukkot; they have the status of semiholidays.

KADDISH A litany of praise for God; among other purposes, it is recited by mourners after the death of a parent or child or on the anniversary of their deaths.

KEDUSHAH A portion of the Amidah prayer that can only be recited in the presence of a quorum of ten.

KIDdUSH The sanctification of the wine that is recited when the Sabbath is ushered in Friday night and again at the midday meal on Saturday.

KING OF ISHMAEL The leader of Islam.

KOSHER The state of ritual fitness; often applied to foods permitted by Jewish law and the rules governing their preparation.

LAG B’OMER A day for picnicking and outings that occurs thirty-three days after the beginning of Passover.

MAARIV The evening service in the daily liturgy.

MAHZOR A collection of prayers and sacred poems used on holidays, especially Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

MEN OF THE GREAT ASSEMBLY The high court of sages that legislated matters of Jewish law in Second Temple times.

MENORAH (pl. menorot) A lamp, usually with seven branches, that is placed in the synagogue in remembrance of the candelabrum that stood in the ancient tabernacle and Temple.

MEZUZAH (pl. mezuzot) A piece of parchment containing biblical passages affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes as a visual reminder of spiritual obligations.

MIDRASH The rabbinic interpretations of Scripture.

MIKVAH A ritual bath in which married women immerse themselves after menstruation.

MINHAH The brief afternoon service in the daily liturgy.

MINYAN A quorum of ten adult males required for public worship.

MISHNAH The code of post biblical Jewish law compiled around 20 °C.E.

MUSAF The additional service offered on the Sabbath and the festivals.

NEW MOON The first day of the new month in the Hebrew calendar and sometimes the last day of the old month are celebrated as semiholidays, with special additions to the liturgy.

NEW YEAR See Rosh Hashanah.

NINTH OF AV (Tisha b’Av) A solemn summer fast day commemorating the destruction of the Jerusalem Temples and other historic calamities.

Glossary

NOVELLA (pl. novellae; Hebrew: hiddush, hiddushim) Innovative interpretations of Jewish legal traditions.

OMER The forty-nine days that are counted between Passover and Shavuot, marking the passage from the liberation from Egypt to the giving of the Torah.

PASSOVER The spring holiday that commemorates the exodus from Egypt.

PESAH See Passover.

PILGRIMAGE FESTIVALS (shalosh regalim) The holidays of Sukkot, Passover, and Shavuot, during which pilgrimages were made to the Jerusalem Temple during biblical times.

PURIM A late-winter feast day that commemorates the saving of Persian Jewry from destruction as described in the Scroll of Esther.

RABBIS, THE The postbiblical sages who produced the midrash and the Talmud.

REB A title of respect for a man; the equivalent of “Mister” or “Master.”

REBBE A hasidic rabbi.

REBBETZIN The wife of a rabbi.

ROSH HASHANAH The New Year festival, the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishrei, which falls in early autumn.

SABBATH QUEEN (shabbat hamalkah) A symbolic personification of the spirit of the Sabbath.

SCROLL OF ESTHER A short biblical book recited on the holiday of Purim which recounts a threat to the Jews of Persia and its happy reversal.

SELIHOT Penitential poems and prayers recited early in the morning on the days preceding and following the New Year.

SHAMMASH A functionary of the community or synagogue who performs tasks such as awakening the congregants for morning prayer and caring for ceremonial objects.

SHAVUOT A festival in the late spring (forty-nine days after Passover) that celebrates the giving of the Torah on Sinai and the offering of the first fruits. One of the three pilgrimage festivals.

SHEKHINAH In rabbinic lore, the immanent aspect of the divine represented as a feminine figure; the Shekhinah dwelt in the sanctuary while the Temple stood and went into exile with Israel following the destruction.

SHEMA The central, statutory prayer affirming God’s unity recited by a Jew several times a day.

SHEMONEH ESREH See Amidah.

SHOFAR A ram’s horn that is blown on Rosh Hashanah as a call to repentance.

SHOHET A learned and pious Jew who is trained in the proper slaughtering of animals according to Jewish law.

SHTETL The small Jewish market towns of Eastern Europe.

SHULHAN ARUKH A medieval codification of practical Jewish law that was regarded as authoritative by most Jewish communities.

SIMHAT TORAH The second day of Shemini Atzeret and the last day of the Sukkot holidays; on it the Torah is both concluded and begun again by reading the end of Deuteronomy and then immediately the beginning of Genesis. The Torah scrolls are paraded around the pulpit seven times.

SUKKOT One of the three pilgrimage festivals, which falls in early autumn and is celebrated by dwelling in huts or booths (sukkah; pl. sukkot) and making blessings over the etrog and palm fronds.

TALLIT (pl. tallitot) A shawl with ritually knotted fringes (tsitsit) worn by males during worship.

TALMUD The Mishnah and Gemara together; often an inclusive term for the study of rabbinic law.

TEFILLIN (sing. tefillah) A set of black leather boxes with thongs, worn on the arm and the head by men at morning prayers; the boxes contain scriptural passages written by a scribe (sofer) on parchment.

Glossary

TEN DAYS OF PENITENCE A period of reflection and contrition between the New Year and the Day of Atonement.

TISHA B’AV The ninth day of the month of Av, observed as a day of mourning to commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.

TORAH The Five Books of Moses (the Pentateuch) written by a scribe in the form of a parchment scroll; the first five books of the Jewish Bible; in a broader sense, the way of Jewish life and practice as ordained in the Bible and rabbinic sources.

TSITSIT The knotted fringes of the tallit.

Tzaddik In Hasidism, a sage and a charismatic spiritual leader endowed with special powers of intercession.

YAHRZEIT The anniversary of the death of a close relative, marked by special prayers and the lighting of a memorial candle or lamp.

YOM KIPPUR The Day of Atonement; the solemn fast day that falls in the early autumn ten days after Rosh Hashanah.