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| Glossary |
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Chazan ~ The one who leads the singing and chanting of service, same as cantor. |
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| Cantor ~ Same as Chazan. |
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| Davening ~ Yiddish term for praying |
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| Dreidel ~ A spinning top used for a Hanukkah game. It is marked with four Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimmel, Heh and Shin. These stand for the Yiddish words, nit (nothing), gantz (all), halb (half) and shtell (put), which outline the rules of the game. |
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| Gelt ~ A small amount of money given as a gift. |
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Haftarah ~ A reading from the Prophets read along with the weekly Torah portion. |
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| Kashrut ~ The Jewish Dietary Laws |
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| Kosher ~ That which is permissable to eat by biblical and rabbinic standards. Most notably precludes pork, shellfish, and any combination of milk and meat products |
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| Machzor ~ Special prayerbook used for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. |
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| Mechitza ~ The wall or curtain seperating men from women during religious services. |
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| Megillah ~ Scroll of Esther read on Purim. |
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| Menorah ~ A seven branched candelabrum used most famously in the Temple in Jerusalem. Not to be confused with an eight branch candelabrum used during the Hanukkah festival. |
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| Minyan ~ The quarum necessary to recite certain prayers,traditionally consists of ten Jewish men. |
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| Mohel ~ One who performs circumcision |
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| Pogroms ~ A type of religious persecusion which occured in Russia. |
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| Seder ~ A joyous home serivce and festive meal that recalls the Israelites liberation from slavery in Egypt. Takes part during Passover |
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| Sefer Torah ~ Handwritten Torah scroll. |
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| Shul ~ Yiddish term for a Jewish house of worship, a congregation |
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| Shochet ~ A kosher slaughterer. |
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| Shofar ~ The unadorned ram's horn (the ram was sacrificed by Abraham in Isaac's place) sounded during the month of Elul, on Rosh Hashanah, and at the conclusion of Yom Kippur, which has assumed deep traditional meaning as the holy cry for the gathering of the faithful. |
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| Talmud ~ Based on the Torah, the Talmud interprets biblical laws and commandments. |
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| Temple ~ The central place of worship in ancient Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E. The second was destroyed in 70 C.E. |
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| Torah ~ The five books of Moses |
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| Torah Ark ~ A cabinet set in or against the Eastern wall of a synagogue. It holds the Torah scrolls. |
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| Unleaven ~ Dough that is made without any yeast. Traditionally called matzoh. |
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| Vaad Ha'Ir ~ Jewish Community Council. |
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| Yiddish ~ The "international language" of Ashkenazic Jews, based primarily on German with words taken from Hebrew and many Slavic languages, and written in the Hebrew Alphabet. |
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| Months of the Jewish Calender |
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| The Jewish calendar is lunar based on the new moon. The Jewish leap year has an additional month after Adar called the Second Adar. |
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Nissan |
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Av |
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Kislev |
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| Iyar |
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Elul |
Teves |
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| Sivan |
Tishrei |
Shevat |
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| Tanmuz |
Cheshvan |
Adar |
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Patriarchs and Pioneers