Afternoon Service: one of the three weekday services. The other two are the Morning Service and the Evening Service.
Alef-beys: The Hebrew word for alphabet; specifically, the first two letters.
Babka: a sweet, spongy yeast cake made with raisins. Originating in Eastern Europe— babka is the Polish diminutive for baba (“old woman”), the recipe was brought to the United States by immigrants who settled in Brooklyn, New York.
Bagel: A doughnut-shaped hard roll, whose dough is first boiled, then baked.
Black and White Cookie: large soft cookies whose top is frosted half with chocolate (black) frosting and half with vanilla (white) frosting.
Borscht: A soup made of beets or cabbage, of Russian origin.
Bourekas: A small flaky pastry with a savory filling.
Bulgur: a cereal made from whole grains of wheat processed by boiling the grain, then drying it, removing some of the outside bran particles, and cracking the kernel.
Challah: a yeast-leavened of of wh9te egg bread, usually raided, and traditionally eaten by jews on the Sabbath, holidays, and ceremonial occasions.
Couscous: a cracked, uncooked what resembling semolina which, when steamed, is softened and makes a wonderful base for stews and broths.
Elul: The last month of the Jewish year (August-September); the month preceding the season of the High Holy Days.
Eruv: A line of wire or even string around the community, which permits Jews to carry personal articles on the Sabbath; a legal device for converting public into private domain.
Ethics of the Fathers: one of the tractates of the Mishna (the body of oral law redacted c. 200 C.E. by Rabbi Judah). The tractate deals with the ethical principles formulated, often in epigrammatic form, by the fathers of Jewish rabbinic tradition. The Ethics of the Fathers is included in the Prayerbook and has become the most popular book in the Mishna.
Falafel: Deep-fried balls of chick-peas and crushed wheat.
Hagada (lit. “the telling”): the book of the Passover home service which through narrative and song recounts the story of Jewish slavery in Egypt and the liberation. The Hagada is read during the first two nights of Passover.
Hallel (lit. “praise”): Psalms 113-118, recited during the morning service on Sukkos, Passover, Shevuos, Hanuka, and the New Moon.
Hanuka (lit. “dedication”): the Festival of Lights celebrated for eight days, starting the twenty-fifth of Kislev (November-December). Hanuka marks the struggle for religious freedom and the successful revolt of poorly armed Jews against the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes, who proscribed the practice of Judaism. In 165 B.C.E., the Jewish fighters, led by Judah Maccabeus, routed the Hellenistic Syrians and re-dedicated the Temple. Hanuka is a time when card games, usually forbidden, are permitted.
Hasidism: Founded by Israel Baal Shem Tov, the Master of the Good Name (1700-1760). The Hasidic movement, a revolt against rabbinism and its accent on talmudic accomplishment, stresses good deeds and piety through joy of worship, songs, legends and dance. It had a wide appeal to the masses and its followers were, and still are, called Hasidim.
Havdala (lit. “separation” or “distinction”): the prayer of separation is recited at the conclusion of the Sabbath, about one hour after sundown; it marks the separation between the Sabbath and a weekday, or between the Sabbath and a festival that immediately follows. The Havdala is also said at the conclusion of a festival.
High Holy Days: Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Hummus: a chickpea puree flavored with lemon, garlic and tahini.
Kabala: A Body of mystical lore and scriptural interpretation developed by the Kabalists, who through study and meditative speculation sought communion with God.
Kaddish (lit. “sanctification”): A prayer, which marks the conclusion of a unit in the service and which is also recited as a mourner’s prayer. The Kaddish, which makes no reference at all to death, is actually a doxology.
Kiddush (lit. “sanctification”): A blessing recited over wine at the beginning of the Sabbath or holiday evening meal.
Lag B’Omer: A day of festivity, especially for Jewish children, who are released from their studies and taken into the fields and woods. Tradition says that on this day the plague which beset the disciples of Rabbi Akiba, who fought and died in the last, and unsuccessful, Jewish revolt against Rome (132 C.E.) came to an end.
Mezuza (pl. mezuzos): a rolled piece of parchment containing the verses from Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and 11:13-17, and inserted in a wooden or metal case. It is affixed on the right-hand doorposts of Jewish homes and synagogues.
Midrash (lit. “explanation” or “interpretation”): Rabbinic commentary and explanatory notes, homilies and stories on scriptural passages.
Misnagdim (lit. “opponents”): The group which opposed the Hasidim and their rebbes.
Mourner’s Prayer: See Kaddish.
Passover: The eight-day festival starting on the fifteenth of Nissan (March-April) and commemorating the Jews’ freedom from Egyptian bondage. It was also an agricultural feast during which the Israelites offered up the first fruits of the winter barley.
Pita: round, flat, and only slightly leavened bread; when cut into pieces, the top and bottom are pulled apart to form a pocket into which fillings can be stuffed.
Prayer of Separation: see Havdala.
Purim: The festival celebrating the Jews’ deliverance from Haman’s plan to exterminate them, as described in the biblical Book of Esther. It is celebrated on the fourteenth of Adar (March), and is noted for its gaiety, especially its Purim plays and festival meal. In the synagogues, where the Book of Esther is read from scrolls, children twirl the rattle-clackers each time Haman’s name is mentioned. Purim, too, is a time for sending sweet-platters to neighbors and charity to the poor.
Ram’s horn: known in Hebrew as shofar, it is blown several times during Rosh Hashana and once at the conclusion of the Yom Kippur service. The awesome sound of the ram’s horn is supposed to arouse the people to repentance. According to tradition every Jew must hear the shofar.
Rashi: Rabbi Shlomo ben Itzhak (1040-1105), of Troyes, France, whose commentaries on the Bible and the Talmud almost immediately became classics. No Talmud and hardly a Pentateuch is printed without the popular commentary by Rashi.
Reb: mister
Rebbe: The spiritual leader of a group of Hasidim, not necessarily the rabbi of a community. It was quite common for Jews to travel distances great and small to visit their rebbe.
Rebbi: a Hebrew teacher, not ordained as a rabbi.
Ritual fringes: known in Hebrew as tsitsit or talis-kotn, it is a four-cornered, fringed garment worn underneath the shirt by male Jews who observe the biblical commandment to wear a garment with fringes (Numbers 15:37-41).
Rosh Hashana (lit. “Head of the Year”): The Jewish New Year, celebrated the first and second days of Tishri (September). Next to Yom Kippur, these are the most solemn days of the year.
Rugelah: a sweet pastry strip spread with chocolate, nuts, or jam, cut into small pieces which are then twisted and baked into crisp yet chewy cookies.
Sacrificial Ceremony: performed the day before Yom Kippur, this is a ceremony wherein a person’s guilt is symbolically transferred to the fowl, which is waved around the head three times. Many rabbinic authorities have decried the pagan nature of the ceremony and stated that it lacked authentic Jewish content. Hence, the irony in “A White Bird” of a woman who “religiously” follows a folk custom of dubious Jewish value.
Seder: the festive home ritual of the first and second nights of Passover, at which the Hagada is recited.
Shabbat: The Jewish Sabbath, celebrated from sundown on Friday night through sundown on Saturday night; the Shabbat Friday dinner typically includes lighting the menorah, a –candle candelabra, and blessing the loaf of braided challah bread.
Shemini Atzeres: the eighth day of the festival of Sukkos.
Shevuos (lit. “weeks): the Feast of Weeks celebrated on the sixth and seventh of Sivan (May-June), seven weeks after Passover. Shevuos marks the day on which the Torah was given to Israel on Mount Sinai, and also the day on which the first fruits of the wheat harvest were offered to God.
Shokhet (pl. shokhtim): the man ritually qualified to slaughter cattle and fowl for those who observe the Jewish dietary laws.
Silent Devotion: the payer silently recited during each of the Services by the congregation in a standing position.
Simchas Torah: the festival immediately following Shemini Atzeres, on which the reading of the Torah is completed and begun anew. This joyous holiday is traditionally celebrated with singing and dancing around the synagogue with the Torah.
Sukkos: the Feast of Booths celebrated for seven days (nine, including Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah), starting the fifteenth of Tishri. Sukkos commemorates the Jews’ living in booths (sukkos) during their wandering in the desert and is, in addition, the harvest festival.
Tahini: a thick paste of crushed sesame seeds.
Talmud Torah: the school where children were taught Hebrew, the prayers and the Pentateuch.
Tefillin: known in English as phylacteries, these are square leather boxes containing scriptural passages worn on the arm and head during morning prayer daily, except Sabbath and holidays, by male Jews over thirteen.
Ten Days of Repentance: the ten day period commencing with Rosh Hashana and ending with Yom Kippur; a time when the Jew is supposed to examine his moral and religious state of being and begin to pursue the path of good deeds which he will follow throughout the year.
Tisha B’Av: a day of mourning and fasting (August). Tradition tells us that both the First Temple (586 B.C.E.) and the Second (70 C.E.) were destroyed on that day by Nebuchadnezzar and Titus, respectively. On Tisha B’Av the biblical book of Lamentations is chanted.
Tsimess: vegetables simmered in honey or sugar; usually with carrots, or potatoes and prunes.
Yiddish: the language of the Jews of Eastern Europe, and now spoken by their descendants in various parts of the world. An outgrowth of Middle High German. Yiddish, which contains Hebrew and Slavic words, is written in Hebraic characters and is read from right to left. It has been spoken by Jews for nearly 1000 years.
Yizkor: the Memorial Service, recited on the last days of the three major festivals, Sukkos, Passover, Shevuos, and on Yom Kippur, in memory of parents, children, wives or husbands, and martyrs.
Yom Kippur: the Day of Atonement, the tenth day of Tishri. This is the most solemn day of the year, wherein the Jews pray and fast all day long and publicly confess their sins directly to their Creator and beg for forgiveness.
