Judaism Vocabulary

Idolatry

giving worship to someone or something other than the one, true God

Ark

a repository traditionally in or against the wall of a synagogue for the scrolls of the Torah.

Mitzvot

a commandment of the Jewish law- God's way of giving guidance for what will make people truly happy. Keeping Torah brings freedom.

Menorah

a candelabra with seven or nine lights that is used in Jewish worship.

Shabbat

the Jewish Sabbath

Mezuzah

means doorpost- a small parchment containing Jewish scripture, usually the Sh'ma that is placed in a case on or near the right door frame at the home of an observant Jew.

Kosher

from the Hebrew word kaser, meaning proper. Commonly refers to food permitted by Jewish dietary laws. Jews observe kosher laws to remind themselves that they are holy and separate people.

Israel

the Promised Land, Cannaan, Judea, Palestine, the State of Israel.

Jerusalem

the holiest city-Mount Moriah is there- where Abraham intended to sacrifice his son, where Jacob had a dream about God, King David captured Jerusalem and called it the City of David.
Solomon's Temple was built on Mount Moriah. The second temple was built there too.

Synagogue

House of Prayer, House of Study and a House of Assembly.

covenant

the agreement established between God and the ancient Israelites, first through Abraham and later through Moses, that designates the Jews as God's Chosen People, with special rights and responsibilities

Shema (Hebrew - hear)

From Deuteronomy 6:4, Judaism's most basic theological statement: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone" (Tanakh)

Torah (Hebrew - instruction)

Generally, the revelation of God's will to the people; more specifically, the divine Law, especially as contained in the first five books of the Bible, which together are often called the Torah.

Tanakh

A common way of referring to the Hebrew Bible, derived from the first letters of the Hebrew names of its three sections: Torah (T), Prophets (N), and Writings (K).

rabbi (Hebrew - my teacher)

A teacher of Torah and leader of Jewish worship

Mishnah

Written down in about AD 200; contains collected teachings of the rabbis of the preceding four centuries; along with the Talmud, is the most important text of the oral Torah.

Talmud

The vast depository of the oral Torah, based on the Mishnah with extensive rabbinic commentary on each chapter; there are two versions, the Palestinian (completed AD 450) and the Babylonian (completed AD 600)

Diaspora (greek - dispersion)

the situation of Jews living away from their ancestral homeland, a circumstance that has been true for most Jews since the classical period

Kabbalah

Jewish mysticism, which teaches that God can best be known through the heart; developed mainly in the medieval period with such texts as the Zohar

Hasidism (Hebrew from hasid - pious)

a form of Judaism that arose in Eastern Europe in the eighteenth century and that emphasizes mysticism, a personal relationship with God, a close-knit community, and the leadership of zaddik, a charismatic holy man

Zionism

Originally, the movement arising in the late nineteenth century that sought to re-establish a Jewish homeland; since 1948, the general support of the State of Israel.

anti-semitism

hostility toward Jews and Judaism; ranges from attitudes of disfavor to active persecution

Holocaust

the persecution of Jews by German Nazis from 1933-1945, resulting in the murder of some six million; commonly referred to by the Jews as Shoah (Hebrew - mass destruction)

Sabbath (in Hebrew, Shabbat)

The day from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday (observed on Sunday by some Reform Jews) that is set aside for rest and religious celebration, as decreed by one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8).

Rosh Hashanah (Hebrew: "the beginning of the year")

the festival occurring in early fall in commemoration of the new year

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: "day of atonement")

Judaism's most important holy day, occurring in the fall on the tenth day of the new year; spent primarily at synagogue services in prayer for forgiveness of sins and marked by abstention from food and drink (fasting)

Passover

eight-day festival celebrated in early spring that commemorates the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt

bar mitzvah/bat mitzvah

the ritual celebration marking the coming of age of a Jewish child, at which time the person takes on the religious responsibilities of an adult