Pat Robertson is saying G-d spoke to him and said millions of Americans will die in a terrorist attack later this year.

When reached for comment, the Lord of Hosts said:

Superstition, Sorcery and Torah

The commandments to stay away from the occult, necromancy, sorcery, demonic forces and the like are explicit in the Torah. See Lev. 19:26 and Deut. 18:10, from which these mitzvos are derived.

There’s an interesting split among Jews regarding WHY we have these mitzvos.

Rambam says the mitzvah to stay away from them is because it’s all fake, all trickery, all BS, so stay away from it; it’s a deception.

RambaN, in the typical RambaN way, takes a different view from Rambam, and he says the mitzvah is because the dark side is very real and will eat you.

But all sides agree the Torah gives us a mitzvah to avoid it.

I heard a Lubavicher rabbi say there was a lost soul possessing somebody in a nursing home, and he said kaddish (mourner’s prayer) for that dead Jew and then she stopped possessing the patient. Out there? I don’t know.

Some Christians take this prohibition and run with it and go a bit too far. My brother Jamie had a middle school teacher of his handing out comics to the kids that said Halloween is all about demonic influence and will send you to directly to Hell; the controversy made the front page of the local paper. You’ve got Becky Fischer of Jesus Camp, famously shouting that “if this was the Old Testament, Harry Potter would be stoned to death!”
Well yeah lady, except you’re missing the fact that Harry Potter doesn’t exist and you can’t convict anyone when wizardry isn’t possible.

It’s fiction. There’s nothing wrong with entertainment. And you can find Torah lessons in it as well, as you can in anything. NCSY Rabbi Jack Abramowitz even argues Harry Potter is Jewish.

The Torah prohibitions are clearly delineated by the oral law, and they are to never recognize powers in the universe other than Hashem, never get wrapped up in non-Hashem abilities (no trusting magic and astrology instead of G-d) and yes, to stop people from leading others off the derech (path) with trickery. Rambam also says Lev. 19:26 bans being superstitious generally.

Whether Rambam is right or wrong that supernatural forces don’t even exist, I haven’t observed enough to determine. Based on my experience so far seeing plenty of unexplainable phenomenon, I could go either way. I sympathize with both positions.

What do you think?

Here’s a great song: “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder set to clips from the Harry Potter movies, hehe….

The Torah In No Way Contradicts Science

The Spiritual Should Only Illuminate The Scientific. The Scientific Should Only Illuminate The Spiritual.

There has been and will continue to be debate about evolution and the age of planet Earth in light of Genesis’ description of a six-day creation of all life.

Among Christians, especially the growing fundamentalist groups, creationism stating a literal 6 day creation of the Earth is common. A small minority of Charedi Jews (i.e. ultra Orthodox) hold to the Earth being 5767 years old. The Lubavicher Rebbe said this world (tree rings showing millions of years, fossils, etc.) is the world of lies, and Olam HaBa (the world to come) will be the world of perfect truth. I’ve heard Christians say that dinosaurs coexisted with humans and that science’s claims dinosaur fossils are 100 million years old are lies told by Satan to test our faith.

Me in front of a dinosaur at the famous American Museum of Natural History in New York City, 1999, age 17.

If G-d created the Earth, human beings and all species too, in only 6 days, then, by definition, humans and dinosaurs would exist at the same time. That’s right, they’re saying dinosaurs coexisted with humans! LOL! This always conjures up images of Jesus riding a dinosaur to me!

To assume that all Triassic fossils are 248-208 Million Years inaccurate
all Jurassic fossils are 208-144 Million Years inaccurate
and all Cretaceous fossils are 144-65 Million Years inaccurate is way too much for me to swallow.

It would mean, some Charedim explain, a G-d deceiving us by making things look way older than they really are. I don’t believe in a deceptive G-d.

Also, it stretches credulity past the breaking point understanding why Tyrannosaurus Rex and friends didn’t make a midnight snack out of the human race and end it forever if they existed at the same time. Tastes like chicken!
We’ve proven that situations like The Lost World or The Flintstones didn’t happen.

But of course, dinosaur fossils and an Earth that is demonstrably billions of years old doesn’t contradict the Torah. To insist on a literal six-day Creation is to have a very shallow understanding of a Creation story that has infinite depth in each verse.

Dr. Gerald Schroeder is an Orthodox Jew and MIT-trained scientist who wrote the book The Science of G-d and has made it his life’s work to teach that the Torah in no way contradicts science, but supports and illuminates it. See his web site for more. He is the source of much of what I’m about to tell you.

What is a day? All sides can agree that day, by definition, is the time between sunrise and sunset. We know that since Torah tells us the sun wasn’t created until day 3, it can’t be referring to literal days (because a day requires a sun) so these 6 days refer to epochs of Creation.

Psalm 90:4 says “a thousand years in Your sight are as but yesterday.”

The Jewish sages of the Middle Ages tell us the Earth is billions of years old, and they weren’t bending to science, because science didn’t even exist in their era. Nachmanides described all matter of the universe expanding from the size of a seed (the big bang) in the 13th century. This is because scientific truth mirrors spiritual truth.

In Genesis, you see one beginning. This has been shown by science.

In science they document evolution. In Genesis, you see one seeding of life with the plant species, then sea life and dinosaurs (in Hebrew, Tananim Gedolim, “great lizards,” mistranslated into English as Leviathan or “sea monsters”) arise, then birds (what dinosaurs became) arise, then mammals arise, then mankind arise. It mirrors evolution exactly! It’s amazing!
It’s easy to see why most Jews, Pope John Paul II and most Catholics have no problem understanding evolution.

The second description of Creation describes Adam not finding a mate among the animals. “And man named all the cattle and the fowl of the heavens and all the beasts of the field, but for man, he did not find a helpmate opposite him.” (Gen. 2:20) Obviously, Adam in sinless Eden is not a sheep molester. The Midrash explains among the “beasts of the field” were animals who looked and talked just like people! Prehistoric man! And since he couldn’t find a soul mate among Neanderthals, Hashem created the male and female soul. 5767 years isn’t the age of the Earth, but the time since the human soul was bestowed. 5767 in history mirrors what has been discovered by archeology as about the time organized civilization arose. I don’t think this is a coincidence; the Torah is obviously documenting an important break in human history.

Astronomy has shown that light exploded into the matter of planets which spawned life, i.e. we come from light beams. This is confirmed throughout Judaic thought, as we are called “beings of light.”

Spiritual truth mirrors scientific truth. There are countless examples of this. Another was how a Talmudist deduced a major descending artery in the brain that was later confirmed to exist by science.

If you come to the study of both the scientific and the spiritual with an open mind, the rewards are infinite, and you will see they’re but one, inseparable world. Scientists peering into powerful telescopes at the light spurred by the big bang cannot help but tell you they’re seeing G-d. Albert Einstein, who was also Jewish, believed he was discovering G-d’s laws; and how can you see astrophysics as anything else?

Both the scientific and the spiritual are very exciting to study, because they have the potential to expose and confirm the deepest, most visceral truths of our existence. Science should be embraced by the religious, and it’s very frustrating to see them bashing science. They align themselves with the same mentality of those who insisted the world was flat, called the work of Copernicus heretical and the great many prominent citizens that refused to look through Galileo’s telescope, calling it “the devil’s instrument.” These creationists who continue to deny dinosaurs walked the Earth 100 million years ago are gravely harming themselves and society.

I urge everyone to look into Dr. Schroeder’s web site. The study of science is very rewarding, and though they’re too biased to see it, can only deepen the faith of the devout. We’re commanded to seek out scientific truths, (“…the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever” Deut. 29:29) and the exciting scientific discoveries ahead can only help us understand ourselves and all creations. There’s nearly no greater shame than to shun new revelations that should grant us infinite wonder and delight in favor of pride in cloistered ignorance that leads only to absurdities, not truth.

Nick

Nicholas Midrashim: Ishmael

Ishmael means “G-d hears,” because Hashem heard the pleas of Hagar, his mother.

“And G-d was with the lad, and he grew, and he dwelt in the desert, and he became an archer.” (Gen 21:20)

Notice I’ve shown (or tried to show) Ishmael drawing the bow with his thumb, the method of the Medieval Islamic armies, not the European method of the three-fingered draw. I saw a historian on the History Channel saying it was due to this slightly more-powerful thumb draw that gave Muslim armies the slight edge in close battles that led to them defeating the Crusaders and taking back control of the Middle East.

Islam claims (and Jews agree) that Ishmael is the father of the Arab nation, and thus all Muslims.

I’m highlighting when he first left Abraham’s house, and became an archer, surviving in the wild. This stuff is so fascinating to me.

Here’s the passage in context:

Genesis 21

Yaniv over at the Jew Is Beautiful blog has an excellent post on the subject of Ishmael, and the “Ishmaelites.”
The Ishmaelite Prophecies of Lech Lecha.

He focuses on the prophecy, “the angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction. And he will be a wild chamor (donkey, stubborn) of a man; his hand will be upon all, and everyone’s hand upon him, and before all his brothers he will dwell.’” (Genesis 16:11-12)

Yaniv tilts anti-Islam somewhat, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a more detailed, intelligent analysis of Ishmael and his unique imprint on Islam. It’s a must-read.

He’s right that like Ishmael, Ishmaelites are aggressive, holy, monotheists.

And I think they have plenty to be proud of.

Nick

Lech Lecha

Cartoons by Nick, drawn in Paint Shop Pro 6.

Much to the surprise of Abram and his camel, the booming voice of the Almighty commanded him:

Genesis chapter 12

1 “Now Hashem said unto Abram: ‘Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee.

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing..

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’

4 So Abram went, as Hashem had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And Hashem appeared unto Abram, and said: ‘Unto thy seed will I give this land’; and he built there an altar unto Hashem, who appeared unto him.

8 And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and he built there an altar unto Hashem, and called upon the name of Hashem.

9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

10 And there was a famine in the land; and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was sore in the land.

11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife: ‘Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon.

12 And it will come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they will say: This is his wife; and they will kill me, but thee they will keep alive.

13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister; that it may be well with me for thy sake, and that my soul may live because of thee.’

14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

15 And the princes of Pharaoh saw her, and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.

16 And he dealt well with Abram for her sake; and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants, and maid-servants, and she-asses, and camels.

17 And Hashem plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.

18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said: ‘What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

19 Why saidst thou: She is my sister? so that I took her to be my wife; now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.’

20 And Pharaoh gave men charge concerning him; and they brought him on the way, and his wife, and all that he had.

Commentary on this parsha

Nicholas Midrashim: Noach

Noah Fails To Save Most Humans

Cartoons by Nick, drawn in Paint Shop Pro 6.

All sources from Chabad.org: Parshat Noach

Rashi teaches us:
“Many ways to bring relief and rescue are available to Him; why, then, did He burden him with this construction [of the ark]?
In order that the people of the Generation of the Flood should see him occupying himself with it for one hundred twenty years and ask him, “For what do you need this?” And he would say to them,“The Holy One, blessed be He, is destined to bring a flood upon the world.” Perhaps they would repent. – [Aggadath Bereishith 1:2, Tan. Noach 5, Tan. Buber Bereishith 37, Gen. Rabbah 30:7]“

“For what do you need this?”

“HaKodesh Baruch Hu is destined to bring a flood upon the world.”

“What? Why?”

“The earth has become corrupt before G-d! The earth is full of robbery!” (Gen. 6:11)
“Everything is corrupted! There is no order or respect, people loot and do whatever they want! There are no boundaries at all; there is even mating between different species! dogs and cats living in peace! it’s madness!” (Tan. Noach 12)

“Why would the generation of the Flood be utterly destroyed, but not the generation of the Tower? Because the generation of the Flood is consumed by robbery and violence, while amongst the generation of the Tower love prevailed.” (Midrash Rabbah)
“Behold! Fowl and beast and man alike shall be destroyed from the earth!” (Gen. 6:13)
“So said the Lord of Hosts, Return to Me, said the Lord of Hosts, and I will return to you, said the Lord of Hosts.
So said the Lord of Hosts: Return now from your evil ways and your evil deeds!” (Zechariah 1:3-4)

“Meh. Whatever, you crazy old geezer. You can keep your religious fanaticism. I just bought gilded pottery and 72 virgins.”

“Renounce your money! Give it to the poor!” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

“Right. ByeBye.”

“The wicked boasts of his heart’s desire; he blesses the greedy and renounces Hashem!” (Psalms 10:3)

For my Christian readership, Matthew 19:21-22 is a good mirror of this scenario:
Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

“Now the Flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and they lifted the ark, and it rose off the earth.” (Gen. 7:17)

“Everything that had the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils, of all that were on the dry land, died.” (Gen. 7:22)

“Noach was a righteous man in his generation.” (Gen. 6:9)

In other words, Noach’s involvement with others was limited to his sense of what he ought to do for them, as opposed to a true concern for their well-being. He understood the necessity to act for the sake of another, recognizing that to fail to do so is a defect in ones own character; but he fell short of transcending the self to care for others beyond the consideration of his own righteousness.

This also explains a curious aspect of Noach’s efforts to reach out to his generation. When the Flood came, Noach and his family entered the ark — alone. His 120-year campaign yielded not a single baal teshuvah (repentant)! Perhaps public relations was never Noach’s strong point, but how are we to explain the fact that, in all this time, he failed to win over a single individual?

But in order to influence others, one’s motives must be pure; in the words of our sages, “Words that come from the heart, enter the heart.” Deep down, a person will always sense whether you truly have his interests at heart, or you are filling a need of your own by seeking to change him. If your work to enlighten your fellow stems from a desire to “do the right thing” but without really caring about the result, your call will be met with scant response. The echo of personal motive, be it the most laudable of personal motives, will be sensed, if only subconsciously, by the object of your efforts, and will ultimately put him off.

(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)

Genocide can only be seen as a failure of mankind. Noach’s success, like ours today, has been limited. In every chapter of Torah the message is loud and clear: we have to do more.

We have to do more. BS”D this will be a year of doing more: more mitzvos, fewer sins of violence, robbery and economic disenfranchisement, which have gone so far they’ve now been legislated.

Fewer avieros (transgressions), more mitzvos.
We have to do more.

B”H!

Nick

Glossary of Jewish Terms and Phrases (L – Z)

For Future Reference

After adding heavily to the glossary A – K, I bring you L – Z. Let me know if I mangled any or missed any big ones!

Lashon HaRa lit. “the evil tongue”: gossip and slander prohibited by halacha, even if true.

Lashon HaKodesh lit. “the holy tongue”: the Hebrew language.

Layn: read or sing from the Torah.

L’chaim: “To Life!”

Lechem: bread

(lechem in open air market in Jerusalem, thanks malka!)

Lev: heart

Licht lit. light: Shabbas or yom tov candles

Litvak or Litvish: of or from Lithuanian Jewry.

Lox: smoked salmon.

Ma’ariv: evening prayer

Machmir: strictly adherent. “they’re not machmir on Shabbas.”

Maccabees: follower of Judah the Maccabee, who led the defeat of the Hellenists celebrated on Hannukah.

Magen David lit. Shield of David: Jewish star.

Mamzer: child of a forbidden union.

Marit Ayin: the appearance of impropiety, or refraining from such. “A shande far di goyim,” “A shame in front of the goyim.”

Matzah (pl. matzot): unleavened bread, esp. eaten on Pesach

Mazel lit. constellation: luck; Mazel Tov lit. (a) good star: “Congratulations!”

Mechitza: partition between men and women in synagouge or other events.

Megillah: Scroll. Used to refer to the books Esther, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Lamentations. Also, any long, drawn-out story. “Tell me the whole megillah!“

Melochos: work, esp. the 39 categories of work prohibitted on Shabbas.

Melech/melech: King. Capitalize in reference to G-d, “Melech HaOlam” (king of the world). David Ha melech (David the king).

Menorah: candelabra, esp. for Hannukah.

Mensch (pl. menschen): upstanding person. “What a mensch!”

Meshuggah: crazy. “This is meshuggah!!”

Meshegas: craziness.

Mezuzah: Torah passage on a parchment scroll, placed in an ornamental case and affixed to a doorpost as commanded by Deut 6:9.

Middos: attributes. “He has the neccesary middos for conversion.”

Midrash (pl. midrashim) lit. “retelling”: a story or collection of (often ancient) extra-scriptural Torah stories. A Beis Midrash is a house of learning.

Mikvah: ritual bath. people immerse in a mikvah to convert to Judaism. Women immerse after menstruation, men sometimes immerse prior to Yom Kippur.

Mincha: afternoon prayer.

Minyan: quorum of 10 required for certain prayers.

Mishnah: oral law that (along with its commentary, the Gemara) makes up the Talmud.

Mitzvah: commandment or religious act / good deed. “Bikkur Cholim is a huge mitzvah!”

Mohel: guy who performs circumcisions.

Moshiach lit. “Anointed”: a king or one anointed by G-d for a purpose; or the expected Jewish Messiah, who will rebuild the Beis HaMikdash (Ezekiel 37:24-28, Isaiah 33:20, Micah 4:1, Ezekiel 40-48) gather all Jews to Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6, Isaiah 11:12, Isaiah 27:12-13, Jeremiah 23:3, 30:3, Zechariah 10:6, Ezekiel 37:21-22) and bring world Peace (Isaiah 11:6, 33:20, Micah 4:3, Ezekiel 39:9, Isaiah 2:4) as well as Universal Knowledge of one G-d (Jeremiah 31:33, Zechariah 8:23, 14:9, 14:16, Isaiah 11:9, 40:5, Ezekiel 37:24 Zephaniah 3:9.)

Mussar: traditional moral tale. See Mussar Movement.

Muttar: Halachically permissible.

Nachas: pleasurable pride, esp. parental pride for children. “She gets such nachas from her children.”

Nevi: prophet.

Niggun: tune to which liturgy is sung; wordless melody sung by hasidim.

Nosh: snack [noun and verb].

Nu (Yid.): “So?” “Well?”

Olam: world; universe; everything; forever. Olam HaBah is The World to Come.

Oleh (pl. olim) lit. ascender: immigrant to Israel.

Oy, gevalt:“Oh, drat!”; “Oy, help!”

Oy, vey: lit. (it) hurts: “Oh, no!”

Parsha: portion, esp. weekly reading of Torah.

Parve lit. neutral: neither meat or dairy. For example, fish.

Perek: verse.

Poskin: rule on a halachic matter.

Posek: rabbi qualified to poskin halacha.

Pesach: Passover, the spring holiday commemorating Hashem redeeming the Jews from Mitzrayim (slavery / Egypt) characterized by the Seder, and destroying all chametz (leavened bread) to only eat matzah (unleavened bread), as the bread didn’t have time to rise when fleeing Egypt.

Peyot: the sidelocks worn by Charedi men.

Pirkei Avos: “Ethics of the Fathers,” the Mishnah’s book of sages’ ethical maxims.

Plotz: (Yid.) explode, esp. with intense emotion. “when your mom finds out, she’s gonna plotz!”

Pogrom: violent, anti-Semitic raid of a Jewish village or area, esp. in Europe.

Purim: spring holiday commemorating the events of the Book of Esther, when after the first destruction of the Temple and the Babylonian exile, the Jews, led by Esther, did tschuva, fasted and prayed and merited the land again.

Pushka: box or canister for collecting tzedekah. Parents give decorative pushkas to their children as gifts to instill the values of tzedekah in them.

Ra: evil or bad.

Rasha: wicked person.

Rav/Rebbe: big status titles for rabbis.

Rebbetzin: wife of a rabbi.

Rishonim: post-Gemara-era commentators, like Rashi, Maimonides and Nachmanides.

Rosh Chodesh: first day of the new month

Rosh HaShanah lit. head of the year: Jewish New Year.

Rosh Yeshiva: head of a yeshiva.

Ruach HaKodesh: holy spirit.

Sabra: cactus fruit. Also, native Israeli.

Sanhedrin: rabbinical supreme court of 70 sages.

Schlemazel: luckless person.

Schlemiel: bumbler, one who “can’t do anything right.” They say a schlemiel is the one who spills soup and the schlemazel is the one who gets soup spilled on him.

Schlep: verb — carry; drag, lug; drag one’s feet; travel a great distance; noun — lazy one; unkempt person.

Schlump: verb, slump, flop. noun, stoop-shouldered person.

Schmaltz: chicken grease, oil; maudlin sentimentality. “That movie was too schmaltzy!”

Schmeer: as a verb, to spread, e.g. the cream cheese on your bagel; also, as a noun, that which you spread on something, e.g. “I’ll have a piece of challah with schmeer.”

Schmooze: cruising to small talk or chat.

Schmuck , schmo, schlong, putz: one of the many Yiddish insult words meaning penis. as Elijah Wood’s character says in the recent movie Everything Is Illuminated, Eskimos see snow all the time, so they’ve developed hundreds of words for types of snow, and Yiddish has hundreds of words for penis for a similar reason, LOL!

Schmeggege: a doofus.

Schmutz: filth, scum.

Schnorrer: beggar.

Schnook: unscrupulous one; cheater, crook. “He schnookered me!”

Schpiel: drawn-out story; sales pitch.

Schtick: bit, piece; comic act.

Schtreiml: round, big fur hat worn by hasidim.

Sefer: book, esp. religious book. Sefer HaTorah.

Sephardi: Jews from the Iberian diaspora and their North African and Middle Eastern descendants.

Shabbas: the Sabbath, the central observance of Judaism, which overrides even high holy days.

Shacharit: morning prayer

Shadchan: matchmaker

Shalom: peace; “Hello/Goodbye”

Shalom Aleichem lit. peace to you: a warm greeting (response is “aleichem, shalom”)

Shalom bayit lit. peace of the house: domestic harmony.

Shanda: shame, disgrace.

Shekhina: G-d’s presence. A key purpose of Judaism is to do mitzvos to cause the shekhina to dwell among us, and avoid sins that push the shekhina away.

Shechita: kosher slaughtering; shecht, slaughter in a kosher manner.

Shema lit. Hear (O, Israel): the central Jewish prayer

Sheitel: wig, esp. for married women to cover their hair.

Shidduch: match for dating or marriage (see shadchan). “I need a shidduch” or “he brought a shidduch with him to the show.”

Shiur: a lecture or class. verb, as in “he was born to shuir!” or noun, as in, “great shiur!” or “he (classmate) was in my shiur.”

Shiva: period of mourning observed for seven days after a family member’s funeral. “Sitting shiva”.

Shoah lit. destruction: The Holocaust.

Shochet: kosher butcher.

Schuckle: to bob back and forth with intensity during prayer.

Shtetl: Eastern European Jewish ghetto village created by bans on Jews anywhere else.

Shul: synagogue

Shulchan Aruch lit. set table: Code of Jewish Law

Siddur: daily prayerbook

Simcha: happiness; special happy occasion, esp. wedding, bar mitzva, etc.

Simchat Torah: holiday celebrating the beginning of the annual Torah reading, in autumn

Slichot: prayers of repentance said around High Holidays

Smicha: rabbinic ordination

Sichos: rabbinic discourses

Succah (pl. succot): outdoor booth lived in on Succot; Succot, harvest festival, in autumn.

Tallit: prayer shawl.

Tashlich: Rosh HaShanah practice of throwing bread, etc. into water, symbolically casting away sins

Tefillah: prayer. the origin of the word tefillah is “to judge oneself.”

Tefillin: Torah passages on parchment scrolls, placed in small boxes and affixed with leather straps to the head and arm during prayer, as commanded in Deut 6:8.

Tehillim: Psalms

Tikkun Olam: the spiritual / physical repair and completion of the world, a key goal of Judaism.

Todah (rabbah): “Thank you (very much)”

Trief: lit. torn, like carrion: not kosher

Tzaddik: righteous person.

Tzedekah lit. justice: charity, but the English word charity, with its connotations of an act of generousity, is not tzedekah. The word and the concept tzedekah means justice, doing the right thing because you are commanded to (Deut. 15:7-8) and it’s not your money, it’s G-d’s.

Tzitzis: fringes representing the 613 mitzvos worn on the corners of Jews’ four-cornered garments; the garment and fringes together

Tzniut: modesty, esp. of dress

Viduy: confession to G-d of a sin

Yartzeit: anniversary of a death

Yasher Ko’ach lit.= (go) straight, (as) strong: “Good job! Keep up the good work!”

Yenta: gossipy woman.

Yerushalayim: Jerusalem

Yetzer tov / yetzer hara: good/evil inclination.

Yid (pl. Yidden): Jew.

Yiddishkeit: Jewishness

Yom Tov lit. good day: holiday

Zecher: in remembrance of

Zecher tzadik livracha (abbr. ZT”L): “(May) the memory of the righteous (be) for a blessing.” Said of deceased tzaddikim.

Zechus: merit. this blog written as a zechus for a refuah shleima (speedy recovery) of my mother, Rut Leah bas Shema Bera.

Zeide: grandfather

Glossary of Jewish Terms and Phrases (A – K)

For Future Reference

HaShem lit. “the Name”: used in lieu of The Ineffable Name to refer to G-d

Baruch Hashem: Bless The Name! used like, “thank G-d!” abbrev. B”H!

B’Ezrat Hashem: “G-d willing!” or “with the help of G-d.”

BS”D: abbr. for “B‘Siyata D‘Shmaya,” an oft-used Aramaic term meaning “with the help of Heaven”

Abba: father.

Ahava: love; Ahavas Yisrael, “love of fellow Jew.”

Aliyah: to go up. immigration to Israel, “make aliyah”; to go up to the Torah in front of a congregation.

Assur: forbidden.

Ashkenazi: Eastern European Jew

Avodah: Service of G-d, like works and prayer.
On three things the world stands – On the Torah, on Avodah, and on Deeds of Chesed (Lovingkindess) Perkei Avos 1:2.

Avodah Zora lit. “strange service”: idol worship.

Ayin Hora: the evil eye!

B’: in.

Ba’al tshuva lit. “one who returns”: a newly observant Jew. abbr. BT.

Bentch, bentching: (Yiddish) Grace After Meals

Bochur, pl. bochurim: young man, esp. unmarried student, “yeshiva bochur”

Bar mitzvah: 13-year-old boy now responsible for fulfilling the commandments; the ceremony at which this rite of passage occurs. bat mitzvah for girls. comparable to confirmation for Catholics.

B’emet lit. in truth: “Really?”; “Really!”

Beis HaMikdash: the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Built twice but destroyed by invaders. Rebuilding of the third Temple in a Messianic Age is central in Jewish liturgy and theology.

Bikkur cholim: visiting the sick

B’nei: children; i.e. B’nei Yisrael (“children of Yisrael”), B’nei Noach (“children of Noah”) and B’nei Brith (lit. “children of the covenant”).

Brit (mila) lit. “covenant”: circumcision.

B’shert: destined; one’s soulmate/spouse.

Bubbe: grandmother

B’vakasha: “Please”; “You’re welcome.”

Chag Sameach: “happy holiday!”

Challah: braided egg bread for Shabbas and holidays

Chas v’shalom lit. mercy and peace: “G-d forbid!” abbr. c”v”s. Also, chas v’chalila.

Chavrusa: study partner or group.

Charedi: ultra-observant or “ultra-Orthodox.” black hat-wearing Jews.

Charem: state of excommunication, shunning

Chassan: groom

Chaza”l (abbr. of Chachomim, Zichronom L‘Vracha): our Sages, may their Memories (be) for a Blessing.

Chazan: cantor, i.e. singer of Hebrew liturgy.

Chazer: pig.

Chilul HaShem lit. “defamation of the Name”: a scandalous act or statement.

Chumash lit. “five”: The Five Books of Moses.

Chumra: stringency.

Chuppah: wedding canopy.

Chutzpah: sass, moxy; nerve, gall.

Chiloni: Israeli non-affiliated (secular) Jew.

Dayeinu “Enough,” “It Would Have Sufficed,” a Seder song; “Enough already!”

Daven: pray.

Derech lit. “the path”: Jewish observance. often used as on/off the derech. “his mom is terrified he’ll go off the derech.”

Diaspora: those Jews not living in Israel.

Din: judgement

Drasha: sermon

Dreidel: toy top used on Hannukah

D’var Torah lit. “word of Torah”: speech of Torah insights.

Emet: Truth.

Emunah: trust in Hashem

Eretz Yisrael: The Land of Israel

Farbrengen (Yiddish): gathering, party, esp. religious or family party

Frum: religious, Orthodox. “he’s so frum.”

Galus lit. “exile”: where the Diaspora lives

Gan Aden: The Garden of Eden

Gelt: money, esp. as Hannukah gift.

Ger lit. “sojourner”: convert to Judaism.

Get: divorce document.

Golem: legendary automaton brought to life from clay by Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah).

Gevalt: interjection of shock, dismay, or alarm (from Yiddish gvald “emergency”)

Goyim lit. nations: gentiles.

Ha: The

HaEretz: lit. “the land.”

HaLacha lit. “the way”: Jewish law.

Halachic, halachically: by Jewish law.

HaKodesh Baruch Hu: The Holy One, Blessed He; a name for G-d.

Hasid (pl. Hasidim) lit. “pious” or going beyond: a member of a Hasidic sect, or compliment, “he’s such a hasid.”

Hasidism: an Orthodox movement focusing on chesed and going beyond the letter of the law in observance.

Chesed: loving-kindness

Hashkafa: Jewish philosophy.

Heter: halachic loophole. “his rabbi gave him a heter for fasting on Yom Kippur.”

HaMotzi: the blessing over bread

Hannukah: winter holiday memorializing the victory over the Hellenists and the miracle of the lamp that burned for 8 nights.

Ima: mother

Im Yirtzeh Hashem: if Hashem wills it… abbr. IY”H, IYH

Kabbalas HaTorah: “receiving the Torah”

Kabbalah lit. “receive”: Jewish physics and mystical interpretations

Kaddish: mourner’s prayer

Kallah: bride

Kashrus: the laws of kosher-ness

Kefira: doubt or denial of G-d, sometimes considered mildly heretical, sometimes permitted. See here. LOL!!

Kedushin: the marriage ceremony

Kelev lit. “like heart”: a dog.

Kehilla: congregation; community

Ketubah lit. “writ”: marriage contract.

Kibbutz (pl. kibbutzim): Israeli collective farm

Kiddush: prayer/blessing for wine

Kiddush HaShem lit. sanctification of the Name: selfless act, glorious deed. opposite of chillul Hashem

Kinderlach: (small) children.

Kippah (pl. kippot): skullcap, yarmulke.

Kiruv lit. “to bring close”: religious outreach.

Klal Yisrael: The Jewish People

Klezmer: Yiddish music.

Kodesh: holy.

Kohen (pl. kohanim): descendant of Moses, Aaron; thus, a member of the priest class, which is still functioning.

Kol Ha’Kavod lit. “All of the respect”: all right, way to go, or a job well done. Can be used sarcastically.

Kosher: acceptable under Jewish law

Kotel: the Western Wall.

Kvell: derive deep pride or intense satisfaction. “she kvelled over her children.”

Kvetch: whine(r), complain(er)