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(Isaiah 2:3)

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Shofar

A Glossary of
Unfamiliar Terms
Compiled from numerous source documents

Ten Commandments Tablets
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Abbreviations Used In This Glossary

abbr. = abbreviated

alt. = alternate

Ar. = Aramaic

esp. = especially

Gr. = Greek

Heb. = Hebrew

lit. = literally

n. = noun

pl. = plural

pron. = pronounced

prop. = properly

sg. = singular

usu. = usually

v. = verb

Yid. = Yiddish

Transliteration/Pronunciation GuideBooks of the Bible
Proper NamesTribes of IsraelThe Mishnah

For more Hebrew words and phrases, you might
enjoy John Parsons’ Hebrew4Christians.com

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U

ugeret
easily seen; evident
 
Unleavened Bread, Feast of
The second of the seven Feasts of ADONAI, which begins on the fifteenth of Nisan, directly after the Passover, and continues for seven days; a time when no leaven is to be eaten; also sometimes included in the festival of Passover, whereby the two are designated as one holiday or festival lasting eight days. Also Hag haMatzah
 
Untaneh Tokef
a passage describing Heavenly Judgment added to prayer on Rosh haShanah and Yom Kippur.
 
Ur
An ancient Sumerian city and district in southern Babylonia by the Euphrates River; the home of Avraham.
 
Ur’chatz
“celebrant washes,” one of the fifteen phases of the Seder ceremony (see Rachatzah)
 
Ushpizin
the Seven Shepherds of Israel who “visit” every Jew’s Sukah on the Feast of Tabernacles.
 
Uva Letzion
a prayer composed of a selection of Scriptural verses
 

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V   w

Va’era
the second portion in the Book of Exodus
 
Va’etchanan
the second portion in the Book of Deuteronomy
 
Vav
the sixth letter in the Hebrew alphabet
 
Vayechal
a paragraph from Exodus chapter 32 and 34 read on a public fast
 
Vayelech
a portion in the Book of Deuteronomy
 
Vayechi
the last portion in the Book of Genesis
 
Vayiqra
(alt. Wayiqra) Leviticus
 
Ve’ahavta
lit. “and you shall love” … the prayer from Deuteronomy 6:5-9, that obligates Jews to love God and to teach Judaism to future generations; part of the Shema
 
Velamalshinim
a passage relating to slanderers and informers, prescribed as a nineteenth brachah (blessing) added to the eighteen benedictions of the amidah prayer
 
Vezot Habrachah
the last portion in the Torah
 
vidui
confession
 
Vilna Gaon
One of the most prominent figures in the Torah world of recent centuries, his erudition covering (in addition to the natural sciences and mathematics) the entire field of Torah scholarship, on which he wrote some 70 works. Despite his extreme seclusion — his ascetic assiduity has become proverbial — he exerted a powerful influence on Jewish affairs. Since his time, the Yiddish term Litvak (“Lithuanian”) has come to stand for a scholarly and hard-core misnaged espousing the closely definable world-view whose prime ideologist and ideal personality is the Gaon.
 

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W   w

Wayiqra
(alt. Vayiqra) Leviticus
 

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Y   y

Y'hudi
(alt. Yehudi; pl. Y'hudim or Yehudim) Jew
 
Ya’aleh Veyavo
a passage added to the amidah prayer and to the Grace after the Meal on Festivals and New Moons when additional sacrifices were offered in the Sanctuary
 
yachatz
the breaking of the middle matzah of the ceremonial matzot during a Passover seder … one of the fifteen phases of the Seder ceremony
 
yachid dyxy
one, an absolute oneness;  only one, solitary, unique; contrast echad
yad
hand
 
Yahadut
Judaism
 
Yahrzeit
a day of memorial
 
Yahshua or Yashua
false forms of the Messiah’s name Yeshua
 
Yahweh
the Tetragrammatron; the four Hebrew letters hwhy (yod-heh-vav-heh) usually transliterated YHWH or YHVH that form the proper Name of HaShem (insofar as it can be said that HaShem has a proper Name); incorrectly translated in many English Bibles as “Jehovah” which is grammatically impossible to say in the Hebrew language. As nearly as the word can be translated into English, it means “I Am” … it was by this name that HaShem revealed himself to Moshe in the burning bush.
    Several times Yeshuah HaMashiach claimed to be “I AM” … thus either Yeshua is literally YHWH, the covenant God of Avraham, Yitz’chak, and Ya’akov, or He is a liar and a fraud.
 
yaldah
girl
 
yam
sea
 
yamim
days
 
yamim mikedem
earlier days
 
Yamin Noraim
(alt. Yamim) lit. Days of Awe; the ten-day period beginning with Rosh haShanah and ending with Yom Kippur
 
yanshuf
great owl
 
yare’ach
moon
 
yarmulke
Yid. for Hebrew kippa or kipah, a skullcap worn by many male Jews during prayer; many observant male Jews wear the kippa all the time, because we are encouraged to pray continually (Ps 72:15; Ps 122:6; Jer 29:7; Eph 6:18; 1Th 5:17).It also reminds us that Yeshua is our kipporah (covering).
 
yashar
(alt. yashir) straight
 
yashar mishpat
righteous judgment
 
yashrus
justice
 
yatzdik
justify
 
yavam
husband’s brother upon whom devolved the duty of marrying the former’s widow if left without children … the brother-in-law
 
Yavneh
a city that became the location of an academy and a central focus for the Jews once the Romans destroyed Jerusalem
 
yayin
wine
 
ye’ush
despair
 
yebamah
under Biblical laws, childless widow who was commanded to marry late husband’s brother, so that a child might be named after the departed
 
yechidus
private meeting of the Rebbe with his Chassidim
 
yeled
child
 
yemach shemam
their name should be blotted out
 
yerida
to descend back; return
 
yerushah
inheritance
 
Yerushalayim
Jerusalem. The city of our God, and eternal covenantal capital of Eretz Yisra’el — the Land of Israel
 
yeshanot
old things
 
yeshivah
(pl. yeshivot) Torah academy
 
Yeshua
Literally means “God saves” or “YHWH is my salvation.” Variants include Y’shua, Y’hoshua, and Y’hoshua. Because the Greek language has no equivalent of the Hebrew letters “yod” or “shin” and all masculine Greek names end in “s” the name was transliterated into Greek as “Iesous” in both the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. When transliterated into English, the iota (“I”) became a “J” resulting in the spelling “Jesus.” (Some heretical forms of Messianic Judaism force the Master’s name into the forms Yahshua or Yashua in order to falsely include God’s name “Yah.”)
 
yeshuah
rescue; salvation; deliverance
 
yesod
(pl. yesodot) foundation or rudiments
 
yetomim
orphans
 
yetzer
impulse
 
yetzer ha’ra
impulse toward evil
 
yetzer ha’tov
impulse toward good
 
yetzurim
creatures
 
yetzurim hayam
creatures of the sea
 
Yevani (pl. Yevanim)
Greek
 
yi’ud merosh
predestination
 
yichud
time spent alone together by the bride and groom immediately after the wedding ceremony … bridal chamber … room entered by bride and groom where the two, in the consummation of the marriage, become one
 
yichus
lineage
 
Yiddish
The language spoken by the Ashkenazi (Jews of European ancestry); it is a dialect of old German.
 
Yir’as Shomayim
Fear of Heaven
 
yirah
fear
 
Yirmeyahu
Jeremiah
 
yisurim
sufferings; torments
 
Yitro
the sixth portion in the Book of Exodus
 
Yizkor
(“May He remember”) Prayers for the departed, recited on Yom Kippur, Shemini Atzeret, last day of Passover, second day of Shavuot
 
yod
(alt. yud) tenth and smallest letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet
 
yold
fool
 
yom
day
 
Yom Habikkurim
The Day of First Fruits, barley harvest, the day from which we start counting the Omer 50 days to Shavuot (Pentecost)
 
Yom haDin
Lit. Day of Judgment; one of the names for Rosh haShanah
 
Yom haPeduth
The Day of Redemption
 
Yom haZikkaron
Lit. The Day of Remembrance; one of the names for Rosh haShanah
 
Yom Kippur
(alt. Kipur) The Day of Atonement; The Great Fast
 
Yom Kippur Katan
(alt. Kipur) the eve of a New Moon, a “little” Day of Atonement
 
Yom Teruah
(Rosh haShanah) The Day of the Awakening Blast; The Feast of Trumpets
 
Yom Tov
(pl. Yamim Tovim; lit. good day) a Festival Day, holiday
 
yom yom
daily;p day-by-day
 
Yoma
a tractate of the Mishnah on Yom Kippur
 
yoma arichta
one “long” day, two days considered as one
 
yonah
(pl. yonim) dove; Yonah was the prophet that God sent to Nineveh
 
yoreh
first Autumn rain
 
yoreshim
heirs
 
yoshen
oldness
 
yosher
rectitude
 
Yotzer
Creator
 
Yotzer Ha’Adam
Hebrew for “Creator of Man.” It is the 2nd of the 7 blessings that are recited at the end of a wedding feast (see the Complete Art Scroll Siddur P.206)
 
Yotzrot
liturgical poems added to the shacharit prayer
 
Yovel
a Jubilee year at the end of a fifty year cycle
 
yud
(alt. yod) the 10th and smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet (aleph-bet).
 
yunge leit
(Yid.) young people
 

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Page last updated on Monday, 12 June 2023 11:41 AM
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