Judaism

Question 1

B’rit Milah

Answer 1

Covenant of circumcision, traditionally performed on the eighth day of a boy’s life.

Question 2

Mohel

Answer 2

Highly skilled ritual circumciser.

Question 2

Kvater/Kvaterin

Answer 2

Godfather/Godmother: those who carry the baby into the b’rit ceremony

Question 3

Sandak

Answer 3

Person who holds the baby during the ceremony

Question 4

Seudat Mitzvah

Answer 4

A festive meal which honors the observance of a mitzvah

Question 5

Mi Sheberach

Answer 5

Literally: “May the One who blessed”. A prayer usually, but not solely, recited after a person has been honored with a Torah blessing. There are various forms of this prayer, one of which is used to name a child.

Question 5

B’rit HaChayim

Answer 5

Literally: “covenant of life”. A home ceremony for the naming of baby girls.

Question 6

Pidyon Haben/Habat

Answer 6

Literally: “redemption of the (first-born) son/daughter.”Home ceremony which takes place on the thirty-first day of a child’s life.

Question 7

Kiddush Pe’ter Rechem

Answer 7

Modern ceremony celebrating the birth of the first child

Question 8

Chanukah

Answer 8

Literally: dedication

Question 9

Menorah

Answer 9

Seven- or eight-branched candelabra. Most commonly used to refer to the eight-branched Chanukah lamp

Question 10

Gelt

Answer 10

Yiddish word for “money”; given as a Chanukah present, used for playing dreidel

Question 11

Dreidel

Answer 11

Yiddish for “top”; used in Chanukah game. Known in Hebrew as “sevivon“

Question 11

Latke

Answer 11

Yiddish word for “pancake”. Potato latkes are traditionally eaten on Chanukah

Question 12

Nes Gadol Hayah Sham

Answer 12

Literally: “A great miracle happened there.”First letters of these four words are found on the dreidel

Question 13

Sufganiyot

Answer 13

Jelly doughnuts served in Israel on Chanukah

Question 14

Ger/Gioret

Answer 14

“One who is invited to join the Hebrew tribe.”The masculine and feminine forms of the Hebrew term for convert

Question 15

Halachah

Answer 15

Jewish Law

Question 16

Gerut

Answer 16

Conversion

Question 17

Milah

Answer 17

Ritual circumcision

Question 17

Tevilah

Answer 17

Immersion in a ritual bath (mikveh) or any natural body of water which can serve as a mikveh.

Question 18

Gan Eden

Answer 18

Literally: Garden of Eden; paradise

Question 19

Kevod HaMet

Answer 19

Honor due to the dead. One of the two principes that govern the Jewish approach to death and mourning.

Question 19

Gehinom

Answer 19

Literally: Valley of Hinom; place of punishment

Question 20

Taharah

Answer 20

Ritual purification

Question 21

Chevrah Kadisha

Answer 21

Group of people entrusted with the mitzvah of preparing the body for burial

Question 22

Mitzvah

Answer 22

Commandment; obligatory responses to our Jewish traditions

Question 23

Yizkor

Answer 23

Memorial services held on Yom Kippur and on the last day of Pesach, Shavout, and Sukot

Question 24

Kaddish

Answer 24

Prayer praising God. There are several Kaddish prayers recited during the service, one of which is recited in memory of the departed

Question 25

Yahrzeit

Answer 25

Anniversary of the death

Question 26

Shivah

Answer 26

Seven-day mourning period beginning with the burial

Question 27

Sheloshim

Answer 27

Thirty-day mourning period

Question 27

Keriah

Answer 27

Tearing of a garment or a ribbon as an expression of grief

Question 28

Bar/Bat (Bas) Mitzvah

Answer 28

Ceremony marking youngster’s reaching the age of religious majority

Question 28

Tzedakah

Answer 28

Literally: justice, righteousness; the Hebrew word we use for charity

Question 29

Minyan

Answer 29

Quorum of ten people necessary for public prayer

Question 30

Kiddushin

Answer 30

Marriage

Question 30

Chatan

Answer 30

Groom

Question 31

Kalah

Answer 31

Bride

Question 32

Ketubah

Answer 32

Marriage contract

Question 33

Kosher

Answer 33

Ritually fit

Question 34

Get

Answer 34

Religious divorce

Question 35

Haggadah (pl. Haggadot)

Answer 35

Literally: telling.It is our duty to tell the story of Passover, particularly to the children.

Question 36

Purim

Answer 36

Literally: lots

Question 37

ROSH HASHANAH

Answer 37

Rosh Hashanah – Literally: the “head of the year”; the New Year.

Question 38

Shofar

Answer 38

Ram’s horn

Question 39

Chet

Answer 39

Literally: “missing the mark”; a Hebrew term for sin

Question 40

Teshuvah

Answer 40

Literally: “returning”; a Hebrew term for repentance

Question 41

Shavuot

Answer 41

Literally: “weeks”. This festival occurs seven weeks after Pesach

Question 42

Torah

Answer 42

Literally: “teaching.”In a narrow sense it is the Five Books of Moses, hand-written on a parchment scroll. In a broad sense, it is everything which flows from this (i.e. Judaism).

Question 42

TaNaCH

Answer 42

Acronym for Torah, Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings)- the three sections of the Hebrew Bible

Question 43

Parashah

Answer 43

The weekly Torah portion

Question 44

Galut

Answer 44

Exile

Question 44

Zionism

Answer 44

The belief that there should be a Jewish homeland in Zion (Israel)

Question 45

Pogrom

Answer 45

Organized attach on the Jewish community.

Question 45

Yom HaAtzma-ut

Answer 45

Literally: “Day of Independence”; Israeli Independence Day

Question 46

Yiddish

Answer 46

Judeo-German; the everyday language of the Jews of Eastern Europe

Question 47

Yom HaShoah

Answer 47

Literally: “Holocaust Day.” A day set aside to remember the Holocaust and to honor the memory of those who perished.

Question 48

Shtetl

Answer 48

A small Jewish village in Eastern Europe

Question 49

Kol Nidrei

Answer 49

Literally: all vows. Opening prayer for Yom Kippur eve.

Question 49

Yom Kippur

Answer 49

Day of Atonement

Question 50

Matzah

Answer 50

The unleavened bread eaten in recollection of the hurried departure from Egypt. The eating of matzah is obligatory only at the seder. During the rest of Pesach, one may abstain from matzah as long as all chamets is avoided.

Question 51

Chamets

Answer 51

Leavened bread and anything made with wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt unless supervised to ensure that it has not leavened.

Question 52

Afikoman

Answer 52

A Greek word meaning “dessert.” We make the matzah the official dessert of the seder meal. To keep the children alert during the seder, the afikoman is hidden. The children find it and the leader of the seder must redeem it