Basic Vocabulary


Details and discussion of each of these terms is on-line in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

  • Torah
  • mitzvah/mitzvot(pl)
  • Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, Writings)
  • YHVH/Yahweh (Tetragrammaton)
  • Covenant (berit)
  • Exile (Galut)/Dispersion/Diaspora)
  • goy/goyim
  • Mishnah
  • Talmud/gemara
  • Shema
  • Kashrut
  • Mikvah
  • Shabbat/Sabbath
  • Passover (Pesach)
  • Pentecost (Shavuot)
  • New Year/Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)
  • Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
  • Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot)
  • Hanukkah (Festival of Lights/Maccabees)
  • Purim (Esther)
  • Bar Mitzvah/Bat Mitzvah
  • halachah
  • Hasid/Hasidic
  • Tzadik