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Glossary
A decorative garment in the form of a long sash made from the baby's swaddling cloth. In pre-Shoah (pre-Holocasut) Eastern Europe, fabric from the clothing that swaddled an infant at his b'rit milah was made into a wimple that could be used as a Torah binder. The wimple was used to wrap the Torah at the child's consecration and at his bar mitzvah, and was included in the fabric to make the wedding chuppah. Almost extinguished during the Shoah, the tradition of the wimple has been revived in contemporary Jewish culture. Now, Jewish parents and grandparents make wimples for both boys and girls. Sometimes the wimple is still made from the swaddling cloth. More commonly now, the baby is swaddled in the wimple itself.
The third section of the Tanach, found after the Torah, and Prophets. This section includes Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Five Scrolls (Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther), Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I and II.
“breaking.” A step of the Pesach (Passover) seder when a whole piece of matzah is broken in half. The larger half is set aside as the afikoman. Often younger participants are involved in a game of “find the afikoman.”
Literally, “hand.” The pointer, often a hand with the index finger extended, used by the Torah reader to keep one’s place in the scroll and to avoid touching the ink on the scroll.
Anniversary of a death. It is customary to recite the Mourner's Kaddish when observing a yahrzeit.
Memorial candle lit on the anniversary of a loved one's death and also on days when Yizkor is recited.
"Days of Awe." An alternate name for the High Holidays, and the 10-day period beginning with Rosh HaShanah and concluding with Yom Kippur.
"Privacy" or "seclusion;" the short period of time a couple may elect to spend alone immediately after their wedding ceremony.
Judeo-German language combining old German and Hebrew spoken by the Jews of Eastern Europe. Also known as "Jewish."
The Hebrew word for “Israel,” it refers to the Land (Eretz Yisrael), people (Am Yisrael), and the modern State of Israel (M’dinat Yisrael). Israel is a name for the biblical patriarch Jacob, given to him as a blessing after he wrestled with God (Genesis 32:22-32).
"Remember;" memorial service held on Yom Kippur and on the last day of Pesach, Shavout, and Sukkot.
Israeli Independence Day, which commemorates the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.