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Avinu Malkeinu
"Our Father, Our King"/"Our Parent, Our Ruler" A prayer (and song) chanted during the High Holiday period. Describes two simultaneous ways in which people might relate to God: the intimate relationship of a parent and the powerful awe of a ruler.
hanukkiyah
Nine-branched candelabra used during Hanukkah – eight branches for each night of the holiday, plus another branch (often taller, central, or more prominently displayed) for the shamash (helper) candle, which is used to light the others.
chet
"Missing the mark;" a Hebrew term for sin.
chol hamo-eid
"Secular part of the occasion;" during Passover and Sukkot, the intermediate days of the festival.
dreidel
"Spinning top" in Yiddish (derived from German); "sevivon" in Hebrew; toy used in a children's Hanukkah game.
etrog
"Citron." Lemon-like fruit used in Sukkot rituals.
g'mar chatimah tovah
"A good final sealing;" a High Holiday greeting used between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur. Often abbreviated as g'mar tov.
gelt
"Money" (Yiddish); often given as a Hanukkah gift; used for playing dreidel.
hakafah
"encircle, round off, circle around, orbit;" procession of worshippers carrying Torah scrolls that circles the sanctuary; plural hakafot.
Hanukkah
"Dedication;" the joyous eight-day celebration during which Jews commemorate the victory of the Macabees over the armies of Syria in 165 B.C.E. and the subsequent liberation and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.