Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia - Jewish Services
Jewish services are the communal prayer recitations which form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Shabbat Services
Jewish services - Friday night services. Shabbat services begin on Friday evening with the weekday Mincha (see above), followed in some...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Weekday Prayer Services
Jewish services - Shacharit: morning prayers. Various prayers are said upon arising; tzitzit (small garment with fringes) are donned at...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Synagogue: Encyclopedia - Synagogue
A synagogue (בית כנסת Beit knesset in Hebrew meaning a "house of assembly" or Shull in Yiddish) is a Jewish place of religious wor...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Siddur: Encyclopedia - Siddur
The siddur (plural siddurim) is the prayerbook used by Jews the world over, containing a set order of daily prayers. A separate article, ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Liturgy: Encyclopedia - Liturgy
From the Greek word λειτουργια, which can be transliterated as "leitourgia," meaning "the work of the people," a liturgy compri...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aleinu: Encyclopedia - Aleinu
Aleinu is a Jewish prayer found in the siddur, the classical Jewish prayerbook. Traditional Jews recite it at the end of each of the thre...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement
Everything that Jews do regarding death is for one of two reasons: respect for the dead (kavod ha-met) or to console those left behind (n...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia - Shabbat
Shabbat (שבת shabbāṯ, "rest" in Hebrew, or Shabbos in Ashkenazic pronunciation), is the weekly day of rest in Judaism. It is observ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism can refer to (1) the largest denomination of Judaism in America and its sibling movements in other countries, (2) a branch...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Amida: Encyclopedia - Amida
Amida can mean: Amida is name of a Buddha popular in Japanese and East Asian Buddhism. Amida: a beetle genus. An alternative spelling of...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia - Shofar
A shofar is a ram's horn that is used as a musical instrument for religious purposes. It is used on Judaism's high holy days of Rosh Hash...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Carol Harris-shapiro: Encyclopedia - Carol Harris-shapiro
Carol Harris-Shapiro is an Assistant Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Gratz College (Melrose Park, Pennsylvania, USA) and as o...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - B'nai Brith: Encyclopedia - B'nai Brith
The Independent Order of B'nai Brith (Hebrew: בני ברית, "Sons of the Covenant") is the oldest continually-operating Jewish service...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Orthodox Union: Encyclopedia - Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America™ (UOJCA), more popularly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU, is one of the oldest...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bimah: Encyclopedia - Bimah
A bimah (among Ashkenazim) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve a...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Congregation Worship: Encyclopedia - Congregation Worship
A congregation is the group of members who make up a local Christian church, Jewish synagogue, or other religious assembly. It also means...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Bishop Bodo: Encyclopedia - Bishop Bodo
Bodo (823-876) was the palace deacon and confessor to Louis the Pious. In early 838, he made a pilgrimage to Rome and converted to Judais...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Mahzor: Encyclopedia Ii - Mahzor - Origins And Peculiarities Of The Mahzor
Some of the earliest formal printed Jewish prayerbooks date from the 10th century; they contain a set order of daily prayers. However, du...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - The Priests
The Hebrew for priest is Kohen; the Kohanim (plural) mediated between God and man by offering sacrifices, and by other services in the Te...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Synagogue: Encyclopedia Ii - Synagogue - History
Before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, communal prayers centered around the korbanot ("sacrificial offerings") brought by ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - The Symbolic Values Of Numbers
The number three was the symbol of holiness. The Holy of Holies occupied one-third, and the Holy Place two-thirds, of the entire Temple. ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Funeral Service
Observant Jews do not have "open casket" services. Typically, when the funeral service has ended the mourners, starting with the immediat...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Death And Dying
Everything that Jews do regarding death is for one of two reasons: respect for the dead (kavod ha-met) or to console those left behind (n...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Memorial Through Prayer
Jewish bereavement - Mourner's Kaddish. Kaddish Yatom (heb. קדיש יתום lit. "Orphan's Kaddish") or the "Mourner's" Kaddish, said...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Days Of Memorial
Jewish bereavement - Yahrzeit. Yahrzeit or Yohr Tzeit, יארצייט, means "Time (of) Year" in Yiddish. The word is also used by non-...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - The Star Of David
Over time the Star of David became identified with the Jews, and has long since been used as a symbol of Judaism, as a religion, and of t...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - On Tombstones
Some common themes appear on many Jewish tombstones. Two hands with outspread fingers indicated that the dead man was descended from prie...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Community
Jewish bereavement - Chevra kadisha. A chevra kadisha (heb.: lit. "burial society") is a loosely structured but generally closed organi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - Colors
The Israelites used an indigo colored dye called tekhelet; this dye was made from snail murex trunculus. This dye was very important in b...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Burial
The Torah requires burial, even for executed criminals (Deut. 21:23). Jews are buried in caskets that aren't hermetically sealed. Man was...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Visiting The Gravesite
It's customary to visit the cemetery on fast days (Shulchan Aruch Orach Chayim 559:10) and before Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (581:4, 60...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - Festivals And Holy Days
The Torah delineates three pilgrimage festivals, Passover, Shavuot (The Feats of Weeks) and Sukkot (Tabernacles). Each of these was tied ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Preparing The Body
In preparing the body, it must first go through the ritual of tahara, or purification. The body is thoroughly cleansed of dirt, body flui...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - The Holy Of Holies
The two cherubim icons on the Ark of the Covenant were the only images in the Temple. The Ark of the Covenant was set in the Holy of Holi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - The Sacrifices
Abraham ibn Ezra, in his commentary to Leviticus, considered the olah sacrifice as the atonement of the heart for sinful thoughts. The th...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aleinu: Encyclopedia Ii - Aleinu - Text
The following is the first half of the current Ashkenazi version of the prayer (there is also a second paragraph, which people sometimes ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - Metals And Minerals
Gold was the symbol of the divine or celestial light, the glory of God (Zech. vi. 11; Dan. xi. 21). Silver was the emblem of moral innoce...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - Symbolic Visions Of The Prophets
Jeremiah beheld an almond-tree as a token of the speedy fulfillment of the word of God. Amos saw a basket of summer fruit as a symbol of ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Symbolism: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Symbolism - Influence On Christian Symbols
The influence of Judaism upon Christian symbolism as early as the 2nd and 3rd centuries C.E., is apparent both in painting and in sculptu...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Reform Judaism - 19th Century German Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism - Origins. In response to Haskalah and Jewish emancipation, elements within German Jewry sought to reform Jewish belief ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Reform Judaism - Reform Judaism In Britain
Reform Judaism - History. In 1836 several members of the Synagogue of Bevis Marks in London requested the introduction of such alterati...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Reform Judaism - Development Of American Reform Judaism
Arrested in Germany, the Reform movement was carried forward in the United States. The German immigrants from 1840 to 1850 happened to be...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Bereavement: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Bereavement - Mourning
The mourners traditionally make a tear in an outer garment (keriah), which is not mended for the duration of the shiv'ah week. For the sa...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Prohibited Activities
Jewish law prohibits doing any form of melachah ("work", plural "melachot") on Shabbat. Melachah does not closely correspond to the Engli...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Aleinu: Encyclopedia Ii - Aleinu - Controversial Passage
The earlier Ashkenazi form of this prayer contains an additional sentence: It is our duty to praise the Master of all, to exalt the Crea...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hazzan: Encyclopedia Ii - Hazzan - Origin Of The Term And The Role
The term hazzan may have been borrowed from the Assyrian word "Hazanu." In the Talmud the term is used to denote the "overseer": (1) of a...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Judaism - Jewish Prayer And Practice
Judaism - Prayers. Main articles: Jewish services, and [[{{{2}}}]], and [[{{{3}}}]], and [[{{{4}}}]]   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Status As A Holy Day
The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and the Siddur (Jewish prayer book) describe Shabbat as having three purposes: A commemoration of the Israelit...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Observance
Shabbat is a day of celebration as well as one of prayer. Three sumptuous meals are eaten each Shabbat after synagogue services conclude:...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Mandatory Activities
According to Rabbinic literature, Jews are commanded by God to observe (refrain from forbidden activity) and remember (with words, though...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Zionist Youth Movement: Encyclopedia Ii - Zionist Youth Movement - Modern Movements
Zionist youth movements, both in Israel and the diaspora, continue to play a large role in community organisation, Jewish education, welf...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Definition
Observance of Shabbat is mentioned a number of times in the Torah, most notably as the fourth of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11 and...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Jewish Ancestry
Since Heydrich's death, historical evidence has come to light that Heydrich may very well have had a Jewish grandparent and that this fac...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shabbat: Encyclopedia Ii - Shabbat - Etymology
The Hebrew word shabbat comes from the Hebrew verb shabat, which literally means "to cease", or shev which means "sit". Although shabbat ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Nazi Party And The Ss
In 1931, Himmler began to set up a counter-intelligence division of the SS. Acting on a friend's advice, he interviewed Heydrich, and aft...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hazzan: Encyclopedia Ii - Hazzan - Growing Importance Of The Office
The office of the hazzan increased in importance with the centuries. As public worship was developed in the geonic period, and as the kno...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hazzan: Encyclopedia Ii - Hazzan - Cantors As A Profession
The role of hazzans as a respected full-time profession has become a reality in recent centuries. In the last two centuries Jews in a num...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Early Life
Heydrich was born in Halle an der Saale. His father and mother were both very heavily musically involved (his father was a composer), and...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Occupation Role And Assassination
On September 27, 1941 Heydrich was appointed acting Reichsprotektor ('Imperial Protector', the nazi representative) in the Czech puppet-s...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hazzan: Encyclopedia Ii - Hazzan - Qualifications
Even in the oldest times the chief qualifications demanded of the hazzan, in addition to knowledge of Biblical and liturgical literature,...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Summary Of Ss Career
Reinhard Heydrich - Dates of Rank. SS-Mann: 14 July 1931 SS-Sturmführer: 10 August 1931 SS-Sturmhauptführer: 1 December 1931 SS-Stur...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reinhard Heydrich: Encyclopedia Ii - Reinhard Heydrich - Fiction
The events of the Wannsee conference are recreated in the 1984 TV Movie Wannseekonferenz (The Wannsee Conference)[1] directed by Heinz Sc...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hazzan: Encyclopedia Ii - Hazzan - Complaints Against Hazzanim
In the early Middle Ages the office of hazzan seems to have been held in high esteem, for scholars like Rabbi Eliezer ben Meshullam and R...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Reform Judaism - Progressive Judaism In Israel
Reform Judaism - History. Some of the earliest Reform rabbis to settle in Israel included Rabbi Judah Leon Magnes, who was the first Ch...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Torah Reading: Encyclopedia Ii - Torah Reading - What Is Done?
Most people use the term "Torah reading" to refer to the entire ceremony of taking the Torah scroll (or scrolls) out of its ark, reading ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Reform Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Reform Judaism - National Bodies
The organizational bodies for Reform Judaism globally are: the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) in North America the Movement for Reform J...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Synagogue: Encyclopedia Ii - Synagogue - Design
The architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. Other local religious buildings and national culture usually in...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - In The Bible And Rabbinic Literature
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Zechariah, and throughout the Talmud and later rabbinic literature...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - In The Bible And Rabbinic Literature
The shofar is mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible, from Exodus to Zechariah, and throughout the Talmud and later rabbinic literature...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Torah Reading: Encyclopedia Ii - Torah Reading - When Is The Torah Read?
The Torah is read during the morning services on Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and major and minor festivals and fasts. The Torah is als...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Siddur: Encyclopedia Ii - Siddur - Popular Siddurim
Below are listed many popular siddurim used by religious Jews. Siddur - Ashkenazi Orthodox. Siddur Ha-Shalem (a.k.a. the Birnbaum Sidd...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Torah Reading: Encyclopedia Ii - Torah Reading - Innovations According To Conservative And Reform Judaism
In addition to allowing female readers, some Conservative and most Reform congregations have switched to a triennial cycle, where the fir...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Torah Reading: Encyclopedia Ii - Torah Reading - What Is Read?
On Shabbat mornings, the weekly parsha is read. It is divided into seven aliyot (see above for more on aliyot). The cycle of weekly readi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Synagogue: Encyclopedia Ii - Synagogue - Function
Though prayers can be recited anywhere (except in nonhygienic or immodest environments), according to halakha Jews should—and men must�...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - Construction
The shofar may be the horn of any kosher animal, except that of a cow or calf, which would be a reminder of the golden calf incident. Sh...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - Use In Modern Times
In modern times, the shofar is used only at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. It is blown in synagogues to mark the end of the fast at Yom Ki...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Siddur: Encyclopedia Ii - Siddur - History Of The Siddur
The earliest parts of Jewish prayer are the "Shema Yisrael" (Hear O Israel) (Deuteronomy 6:4 et seq) and the set of 19 blessings called t...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Music: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Music - Occasions For Music
The development of music among the Israelites was coincident with that of poetry, the two being equally ancient, since every poem was als...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Judaism - Community Leadership
Judaism - Classical priesthood. Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists required for religious services. ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Synagogue: Encyclopedia Ii - Synagogue - Famous Synagogues
During Kristallnacht on November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis in Germany and Austria destroyed or significantly damaged 1,574 synagogues, which ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Exodus From Arab Lands: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Exodus From Arab Lands - History Of Jews In Arab Lands Pre-1948
Excluding the region of Palestine, and omitting the accounts of Joseph and Moses as unverifiable, Jews have lived in what are now Arab st...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Shofar: Encyclopedia Ii - Shofar - The Sounds
The tekiah and teruah sounds mentioned in the Bible were respectively bass and treble. The tekiah was a plain deep sound ending abruptly;...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Holiday: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Holiday - Yom Kippur - Day Of Atonement
Yom Kippur is considered by Jews to be the holiest and most solemn day of the year. Its central theme is atonement and reconciliation. Ea...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish History In Colonial America: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish History In Colonial America - Jacob De Cordova
Of the Western States of the southern group none has such Jewish interests as Texas, and with the early development of no states other th...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Zionist Youth Movement: Encyclopedia Ii - Zionist Youth Movement - History
Most Zionist youth movements were established in Eastern Europe in the early twentieth century, desiring the national revival of the Jewi...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Institute For National Security Affairs: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Institute For National Security Affairs - Policies And Programs
JINSA's policy recommendations for the U.S. government includes: enhanced WMD counterproliferation programs, national ballistic missile d...   » Read the article

Dictionary - Cantor: New Age Spirituality Dictionary On Cantor
Cantor European designation of traditional Jewish liturgical leader (Heb. hazzan). In medieval Judaism, the cantor rather than the rab...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Religious Zionist Movement: Encyclopedia Ii - Religious Zionist Movement - Religious Zionism Today
Religious Zionists are often called "Kippot Sruggot" because of the knitted skull caps that they wear. In Israel, different factions of O...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Repentance In Judaism: Encyclopedia Ii - Repentance In Judaism - The End Of Sacrifices
With the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, the Jewish practice of offering korbanot (sacrifices) ceased. Despite subse...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - B'nai Mitzvah: Encyclopedia Ii - B'nai Mitzvah - Jewish Boys
The current way of celebrating one's becoming a Bar Mitzvah did not exist in the time of the Bible, Mishnah or Talmud. Rather, this cerem...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Hallel: Encyclopedia Ii - Hallel - Hallel And The Jewish Holy Days
Hallel consists of six Psalms (113-118), which are said as a unit, on joyous occasions. It is usually chanted aloud as part of Shacharit ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Kohen: Encyclopedia Ii - Kohen - Kohanim In Contemporary Times
Kohen - Orthodox Jewish views. Since the end of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Kohen has little formal rule in Jewish life. The one area ...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Carpentras: Encyclopedia Ii - Carpentras - History
Carpentras was a commercial site used by Greek merchants in ancient times, and retains an impressive Roman triumphal arch and a city gate...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - The Prayers And Their Origins
Jewish services - Backgrounds. There are three prayer services each day on weekdays. A fourth additional prayer service (called mussaf...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - The Prayers And Their Origins
Jewish services - Backgrounds. There are three prayer services each day on weekdays. A fourth additional prayer service (called mussaf,...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Related Customs
Many Jews sway their body back and forth during prayer. This practice (referred to as shokeling in Yiddish) is not mandatory, and in fact...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Services On Passover Shavuot And Sukkot
The services for the three festivals of Pesach ("Passover"), Shavuot ("Feast of Weeks" or "Pentecost"), and Sukkot ("Feast of Tabenacles"...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Services On Passover, Shavuot And Sukkot
The services for the three festivals of Pesach ("Passover"), Shavuot ("Feast of Weeks" or "Pentecost"), and Sukkot ("Feast of Tabenacles"...   » Read the article

Encyclopedia - Jewish Services: Encyclopedia Ii - Jewish Services - Guide On Etiquette For Visitors
In most synagogues or temples, it is considered a sign of respect for all male attendees to wear a head covering, usually a dress hat or ...   » Read the article