A History of Judaism - Martin Goodman

(Jacob Rumans) #1

xviii glossary


Hallel [H] Lit. ‘praise’. Sequence of psalms sung on festival and other
special days in synagogue.
Hanukkah [H] Lit. ‘dedication’. Festival commemorating the re -
dedication of the Temple after the Maccabean revolt.
haredi (pl. haredim) [H] Lit. ‘fearful’. Name applied to modern adher-
ents of traditional orthodox Judaism.
hasid (pl. hasidim) [H] Lit. ‘pious’. Self- description adopted by fol-
lowers of Hasidism since the eighteenth century.
Hasidei Ashkenaz [H] Lit. ‘the pious ones of Ashkenaz’. Pietists in the
Rhineland and northern France in the twelfth and thirteenth cen-
turies ce.
havdalah [H] Ceremony marking the end of the Sabbath.
haver (pl. haverim) [H] ‘companion’. 1. In tannaitic sources, person
punctilious with regard to tithes and ritual purity; 2. in amoraic
times and later, a rabbinic sage.
havurah (pl. havurot) [H] Fellowship of Jews meeting for religious
purposes.
hekhalot [H] Lit. ‘halls’. The celestial realms through which the vision-
ary ascends to the throne of God in Merkavah mysticism.
herem [H] Lit. ‘ban’. The formal exclusion of an individual from the
community.
hiddush (pl. hiddushim) [H] ‘novelties’. New legal doctrines derived
from talmudic or biblical commentary.
kabbalah [H] Lit. ‘tradition’. Mystical movement started in medieval
Spain and Provence.
kaddish [H] Prayer of sanctification and praise of God, recited at
breaks in synagogue liturgy and as a memorial prayer for the dead.
kalam [Arab] Islamic scholastic theology.
kedushah [H] Lit. ‘sanctification’. Part of synagogue liturgy evoking
the worship of God by the angels.
kiddush [H] Lit. ‘sanctification’. Benediction recited over wine on
Sabbaths and festivals.
Kol Nidrei [H] Prayer about release from vows, recited at the begin-
ning of Yom Kippur.
kosher [H] Lit. ‘suitable’ or ‘fit’. Most often used to refer to food and
drink.
maggid [H] Lit. ‘speaker’. 1. popular preacher; 2. heavenly voice
speaking through a mystic.
maskil (pl. maskilim) [H] Lit. ‘intelligent’. In the nineteenth century, a
follower of the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah ).

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