Al kiddush Hashem – for the sanctification of Hashem’s Name

Ahavat Hashem – love of Hashem

Aron Hakodesh – Ark, where the Sefer Torah is housed

Aveirah, aveirot (pl) – transgression

Avodat Hashem – service of Hashem

Avot – Patriarchs, Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov

Avrech, avrechim (pl) – young Torah scholar

Ayin hara – evil eye

Ba’alei Mussar – Masters of Ethics

Ba’al teshuvah, ba’alei teshuvah (pl) – (lit. Master of Return/Repentance), one who returns to Hashem

Ba’alat chessed – woman who does many acts of kindness

Bachur – young man

Baruch Hashem – Thanks to Hashem

B’chasdei Hashem – With the help of Hashem

Bedikat chametz – searching the house for chametz on the night before Pesach

Bein Hazmanim – intercession between study semesters in yeshiva

Beit Din – rabbinical court

Beit Hakeneset, Batei Kenesiot (pl) – house of prayer, synagogue

Beit Hamidrash, Batei Midrashot (pl) – house of study

Beit Hamikdash –Holy Temple

B’ezrat Hashem – With the help of Hashem

Berachah, berachot (pl) – blessing

Bikur cholim – visiting the sick

Bikurim – first of the produce from the seven species, brought to the Beit Hamikdash

Birkat hagomel – blessing of thanksgiving after one has been rescued from danger

Birkat Hamazon – Grace after Meals

Bitachon – trust

Bitul Torah – time wasted from Torah study

Bli ayin hara – May there be no evil eye (expression)

Bnei Yisrael – The Children of Israel

Brit (milah) – circumcision

Chachamim – (lit. wise people), Sages, teachers

Chametz – leavened bread, which is forbidden to be eaten on Pesach

Chanukat habayit – dedication ceremony for a new home or institution

Chas v’shalom, chalilah – May G-d have mercy

Chatan – bridegroom

Chatunah – wedding

Chavruta – study partner

Chazal – our Sages, may their memory be for a blessing

Chessed – kindness

Chevrah kadisha – Jewish burial society

Chillul Hashem – desecration of Hashem’s Name

Chizuk – inspiration

Chuppah – wedding canopy

Chutz la’aretz – Diaspora

Daf Hayomi – program to learn one page of Gemara every day, which is completed in approximately seven and a half years

Dayan – judge

Divrei Torah – words of Torah

Eirev Rav – gentiles who joined the Jewish people at the Exodus

Erev – the eve of (Shabbat)

Emunah – faith

Gabbai, gabbaim (pl.) – caretaker of the synagogue

Galut – exile

Gematria – numerical value

Get – Jewish bill of divorce

Geulah – redemption

Gezel – robbery

Gilgul – reincarnation

Hachnasat orchim – hosting guests

Hachnasat Sefer Torah – dedication ceremony for a Sefer Torah

Hakadosh Baruch Hu – The Holy One, Blessed is He (referring to Hashem)

Halachah, halachot (pl) – Jewish law

Halachic – according to Jewish law

Hashgachah, hashgachot (pl.) – kashrut symbol

Hashgachah pratit – Divine intervention

Hilula – celebration of the anniversary of a death of a tzaddik

Im yirtzeh Hashem – If Hashem wants

Kabbalat kahal – receiving the public for private audiences

Kaddish – prayer said by the mourner for the merit of the deceased

Karet – punishment of being cut off from Hashem

Kashrut – laws pertaining to food

Kedushah – holiness

Kelippah, kelippot (pl) – force of impurity

Kiddush Hashem – sanctification of Hashem’s Name

Kimcha d’Pischa – funds allotted to the needy for Pesach

Kinot – Tishah B’Av lamentations

Kippah, kippot (pl) – skullcap

Kohen Gadol – high priest

Kollel, kollelim (pl) – Torah institution for married men

Korban, korbanot (pl) – offering, sacrifice

Kriyat Shema – the recital of the Shema

Lashon hakodesh – (lit. the holy tongue), Hebrew

Lashon hara – evil speech, slander

Leket – gleanings: one or two stalks that fall away at the time of reaping and must be left for the poor

L’havdil – to separate the holy from the mundane

L’shem Shamayim – For the sake of Heaven

Luchot – Tablets, on which the Ten Commandments were written

Ma’aser – tithe

Ma’ariv – Evening Prayer

Maggid shiur – one who delivers a Torah lecture

Masechet, masechta – tractate

Mashiach – Messiah

Mashgiach, mashgichim (pl) – supervisor, assistant dean in a yeshiva

Mashgiach kashrut – kashrut supervisor

Matan Torah – The Giving of the Torah

Matmid – diligent student

Mazal – sign of the zodiac, luck, fate

Mesirut nefesh – self-sacrifice

Mezuzah – parchment containing Torah verses, commanded to be affixed to every doorpost

Middah – character trait

Midrash – homiletical teachings of the Sages

Mikveh, mikvaot (pl) – body of water for ritual immersion and purification

Minchah – the Afternoon Prayer

Minyan – quorum of ten men necessary to conduct prayers

Mishkan – the Tabernacle

Mitzrayim – Egypt

Mitzvah, mitzvot (pl) – commandment

Muktzeh – items set aside, forbidden from touching on Shabbat

Mussar – ethics

Nachat – joy or pleasure from another’s accomplishments

Navi – prophet

Neshamah, neshamot (pl) – soul

Neshamah yeteirah – the additional soul awarded a person on Shabbat

Niddah – woman who became impure due to her menstrual cycle; the mitzvah   concerning this

Nisayon, nisyonot (pl) – test, challenging situation

Parashah, parshiyot (pl) – chapter

Pasuk, pesukim (pl) – verse

Payot – side locks

Pe’ah –corner of a field which must be left for the poor

Pirkei Avot (or Avot) – The Chapters of the Fathers

Rabbanim – rabbis

Rachmana litzlan – May G-d’s mercy be upon them

Rasha, resha’im (pl) – evil person

Rechilut – gossip

Ribbono shel Olam – Master of the World (referring to Hashem)

Rosh Kollel – Dean of a kollel

Ruach hakodesh – Divine inspiration

Sandek – one who holds the baby during a circumcision

Sefer – book

Sefer Torah, Sifrei Torah (pl) – Torah Scroll

Segulah – act or talisman to gain merit

Selichot – special prayers said prior to the Yamim Nora’im

Seudah – meal

Seudat hodayah – thanksgiving meal for salvation

Seudat mitzvah – meal eaten for a mitzvah celebration

Seudah shlishit – third meal on Shabbat

Sha’atnez – mixture of wool and linen that is forbidden to be worn

Shacharit – Morning Prayer

Shaliach tzibbur – cantor, one who leads the prayers

Shalom bayit – marital harmony

Shechinah – Divine Presence

Shemoneh Esrei – prayer containing eighteen blessings, recited three times a day

Shidduch, shidduchim (pl.) – marriage proposal, marriage partner

Shikchah – bundle of stalks of grain forgotten in the field at the time of the harvest, which must be left for the poor

Shiur, shiurim (pl) – Torah lecture

Shivah – seven-day mourning period for a deceased family member

Shlita – May he live many good years, Amen

Siddur – prayer book

Simchah – joy, joyous celebration

Siyata di’Shemaya – Divine assistance

Siyum – completion of a tractate (and celebration thereof)

Sugya – topic in Gemara

Taharat hamishpachah – laws of family purity

Talmid chacham, talmidei chachamim (pl) – Torah scholar

Tannai’m – Sages of the Mishnah

Tefillat, tefillot (pl.) – prayer

Tefillin – phylacteries

Terumah – tithe

Teshuvah – (lit. return) repentance

Tikkun, tikkunim (pl) – rectification

Treif – nonkosher food

Tumah – defilement

Tzaddik – righteous person

Tzedakah – charity

Tzeniut – modesty

Tzitzit – four-cornered garment with fringes, worn by men and boys

Viduy – prayer of confession, recited on Yom Kippur

Yerushalayim – Jerusalem

Yeshiva – rabbinical college

Yetzer Hara – Evil Inclination

Yetzer Hatov – Good Inclination

Yichud – prohibition of being secluded with a strange woman

Yirat Shamayim – fear of Heaven

Zman – semester of Torah study

Zechut, zechuyot (pl.) – merit

Zemirot – songs sung in honor of Shabbat

Zikuy harabim – bringing merit to the public

Zt”l – May the tzaddik’s memory be for a blessing

Zy”a – May his merits protect us