Jewish Words

Chizuk

Chizuk means emotional or spiritual support or encouragement.

Nafka Mina

"I still can't taste the nafka minah between Coke and Pepsi."

Neilah

The overriding theme of Neilah is God's readiness always to accept and forgive all who turn in repentance.

Harat Olam

The word harat is connected to pregnancy and birth.

Machzor

Machzor is a cycle, deriving from the root chazar, to return.

Taharah

Taharah is purification, from tahor, meaning pure.

Chayal

The modern Hebrew word for soldier is chayal, coined by Eliezer Ben Yehuda.

Bagel

According to New York Times columnist William Safire, the Yiddish beigel was shortened and anglicised to bagel around 1932.

Tachanun

Tinok Shenishbah

Tinok shenishbah means a small child who was kidnapped by non-Jews.

De'ah

In the Bible, de'ah means knowledge.

Etnachta

Etnachta is one of the biblical cantillation symbols first developed in talmudic times and codified by the 10th century.

Shulchan Aruch

The Shulchan Aruch is accepted today as the authoritative code of Jewish law.

Chibah

Chibah means affection or love.

Dikduk

Dikduk means grammar in modern Hebrew.

Eshtonot

To "lose it" in English means lose one's temper. In Hebrew we say "labed (to lose) eshtonot".