Bar and bat mitzvahA bar mitzvah ( ()) or bat mitzvah ( ()) is a coming-of-age ritual in Judaism. According to Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age, they are said to "become" b'nai mitzvah, at which point they begin to be held accountable for their own actions. Traditionally, the father of a bar or bat mitzvah offers thanks to God that he is no longer punished for his child's sins.
JewsJews (יְהוּדִים, Yehudim, jehuˈdim) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group, nation or ethnos native to the Levant, originating from the ancient Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, although its observance varies from strict to none. Jews take their origins from a Southern Levantine national and religious group that arose towards the end of the second millennium BCE.
Names of God in JudaismJudaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: יהוה (), אֲדֹנָי (Adonai), אֵל (El ), אֱלֹהִים ( , a plural noun), אֵל שַׁדַּי ( ), שַׁדַּי (Shaddai ), יְהֹוָ֥ה צְבָאֽוֹת ( ) and צְבָאֽוֹת ( ); some also include I Am that I Am. Early authorities considered other Hebrew names mere epithets or descriptions of God, and wrote that they and names in other languages may be written and erased freely.
MikvehMikveh or mikvah (, () mikva'ot, mikvoth, mikvot, or (Yiddish) mikves, lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purified through immersion in any natural collection of water. However, some impurities, such as a zav, require "living water", such as springs or groundwater wells. Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify even while flowing, as opposed to rainwater which must be stationary to purify.
Numbers RabbahNumbers Rabbah (or Bamidbar Rabbah in Hebrew) is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers (Bamidbar in Hebrew). In the first printed edition of the work (Constantinople, 1512), it is called Bamidbar Sinai Rabbah. Nahmanides (1194–c. 1270) and others cite it frequently by the same name. It is the latest component of Midrash Rabbah on the Torah, and as such was unknown to Nathan ben Jehiel (c.
AmuletAn amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's Natural History describes as "an object that protects a person from trouble". Anything can function as an amulet; items commonly so used include statues, coins, drawings, plant parts, animal parts, and written words.
Tisha B'AvTisha B'Av (תִּשְׁעָה בְּאָב Tīšʿā Bəʾāv; tiʃʕa beˈʔav, the ninth of Av) is an annual fast day in Judaism, on which a number of disasters in Jewish history occurred, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem. Tisha B'Av marks the end of the three weeks between dire straits and is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, and it is thus believed to be a day which is destined for tragedy.
SoferA sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M (סופר סת״ם, "scribe"; plural of is , סופרים) is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh (holy scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (ST"M, סת״ם, is an abbreviation of these three terms) and other religious writings. By simple definition, soferim are copyists, but their religious role in Judaism is much more.
El ShaddaiEl Shaddai (אֵל שַׁדַּי; el ʃadːaj) or just Shaddai is one of the names of the God of Israel. El Shaddai is conventionally translated into English as God Almighty (Deus Omnipotens in Latin, الله عز وجل), but its original meaning is unclear. The translation of El as "God" or "Lord" in the Ugaritic and the Canaanite languages is straightforward, as El was the king of the gods in Ugaritic and Canaanite religion. The literal meaning of Shaddai, however, is the subject of debate.
TachanunTachanun or Taḥanun (תחנון "Supplication"), also called nefilat apayim (נפילת אפיים "falling on the face"), is part of Judaism's morning (Shacharit) and afternoon (Mincha) services, after the recitation of the Amidah, the central part of the daily Jewish prayer services. It is also recited at the end of the Selichot service. It is omitted on Shabbat, Jewish holidays and several other occasions (e.g., in the presence of a groom in the week after his marriage). Most traditions recite a longer prayer on Mondays and Thursdays.
