Book of JonahThe Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets of the Nevi'im ("Prophets") in the Hebrew Bible, and as a book in its own right in the Christian Old Testament. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who is sent by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, but tries to escape this divine mission. The story has a long interpretive history and has become well known through popular children's stories.
MinchaMincha (מִנחַה, pronounced as minˈχa; sometimes spelled Minchah or Minḥa) is the afternoon prayer service in Judaism. The name Mincha, meaning "present", is derived from the meal offering that accompanied each sacrifice offered in the Temple (Beit HaMikdash). The Hebrew noun minḥah () is used 211 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, with the first uses referring to vegetable and animal offerings brought by Cain and Abel to God. Most other uses refer to a gift offering, made of grain, which could be offered at any time in the day.
Seudat mitzvahA seudat mitzvah (סעודת מצוה, "commanded meal"), in Judaism, is an obligatory festive meal, usually referring to the celebratory meal following the fulfillment of a mitzvah (commandment), such as a bar mitzvah, bat mitzvah, a wedding, a brit milah (ritual circumcision), or a siyum (completing a tractate of Talmud or Mishnah). Seudot fixed in the calendar (i.e., for holidays and fasts) are also considered seudot mitzvah, but many have their own, more commonly used names.
Passover SederThe Passover Seder (ˈseɪdər; סדר פסח ˈseder ˈpesaχ, 'Passover order/arrangement'; סדר ˈseider) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar (i.e., at the start of the 15th; a Hebrew day begins at sunset). The day falls in late March or in April of the Gregorian calendar; Passover lasts for seven days in Israel and eight days outside Israel.
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.
Hebrew calendarThe Hebrew calendar (הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance and as an official calendar of Israel. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits (dates to commemorate the death of a relative), and daily Psalm readings, among many ceremonial uses. In Israel, it is used for religious purposes, provides a time frame for agriculture, and is an official calendar for civil holidays alongside the Gregorian calendar.
Birkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon (בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוׂן "The Blessing of the Food"), known in English as the Grace After Meals (בענטשן "to bless", Yinglish: Bentsching), is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish law prescribes following a meal that includes at least a kezayit (olive-sized) piece of bread. It is understood as a mitzvah (Biblical commandment) based on Deuteronomy 8:10.
High Holy DaysIn Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm) consist of: strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); by extension, the period of ten days including those holidays, known also as the Ten Days of Repentance (Aseret Yemei Teshuvah); or, by a further extension, the entire 40-day penitential period in the Jewish year from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, traditionally taken to repres
Brit milahThe brit milah (בְּרִית מִילָה bərīṯ mīlā, bʁit miˈla; Ashkenazi pronunciation: bʁis ˈmilə, "covenant of circumcision"; Yiddish pronunciation: bris bʀɪs) is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised, an act to be followed by his male descendants on the eighth day of life, symbolizing the covenant between God and the Jewish people. Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as seudat mitzvah.
Three Pilgrimage FestivalsThe Three Pilgrimage Festivals or Shalosh Regalim (שלוש רגלים), are three major festivals in Judaism—two in spring, Pesach (Passover), 49 days later Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost), and in autumn Sukkot (Tabernacles, Tents or Booths)—when all ancient Israelites who were able would make a to the Temple in Jerusalem, as commanded by the Torah. In Jerusalem, they would participate in festivities and ritual worship in conjunction with the services of the kohanim ("priests") at the Temple.
