|
Hakafot
Hakafot (הקפות plural); Hakafah (הקפה singular)—meaning " ocircle" or "going around" in Hebrew—are a Jewish '' minhag'' (tradition) in which people walk or dance around a specific object, generally in a religious setting. In Judaism, there is a custom on Sukkot to encircle the reader's platform ( bimah) with the Four species on each of the seven days of the holiday. On Simchat Torah, the custom is to take the Torah scrolls out of the Ark and to encircle the reader’s platform and throughout the synagogue with great joy, singing, and dancing. Circular Hakafot are a symbol of perfection and unity, or sometimes a symbol of communal cooperation. According to the story told in the Book of Joshua, the People of Israel (Israelites) walked around the city of Jericho once a day for a week and seven times on the seventh day, with the priests leading the way, carrying the Ark of the Covenant each time. On the seventh day, the people blew shofar (ram's horns) and shouted, ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah (, lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi: ''Simchas Torah'') is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simchat Torah is a component of the Biblical Jewish holiday of ''Shemini Atzeret'' ("Eighth Day of Assembly"), which follows immediately after the festival of Sukkot in the month of Tishrei (occurring in mid-September to early October on the Gregorian calendar). The main celebrations of Simchat Torah take place in the synagogue during evening and morning services. In many Orthodox as well as many Conservative congregations, this is the only time of year on which the Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark and read at ''night''. In the morning, the last ''parashah'' of Deuteronomy and the first ''parashah'' of Genesis are read in the synagogue. On each occasion, when the ark is opened, the worshippers leave their seats to dance and sing with the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piyyut
A ''piyyut'' or ''piyut'' (plural piyyutim or piyutim, he, פִּיּוּטִים / פיוטים, פִּיּוּט / פיוט ; from Greek ποιητής ''poiētḗs'' "poet") is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during Jewish services, religious services. ''Piyyutim'' have been written since Temple in Jerusalem, Temple times. Most ''piyyutim'' are in Hebrew language, Hebrew or Aramaic language, Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author. Many ''piyyutim'' are familiar to regular attendees of synagogue services. For example, the best-known ''piyyut'' may be ''Adon Olam'' ("Master of the World"). Its poetic form consists of a repeated rhythmic pattern of short-long-long-long (the so-called hazaj meter), and it is so beloved that it is often sung at the conclusion of many synagogue services, after the ritual nightly recitation of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minhag
''Minhag'' ( he, מנהג "custom", classical pl. מנהגות, modern pl. , ''minhagim'') is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, ''Nusach (Jewish custom), Nusach'' (), refers to the traditional order and form of the Jewish services, prayers. Etymology The Hebrew root N-H-G () means primarily "to drive" or, by extension, "to conduct (oneself)". The actual word ''minhag'' appears twice in the Hebrew Bible, both times in the same verse, and translated as "driving": Homiletically, one could argue that the use of the word ''minhag'' in Jewish law reflects its Biblical Hebrew origins as "the (manner of) driving (a chariot)". Whereas ''Halakha'' (law), from the word for walking-path, means the path or road set for the journey, ''minhag'' (custom), from the word for driving, means the manner people have developed themselves to travel down that path more quickly. The present use of ''minhag'' for custom may have been influenced by the Arabic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and The Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday. Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honour the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions. According to ''halakha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talit
A tallit ''talit'' in Modern Hebrew; ''tālēt'' in Sephardic Hebrew and Ladino; ''tallis'' in Ashkenazic Hebrew and Yiddish. Mish. pl. טליות ''telayot''; Heb. pl. טליתות ''tallitot'' , Yidd. pl. טליתים ''talleisim''. is a fringed garment worn as a prayer shawl by religious Jews. The tallit has special twined and knotted fringes known as ''tzitzit'' attached to its four corners. The cloth part is known as the "beged" (lit. garment) and is usually made from wool or cotton, although silk is sometimes used for a tallit gadol. The term is, to an extent, ambiguous. It can refer either to the "tallit katan" (small tallit) item that can be worn over or under clothing and commonly referred to as "tzitzit", or to the "tallit gadol" (big tallit) Jewish prayer shawl worn over the outer clothes during the morning prayers (Shacharit) and worn during all prayers on Yom Kippur. The term "tallit" alone, usually refers to the tallit gadol. There are different traditions regard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Judaism, Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contemporary Western Ukraine during the 18th century, and spread rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most affiliates reside in Israel and the United States. Israel Ben Eliezer, the "Baal Shem Tov", is regarded as its founding father, and his disciples developed and disseminated it. Present-day Hasidism is a sub-group within Haredi Judaism and is noted for its religious conservatism and social seclusion. Its members adhere closely both to Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish practice – with the movement's own unique emphases – and the traditions of Eastern European Jews. Many of the latter, including various special styles of dress and the use of the Yiddish language, are nowadays associated almost exclusively with Hasidism. Hasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and '' Amidah''. The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms, followed by the communal recitation of ''Barechu''. The three paragraphs of the ''Shema'' are then said, both preceded and followed by two blessings, although sometimes a fifth blessing is added at the end. The ''hazzan'' (leader) then recites half-''Kaddish''. The ''Amidah'' is said quietly by everyone, and, unlike at the other services, is not repeated by the ''hazzan''. The chazzan recites the full ''Kaddish'', ''Aleinu'' is recited, and the mourners' ''Kaddish'' ends the service; some recite another Psalm or Psalms before or after Aleinu. Other prayers occasionally added include the Counting of the Omer (between Passover and Shavuot) and (in many communities) Psalm 27 (between the first of Elul and the end of Sukkot). ''Maariv'' is ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Jews In Arles
Arles was a major Jewish center between the Roman times and the Renaissance. Due to its location between Spain and the rest of Europe, with its proximity to the Mediterranean coast, Arles became a comfortable and sometimes beneficial city for the many Jews who lived in it. During the Middle Ages, many notable Jews were active in Arles, which functioned as a Jewish philosophy and Arabic-Hebrew-Latin translation center, as it was one of the town known for its Hachmei Provence. No Jewish community was evident in Arles ever since, even though some evidences of former Jewish life can be seen around town and in the local museum. The Jewish community ceased to prosper towards the end of the 15th century, until they were expelled in around the 1490s after which they did not return. Jews were to be found in Arles in the 1960s, though no community was ever evident again. History Roman Empire According to a legend, Roman emperor Vespasian placed Jewish exiles after the destruction of the Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
History Of The Jews In Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long period of statutory toleration, religious tolerance and Qahal, social autonomy which ended after the Partitions of Poland in the 18th century. During World War II there was a nearly complete genocide, genocidal destruction of the Polish Jewish community by Nazi Germany and its collaborators of various nationalities, during the German occupation of Poland between 1939 and 1945, called the Holocaust. Since the fall of communism in Poland, there has been a renewed interest in Jewish culture, featuring an annual Jewish Culture Festival, new study programs at Polish secondary schools and universities, and the opening of Warsaw's Museum of the History of Polish Jews. From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385), Kingdom of Poland i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Comprising the westernmost peninsulas of Eurasia, it shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with both Africa and Asia. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south and Asia to the east. Europe is commonly considered to be Boundaries between the continents of Earth#Asia and Europe, separated from Asia by the drainage divide, watershed of the Ural Mountains, the Ural (river), Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Greater Caucasus, the Black Sea and the waterways of the Turkish Straits. "Europe" (pp. 68–69); "Asia" (pp. 90–91): "A commonly accepted division between Asia and E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea, and shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the northeast, Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the southwest. Israel also is bordered by the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to the east and west, respectively. Tel Aviv is the economic and technological center of the country, while its seat of government is in its proclaimed capital of Jerusalem, although Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem is unrecognized internationally. The land held by present-day Israel witnessed some of the earliest human occupations outside Africa and was among the earliest known sites of agriculture. It was inhabited by the Canaanites ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moses Isserles
). He is not to be confused with Meir Abulafia, known as "Ramah" ( he, רמ״ה, italic=no, links=no), nor with Menahem Azariah da Fano, known as "Rema MiPano" ( he, רמ״ע מפאנו, italic=no, links=no). Rabbi Moses Isserles ( he, משה בן ישראל איסרלישׂ, pl, Mojżesz ben Israel Isserles) (22 February 1530 / 25 Adar I 5290 – 11 May 1572 / 18 Iyar 5332), also known by the acronym Rema, was an eminent Polish Ashkenazic rabbi, talmudist, and ''posek'' (expert in Jewish law). Biography Isserles was born in Kraków, Poland. His father, Israel ben Josef (known as Isserl), was a prominent talmudist and independently wealthy, who had probably headed the community; his grandfather, Jehiel Luria, was the first rabbi of Brisk. (In an era which preceded the common use of surnames, Moses became known by his patronymic, Isserles.) He studied in Lublin under Rabbi Shalom Shachna, who would later become his father-in-law. Among his fellow pupils were his relative S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.svg "Click for more on -> Europe")
