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Keri
''Keri'' () is a Hebrew term which literally means "accident" or "mishap", and is used as a euphemism for seminal emission. The term is generally used in Jewish law to refer specifically to the regulations and rituals concerning the emission of semen, whether by nocturnal emission, or by sexual activity. A man is said to be a ''ba'al keri'' () ("one who has had a seminal emission") after he has ejaculated without yet completing the associated purification requirements. Hebrew Bible The Book of Leviticus contains several laws relating to seminal emission. A man who had experienced an emission of semen would become ritually impure, until the evening came and he had washed himself in water. Any clothes or leather touched by semen also become ritually impure, until they are washed in water and the evening had come. If the man ejaculated semen during sexual intercourse with a woman, the woman would also become ritually impure, until the evening had come and she had washed herself i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mikveh
A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ritual purity. In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered to; consequently, the mikveh is central to an Orthodox Jewish community. Conservative Judaism also formally holds to the regulations. The existence of a mikveh is considered so important that, according to Halakha, halacha, a Jewish community is required to construct a kosher mikveh even before building a synagogue, and must go to the extreme of selling Torah scrolls, or even a synagogue if necessary, to provide funding for its construction. Etymology Formed from the Semitic root ק-ו-ה (''q-w-h'', "collect"). In the Hebrew Bible, the word is employed in the sense of "collection", including in the phrase מקוה המים (''miqwêh hammayim'', "collection of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Prayer
Jewish prayer (, ; plural ; , plural ; Yinglish: davening from Yiddish 'pray') is the prayer recitation that forms part of the observance of Rabbinic Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the '' Siddur'', the traditional Jewish prayer book. Prayer, as a "service of the heart," is in principle a Torah-based commandment. It is mandatory for Jewish women and men. However, the rabbinic requirement to recite a specific prayer text does differentiate between men and women: Jewish men are obligated to recite three prayers each day within specific time ranges ('' zmanim''), while, according to many approaches, women are only required to pray once or twice a day, and may not be required to recite a specific text. Traditionally, three prayer services are recited daily: * Morning prayer: ''Shacharit'' or ''Shaharit'' (, "of the dawn") * Afternoon prayer: '' Mincha'' or ''Minha'' (), named for the flour offering that accompanied sacrific ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish culture, Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The Talmud includes the teachings and opinions of thousands of rabbis on a variety of subjects, including halakha, Jewish ethics, Jewish philosophy, philosophy, Jewish customs, customs, Jewish history, history, and Jewish folklore, folklore, and many other topics. The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah. This text is made up of 63 Masekhet, tractates, each covering one subject area. The language of the Talmud is Jewish Babylonian Aramaic. Talmudic tradition emerged and was compiled between the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE and the Arab conquest in the early seve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semen
Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is a bodily fluid that contains spermatozoon, spermatozoa which is secreted by the male gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphrodite, hermaphroditic animals. In humans and placental mammals, seminal fluid is ejaculation, ejaculated through the penis and contains Proteolytic enzyme, proteolytic and other enzymes as well as fructose, which promote the survival of spermatozoa and provide a medium through which they can move or "swim" from the vagina into the uterus to fertilization, fertilize the female ovum and form a zygote. semen collection, Semen is collected from animals for artificial insemination or cryoconservation of genetic material. Cryoconservation of animal genetic resources is a practice that calls for the collection of semen in efforts for conservation of a particular breed. Physiology Fertilization Depending on the species, spermatozoa can fertilize ova externally or internally. In external fertiliz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terumah (offering)
A ''terumah'' (), the priestly dues or heave offering, is a type of offering in Judaism. The word is generally used for offerings to God, but can also refer to gifts to a human. The word ''terumah'' refers to various types of offerings, but most commonly to ''terumah gedolah'' (תרומה גדולה, "great offering"), which must be separated from agricultural produce and given to a kohen (a priest of Aaron's lineage), who must eat it in a state of ritual purity. Those separating the ''terumah'' unto the priests during the time when the Temple stood were required, as a rule, to do so also in a state of ritual purity, as being unclean could render the ''terumah'' unfit for consumption. Today, the ''terumah'' is separated and either burnt or discarded. Etymology The word ''terumah'' ("lifting up") comes from the verb stem, ''rum'' (רוּם, "high" or "to lift up"). The formation of ''terumah'' is parallel to the formation of ''tenufah'' ('תְּנוּפָה, wave offering) fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shema Yisrael
''Shema Yisrael'' (''Shema Israel'' or ''Sh'ma Yisrael''; , “Hear, O Israel”) is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. Its first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one" (), found in . The first part can be translated as either "The our God" or "The is our God", and the second part as either "the is one" or as "the one " (in the sense of "the alone"), since Hebrew does not normally use a copula in the present tense, so translators must decide by inference whether one is appropriate in English. The word used for "the " is the tetragrammaton YHWH. Observant Jews consider the ''Shema'' to be the most important part of the prayer service in Judaism, and its twice-daily recitation as a ''mitzvah'' (religious commandment). Also, it is traditional for Jews to say the ''Shema'' as their last words, and for parents to teach their children ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah scholars of the Middle Ages. In his time, he was also a preeminent astronomer and physician, serving as the personal physician of Saladin. He was born on Passover eve 1138 or 1135, and lived in Córdoba, Spain, Córdoba in al-Andalus (now in Spain) within the Almoravid dynasty, Almoravid Empire until his family was expelled for refusing to convert to Islam. Later, he lived in Morocco and Egypt and worked as a rabbi, physician and philosopher. During his lifetime, most Jews greeted Maimonides' writings on Halakha, Jewish law and Jewish ethics, ethics with acclaim and gratitude, even as far away as Iraq and Yemen. Yet, while Maimonides rose to become the revered head of the History of the Jews in Egypt, Jewish community in Egypt, his writings also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chananel Ben Chushiel
Chananel ben Chushiel or Ḥananel ben Ḥushiel (), an 11th-century Kairouanan rabbi and Talmudist, was in close contact with the last Geonim. He is best known for his commentary on the Talmud. Chananel is often referred to as Rabbeinu Chananel – Hebrew for "our teacher, Chananel" (in Hebrew, רבנו חננאל, or abbreviated, ר"ח). Biography Rabbeinu Chananel (c. 980–1055) was probably born in Southern Italy, likely Bari, an important rabbinic center in the late geonic period. Around the year 1005, his father Chushiel travelled to North Africa with the intention of making his way to Egypt. While waiting for his son to join him, Chushiel settled instead in Kairouan (modern Tunisia), at the time under the rule of Zirid Emirs on behalf of the Fatimids. R. Chananel studied under his father, who became head of the Kairouan yeshiva, and through correspondence with Hai Gaon. He is closely associated with Nissim Ben Jacob in the capacity of rabbi and Rosh yeshiva of Kairouan. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berakhot (tractate)
Berakhot (, lit. "Blessings") is the first tractate of '' Seder Zeraim'' ("Order of Seeds") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the rules of prayers, particularly the Shema and the Amidah, and blessings for various circumstances. Since a large part of the tractate is concerned with the many ''berakhot'' (), all comprising the formal liturgical element beginning with the words "Blessed are you, Lord our God....", it is named for the initial word of these special form of prayer. ''Berakhot'' is the only tractate in ''Seder Zeraim'' to have Gemara – rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah – in the Babylonian Talmud. There is however Jerusalem Talmud on all the tractates in ''Seder Zeraim''. There is also a Tosefta for this tractate. The Jewish religious laws detailed in this tractate have shaped the liturgies of all the Jewish communities since the later Talmudic period and continue to be observed by traditional Jewish communities until ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yonah Gerondi
Jonah ben Abraham Gerondi (; died 1264), also known as Jonah of Girona and Rabbeinu Yonah (), was a Catalan rabbi and moralist, cousin of Nahmanides. He is most famous for his ethical work ''The Gates of Repentance'' (). Biography Much of what is known about his life comes from a responsum by Solomon ben Simon Duran, one of his descendants. Jonah Gerondi came from Girona, in Catalonia (present-day Spain). He was the most prominent pupil of Solomon ben Abraham of Montpellier, the leader of the opponents of Maimonides' philosophical works, and was one of the signers of the ban proclaimed in 1233 against ''The Guide for the Perplexed'' and the . According to his pupil, Hillel ben Samuel, Gerondi was the instigator of the public burning of Maimonides' writings by order of the authorities at Paris in 1233, and the indignation which this aroused among all classes of Jews was mainly directed against him. Subsequently (not forty days afterward, as a tradition has it, but i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hai Gaon
Hai ben Sherira (), better known as Hai Gaon (), was a medieval Jewish theologian, rabbi and scholar who served as Gaon of the Talmudic academy of Pumbedita during the early 11th century. He was born in 939 and died on March 28, 1038. He received his Talmudic education from his father, Sherira ben Hanina, and in early life acted as his assistant in teaching. In his forty-fourth year he became associated with his father as "''av bet din''", and with him delivered many joint decisions. According to '' Sefer HaKabbalah'' of Rabbi Abraham ben David (Ravad), he was the last of the ''Geonim''. Appointment as Gaon As a consequence of the calumnies of their antagonists Hai and his father were imprisoned together and their property was confiscated by the Abbasid caliph al-Qadir in 997. The imprisonment was brief, but shortly thereafter (in 998) the aged and infirm Sherira appointed his son to the position of gaon. Hai's installation was greeted with great enthusiasm by the Jewish popu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rishonim
''Rishonim'' (; ; sing. , ''Rishon'') were the leading rabbis and ''posek, poskim'' who lived approximately during the 11th to 15th centuries, in the era before the writing of the ''Shulchan Aruch'' (, "Set Table", a common printed code of Jewish law, 1563 CE) and following the ''Geonim'' (589–1038 CE). Rabbinic scholars subsequent to the ''Shulchan Aruch'' are generally known as ''acharonim'' ("the latter ones"). The distinction between the and the is meaningful historically; in ''halakha'' (Jewish law) the distinction is less important. According to a widely held view in Orthodox Judaism, the Acharonim generally cannot dispute the rulings of rabbis of previous eras unless they find support from other rabbis in previous eras. On the other hand, this view is not formally a part of ''halakha'' itself, and according to some rabbis is a violation of the halakhic system.See Kesef Mishna (Maamrim 2:2), Kovetz Igros Chazon Ish (2:26) In ''The Principles of Jewish Law'', Orthodox ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
