Jewish Learning

Shabbat Guide

Shabbat Guide

JUF is pleased to provide this basic guide to celebrating Shabbat.

The Holocaust Project

Encyclopedia Britannica Holocaust Project

JUF partners with Encyclopedia Britannica to bring you their collection of Britannica's Holocaust Project resources.

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Jewish Word Glossary

Glossary Key

abbr. = abbreviated
esp .= especially
Heb. = Hebrew
lit. = literally
n = noun
pl. = plural
pron. = pronounced
usu. = usually
v = verb
Yid. = Yiddish

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L
M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Y

"Ya'aleh!"
lit.=arise: "Get up! Let's go, already! Hurry it up!"
yacneh
(Yid.) gossipy one
yad (pl. yaddayim)
lit.=hand: Torah pointer
Yad VaShem
lit.=hand and name: Israeli Holocaust Museum
yam
pron. "yom": (Heb.) sea
Yam HaMelech
(...of salt) the Dead Sea
Yam HaGadol
(...the large one) the Mediterranean Sea
Yam Kinneret
(...shaped like a harp) Sea of Galilee
Yam Suf
(...the final one) the Red Sea
yarmulke
pron. "yamaka": (Yid.) skullcap
yartzeit
lit.= year's time: anniversary of a death
"Yashar!" 
lit.=straight: "Keep going forward for a while, it's up ahead."
"Yasher ko'ach!"
lit.=(go) straight, (as) strong: "Good job! Keep up the good work!"
yayin 
wine
yemach shemoh
lit.=may his name be erased: said after mentioning an anti-Semitic leader
yemeen 
right, right hand, "Turn right."
Yene Veld 
lit.=the other world: the afterlife, Heaven
yenem('s) 
someone else('s)
yente
gossipy one [n]
yerusha
inheritance; heritage
Yerushalayim
(Heb.) Jerusalem
yeshiva (pl. yeshivot)
Talmudic seminary
yeshiva boch'r
seminary student
yeshuv
Israeli town
yetzer tov/harah
good/evil impulse
Yetziat Mitzrayim
(Heb.) Exodus from Egypt
yichus 
lineage
yichud
lit.=togetherness: post-recessional wedding seclusion of the bride and groom
Yiddishkeit
Jewishness
Yiddishe kop
lit.= Jewish head: clever, resourceful, ingenious person
yingel
lit.=youngster: (Yid.) dear boy (used as a term of endearment)
Yinglish
slang jargon combining Yiddish and English, incl. words like "nogoodnik." "boychick," and "cacamamie"
yirat
awe of... (God, Heaven), fear of... (sin)
yisrael
member of a tribe other than Levi; thus a member of the nonpriest class
Yisrael
(Heb.) Israel
Yizkor
communal service for personal mourning
yofee 
lit.=pretty: "Great! Very nice! Very good! I like it!"
yold
(Yid.) gullible one
yom
pron. "yome": (Heb.) day
Yom HaAtzma'ut
Israel Independence Day
Yom HaShoah
Holocaust Memorial Day
Yom HaZikaron
Israel Memorial Day
Yom Kippur
Day of Atonement, in autumn
yom tov
lit.=good day: holiday
Yom Yerushalayim
Jerusalem Reunification Day
Yomim Nora'im
lit.=days of awe: the High Holidays, the Rosh HaShanah-Yom Kippur holiday season
yontif 
Yiddish pronunciation of "yom tov"
yored (pl. yordim)
lit.=descender: emigrant from Israel (considered impolite)
yoter 
(Heb.) more
Yovel
every 50th yr.; see shmita (trans. Jubilee)
Yud-beis Chodesh
lit.= 12 months; the 12-month mouring peroid between a burial and the first yartzeit