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