Haggadah
Lit. “telling.” The Haggadah is a set of prayers, midrashic commentaries and psalms recited as part of the seder ritual on Passover eve. There are twenty components which make up the narration of the haggadah as well as ritual acts interspersed such as hand washing, Kiddush, eating of the bitter…
Hasidism
A movement within Judaism founded by Rabbi Israel Eliezer Baal Shem Tov in the second half of the 18th century in Poland. The Hasidic movement stresses the service of God through the mystical and legalistic dimensions of Judaism. Hasidism grew out the desire to replace the overly academic model of…
Havdalah
Lit. 'distinction.' A blessing recited at the end of Shabbat and festivals to separate the sacred from the ordinary, the holiday from the regular week day. Blessings are said over the wine, the havdalah candle, the sweet spices and the ending of the holiday.
Kerovah (pl. Kerovot)
Singular form for the series of Piyyutim (q.v.) that are inserted during the Sheli'ah Tzibbur's repetition of the Amidah.
El Maleh Rahamim
Literally translated, ‘God full of compassion,’ El Maleh Rahamim is a prayer recited at a funeral service, on the Yahrzeit, or anniversary of the death, or when visiting a grave of a family member. In some rites it is also included in the Memorial service recited on festivals and Yom Kippur.
Esther
Heb. Megillat Ester. The scroll of Esther is recited on Purim and recounts the story of the salvation of the Jews of the Persian Empire. Esther is the fifth of the five scrolls in the Bible.
Beroyges-tants
This entry is part of the Lexicon of Klezmer Terminology (LKT). The LKT compiles a wide array of source materials that shed light on the historical and contemporary state of knowledge about klezmer music. Each entry includes a number of citations from primary and secondary sources that…
Eli Ziyyon
‘Wail Zion and its cities,’ is the opening line and refrain for an acrostic elegy recited on the Ninth of Av, a day of mourning that commemorates the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people, most importantly the destruction of the first and second Temples. Eli Ziyyon was written during…
Lamenations
*See Ekhah
Lekha Dodi
Lit. ‘Come my friend.’ Lekha Dodi is the hymn which welcomes in Shabbat in the Kabbalat Shabbat service on Friday night. The hymn consists of nine acrostic stanzas which spell the name of author Solomon ha-Levi, a kabbalist living in Tzfat in the early 16th century. The refrain and the end of each…
Maqam
Arabic term often translated as ‘mode’, ‘scale’, or ‘melody.’
Hallelujah
Liturgical expression meaning “praise the Lord,” which appears exclusively in the Book of Psalms. This expression generally opens or closes a psalm, and has a special repeating melodic phrase.