JUDAICA - Wisdom In Torah

glossary
*Kalām (Ar.), science of Muslim theology; adherents of the Kalām
are called mutakallimūn.
*Karaite, member of a Jewish sect originating in the eighth century
which rejected rabbinic (*Rabbanite) Judaism and claimed
to accept only Scripture as authoritative.
*Kasher, ritually permissible food.
Kashrut, Jewish *dietary laws.
*Kavvanah, “intention”; term denoting the spiritual concentration
accompanying prayer and the performance of ritual or of
a commandment.
*Kedushah, main addition to the third blessing in the reader’s repetition
of the Amidah in which the public responds to the precentor’s
introduction.
Kefar, village; first part of name of many settlements in Israel.
Kehillah, congregation; see kahal.
Kelippah (pl. kelippot), “husk(s)”; mystical term denoting force(s)
of evil.
*Keneset Yisrael, comprehensive communal organization of the
Jews in Palestine during the British Mandate.
Keri, variants in the masoretic (*masorah) text of the Bible between
the spelling (ketiv) and its pronunciation (keri).
*Kerovah (collective plural (corrupted) from keroveẓ), poem(s)
incorporated into the *Amidah.
Ketiv, see keri.
*Ketubbah, marriage contract, stipulating husband’s obligations
to wife.
Kevuẓah, small commune of pioneers constituting an agricultural
settlement in Ereẓ Israel (evolved later into *kibbutz).
*Kibbutz (pl. kibbutzim), larger-size commune constituting a settlement
in Ereẓ Israel based mainly on agriculture but engaging
also in industry.
*Kiddush, prayer of sanctification, recited over wine or bread on
eve of Sabbaths and festivals.
*Kiddush ha-Shem, term connoting martyrdom or act of strict integrity
in support of Judaic principles.
*Kinah (pl. kinot), lamentation dirge(s) for the Ninth of Av and
other fast days.
*Kislev, ninth month of the Jewish religious year, third of the civil,
approximating to November-December.
Klaus, name given in Central and Eastern Europe to an institution,
usually with synagogue attached, where *Talmud was studied
perpetually by adults; applied by Ḥasidim to their synagogue
(“kloyz”).
*Knesset, parliament of the State of Israel.
K(c)ohen (pl. K(c)ohanim), Jew(s) of priestly (Aaronide) descent.
*Kolel, (1) community in Ereẓ Israel of persons from a particular
country or locality, often supported by their fellow countrymen
in the Diaspora; (2) institution for higher Torah study.
Kosher, see kasher.
*Kristallnacht (Ger. “crystal night,” meaning “night of broken
glass”), organized destruction of synagogues, Jewish houses,
and shops, accompanied by mass arrests of Jews, which took
place in Germany and Austria under the Nazis on the night of
Nov. 9–10, 1938.
*Lag ba-Omer, 33rd (Heb. lag) day of the *Omer period falling on
the 18th of *Iyyar; a semi-holiday.
Leḥi (abbr. For Heb. *Loḥamei Ḥerut Israel, “Fighters for the Freedom
of Israel”), radically anti-British armed underground organization
in Palestine, founded in 1940 by dissidents from *I.Z.L.
Levir, husband’s brother.
*Levirate marriage (Heb. yibbum), marriage of childless widow
(yevamah) by brother (yavam) of the deceased husband (in accordance
with Deut. 25:5); release from such an obligation is effected
through ḥaliẓah.
LHY, see Leḥi.
*Lulav, palm branch; one of the *Four Species used on *Sukkot together
with the *etrog, hadas, and aravah.
*Ma’aravot, hymns inserted into the evening prayer of the three
festivals, Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot.
Ma’ariv, evening prayer; also called *arvit.
*Ma’barah, transition camp; temporary settlement for newcomers
in Israel during the period of mass immigration following 1948.
*Maftir, reader of the concluding portion of the Pentateuchal section
on Sabbaths and holidays in synagogue; reader of the portion
of the prophetical books of the Bible (*haftarah).
*Maggid, popular preacher.
*Maḥzor (pl. maḥzorim), festival prayer book.
*Mamzer, bastard; according to Jewish law, the offspring of an incestuous
relationship.
*Mandate, Palestine, responsibility for the administration of Palestine
conferred on Britain by the League of Nations in 1922; mandatory
government: the British administration of Palestine.
*Maqāma (Ar. pl. maqamāt), poetic form (rhymed prose) which, in
its classical arrangement, has rigid rules of form and content.
*Marḥeshvan, popularly called Ḥeshvan; eighth month of the Jewish
religious year, second of the civil, approximating to October–November.
*Marrano(s), descendant(s) of Jew(s) in Spain and Portugal whose
ancestors had been converted to Christianity under pressure but
who secretly observed Jewish rituals.
Maskil (pl. maskilim), adherent of *Haskalah (“Enlightenment”)
movement.
*Masorah, body of traditions regarding the correct spelling, writing,
and reading of the Hebrew Bible.
Masorete, scholar of the masoretic tradition.
Masoretic, in accordance with the masorah.
Meliẓah, in Middle Ages, elegant style; modern usage, florid style
using biblical or talmudic phraseology.
Mellah, *Jewish quarter in North African towns.
*Menorah, candelabrum; seven-branched oil lamp used in the
Tabernacle and Temple; also eight-branched candelabrum used
on *Ḥanukkah.
Me’orah, hymn inserted into the first benediction of the morning
prayer (Yoẓer ha-Me’orot).
*Merkabah, merkavah, “chariot”; mystical discipline associated
with Ezekiel’s vision of the Divine Throne-Chariot (Ezek. 1).
Meshullaḥ, emissary sent to conduct propaganda or raise funds for
rabbinical academies or charitable institutions.
*Mezuzah (pl. mezuzot), parchment scroll with selected Torah
verses placed in container and affixed to gates and doorposts of
houses occupied by Jews.
*Midrash, method of interpreting Scripture to elucidate legal points
(Midrash Halakhah) or to bring out lessons by stories or homiletics
(Midrash Aggadah). Also the name for a collection of such
rabbinic interpretations.
*Mikveh, ritual bath.
*Minhag (pl. minhagim), ritual custom(s); synagogal rite(s); especially
of a specific sector of Jewry.
*Minḥah, afternoon prayer; originally meal offering in Temple.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA JUDAICA, Second Edition, Volume 1