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Yahrzeit
Yahrzeit (, plural , ) is the anniversary of a death in Judaism. It is traditionally commemorated by reciting the Kaddish in synagogue and by lighting a long-burning candle. Name The word ''Yahrzeit'' is a borrowing from the Yiddish (), ultimately from the Middle High German . It is a doublet of the English word yeartide. Use of the word to refer to a Jewish death anniversary dates to at least the 15th century, appearing in the writings of , Isaac of Tyrnau, and Moses Mintz. Mordecai Jafe also uses the term in his 1612 work ''Levush ha-Tekehlet''. Though of Yiddish origin, many Sephardic and Mizraḥi communities adopted the word, which likely spread through rabbinic literature. Variants of the word are found in Judeo-Arabic (''yarṣayt'' or ''yarṣyat''), Ladino, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Tajik, and Judeo-Tat. Yosef Ḥayyim of Baghdad notes a once-common false etymology of the word as a Hebrew acronym. Other names for the commemoration include naḥalah () in Hebr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Yahrzeit Candle
A yahrzeit candle, also spelled yahrtzeit candle or called a memorial candle, (, ''ner neshama'', meaning "soul candle"; , meaning "anniversary candle") is a type of candle that is lit in memory of the dead in Judaism. Name The word "''yahrzeit''" ( ''yortsayt '') itself means "anniversary" (or more specifically "anniversary [of a person's death]") in Yiddish, originating from German ''Jahr'', year, and ''Zeit'', time. In Hebrew, the candles are also called ''Ner Neshama'' – a candle for the soul. Remembrance The use of a yahrzeit candle is a widely practiced Minhag, custom, where mourners light a yahrzeit candle that burns for 24 hours, on the anniversary of the death on the Hebrew calendar. Many Jews who are otherwise unobservant follow this custom. It is customary to light the candle inside one's home, or near the grave (burial), grave of the deceased. The candle is also lit before Yom Kippur and there are also customs to light a yahrzeit candle on the dates when th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Mourner's Kaddish
The Kaddish (, 'holy' or 'sanctification'), also transliterated as Qaddish, is a hymn praising God that is recited during Jewish prayer services. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, different versions of the Kaddish are functionally chanted or sung as separators of the different sections of the service. The term ''Kaddish'' is often used to refer specifically to the Mourner's Kaddish, which is chanted as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services, as well as at funerals (other than at the gravesite) and memorials; for 11 Hebrew months after the death of a parent; and in some communities for 30 days after the death of a spouse, sibling, or child. A person is described as "saying Kaddish" if they are carrying out these rituals of mourning. Mourners recite Kaddish to show that despite the loss they still praise God. Along with the Shema Yisrael and the Amidah, the Kaddish is one of the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Death Anniversary
A death anniversary (or deathday) is the anniversary of the death of a person. It is the opposite of birthday. It is a custom in several Asian cultures, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cambodia, China, Georgia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Myanmar, Iran, Israel, Japan, Bangladesh, Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, as well as in other places with significant overseas Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, Korean, and Vietnamese populations, to observe the anniversary on which a family member or other significant individual died. There are also similar memorial services that are held at different intervals, such as every week. Although primarily a manifestation of ancestor worship, the tradition has also been associated with Confucianism and Buddhism (in East Asian cultural civilizations) or Hinduism and Buddhism (South Asia but mainly in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia). In Judaism (the majority religion of Israel), such a commemoration i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Isaac Tyrnau
Rabbi Isaac Tyrnau (יצחק אייזיק מטירנא or יצחק טירנאו; also Isaak Tyrnau) was an Austrian (or Hungarian) rabbi, born in the late 14th century and active in the 15th century; he is most famous for his ''Sefer haMinhagim'' (Book of Customs). Biography Little is known about his life. He was born in Vienna and later moved to Tyrnau in Austria, although some suggest ''Trnava'' (), in modern-day Slovakia. He studied under Rabbis Abraham Klausner of Vienna and of Neustadt. It is possible that he later served as rabbi in Pressburg, although this is debated by scholars. His correspondence with the Maharil regarding a divorce (1420) is recorded. Gabriel Polak and Israel Böhmer published (Königsberg, 1857) an anonymous story entitled "''Etzba Elohim''," the heroes of which are Isaac Tyrnau and his beautiful daughter. Its bibliography: * Grätz, ' 3d ed., viii. 11, 12; * Azulai, ''Shem ha-Gedolim'', i.; *Wolf, ' i., Nos. 214, 1194; *David Gans, ''Ẓemaḥ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
False Etymology
A false etymology (fake etymology or pseudo-etymology) is a false theory about the origin or derivation of a specific word or phrase. When a false etymology becomes a popular belief in a cultural/linguistic community, it is a folk etymology (or popular etymology). Nevertheless, folk/popular etymology may also refer to the process by which a word or phrase is changed because of a popular false etymology. To disambiguate the usage of the term "folk/popular etymology", Ghil'ad Zuckermann proposes a clear-cut distinction between the derivational-only popular etymology (DOPE) and the generative popular etymology (GPE): the DOPE refers to a popular false etymology involving no neologization, and the GPE refers to neologization generated by a popular false etymology. Such etymologies often have the feel of urban legends and can be more colorful and fanciful than the typical etymologies found in dictionaries, often involving stories of unusual practices in particular subcultures (e.g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The word is a portmanteau of ''back'' and ''acronym''. A normal acronym is a word derived from the initial letter(s) of the words of a phrase, such as ''radar'' from "radio detection and ranging". By contrast, a backronym is "an acronym deliberately formed from a phrase whose initial letters spell out a particular word or words, either to create a memorable name or as a fanciful explanation of a word's origin". Many list of fictional espionage organizations, fictional espionage organizations are backronyms, such as SPECTRE (special executive for counterintelligence, terrorism, revenge and extortion) from the ''James Bond'' franchise. For example, the Amber Alert missing-child program was named after Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Judeo-Persian
Judeo-Persian refers to both a group of Jewish dialects spoken by Jews and Judeo-Persian texts (written in Hebrew alphabet). As a collective term, Judeo-Persian refers to a number of Judeo-Iranian languages spoken by Jewish communities throughout the formerly extensive Persian Empire, including Iranian Jews, Mountain Jews, Afghan Jews, and Bukharan Jews. The speakers refer to their language as ''Fārsi''. Some non-Jews refer to it as "dzhidi" (also written as "zidi", "judi" or "jidi"), which means "Jewish" in a derogatory sense. Literature There is an extensive Judeo-Persian poetic religious literature, closely modeled on classical Persian poetry. The most famous poet was Shahin Shirazi, Mowlānā Shāhin-i Shirāzi (14th century CE), who composed epic versifications of parts of the Bible, such as the ''Musā-nāmah'' (an epic poem recounting the story of Moses); later poets composed lyric poetry in style of Persian mysticism. Much of this literature was collected around the beg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
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] [Amazon] |
Ta'anit
A ta'anit or taynis (Biblical Hebrew ''taʿaniṯ'' or צוֹם ''ṣom'') is a fast in Judaism in which one abstains from all food and drink, including water. Purposes A Jewish fast may have one or more purposes, including: * Atonement for sins: Fasting is not considered the primary means of acquiring atonement; rather, sincere regret for and rectification of wrongdoing is key. Nevertheless, fasting is conducive to atonement, for it tends to precipitate contrition. Therefore, the Bible requires fasting on Yom Kippur. Because, according to the Hebrew Bible, hardship and calamitous circumstances can occur as a result of sin, fasting is often undertaken by the community or by individuals to achieve atonement and avert catastrophe. Most of the Talmud's Tractate ''Ta'anit'' ("Fast ) is dedicated to the protocol involved in declaring and observing fast days. * Commemorative mourning: Most communal fast days that are set permanently in the Jewish calendar serve this purpose. These fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemore) is an essential component of the Talmud, comprising a collection of rabbinical analyses and commentaries on the Mishnah and presented in 63 books. The term is derived from the Aramaic word and rooted in the Semitic word ג-מ-ר (gamar), which means "to finish" or "complete". Initially, the Gemara was transmitted orally and not permitted to be written down. However, after Judah the Prince compiled the Mishnah around 200 CE, rabbis from Babylonia and the Land of Israel extensively studied the work. Their discussions were eventually documented in a series of books, which would come to be known as the Gemara. The Gemara, when combined with the Mishnah, forms the full Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara: the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) and the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi). The Babylonian Talmud, compiled by scholars in Babylonia around 500 CE and primarily from the academies of Sura, Pumbedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Yosef Hayyim
Yosef Hayim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) ( Iraqi Hebrew: Yoseph Ḥayyim; ; or Yosef Chaim) was a leading Baghdadi ''hakham'' ( Sephardi rabbi), authority on ''halakha'' (Jewish law), and Master Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work on ''halakha'' ''Ben Ish Ḥai'' () ("Son of Man (who) Lives"), a collection of the laws of everyday life interspersed with mystical insights and customs, addressed to the masses and arranged by the weekly Torah portion. Biography Hayim initially studied in his father's library, and, at the age of 10, he left the beth midrash and began to study with his uncle, David Hai Ben Meir, who later founded the ''Shoshanim LeDavid'' yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1851, he married Rachel, the niece of Abdallah Somekh, his prime mentor, with whom he had a daughter and two sons. When Hayim was only twenty-five years old, his father died. Despite his youth, the Jews of Baghdad accepted him to fill his father's place as the leading rabbinic sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
