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Baruch El Elyon
Baruch El Elyon is a piyyut attributed to Baruch ben Samuel of Mainz ( – 1221). The poem is acrostically signed "BaRUCH HaZaQ". Among Ashkenazic communities, it is a traditional zemer for Shabbat lunch. Though one manuscript lists it at the end of the order for the Sabbath, Israel Isserlein (1390-1460) already sang it on Sabbath morning. The poem's theme is singing praises to God, who gave complete physical and mental rest to his people. The payytan describes the joy of Shabbat and its dignity, which is glorified with delicious food and festive clothes, the enormous reward that the keeper of the Sabbath will receive both now and in heaven, the powerful human experience of the Sabbath, the feelings it evokes, and the importance of Shabbat to God. According to the piyyut, the Sabbath breaks the natural routine of the weekdays and in the process elevates the Jew to another level. The piyyut also recalls that God will redeem his people because of the Sabbath: "Yohanan said that S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gift Offering
A meal offering, grain offering, or gift offering (, ), is a type of Biblical sacrifice, specifically a sacrifice that did not include sacrificial animals. In older English it is sometimes called an oblation, from Latin. The Hebrew noun () is used 211 times in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible with the first instances being the offered by both Cain and Abel in Genesis 4:3-5. It is also used of Jacob's "present" to Esau in Genesis 32 and again of the "present" to the Egyptian ruler (who was in fact Joseph, his own son) in Genesis 43. In the King James Version of 1611 this was rendered as "", e.g. in Exodus 29:41, since at the time the King James Version was written, referred to food in general rather than the flesh of animals in particular. In the Hebrew Bible Gift offerings were often made on their own, but also accompanied the burnt offering. Scholars believe that the term "gift offering" originally referred to all voluntary sacrifices, but that it later came to j ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Music
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and in domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate in biblical times ( Biblical music), differences of rhythm and sound can be found among later Jewish communities that have been musically influenced by location. In the nineteenth century, religious reform led to composition of ecclesiastic music in the styles of classical music. At the same period, academics began to treat the topic in the light of ethnomusicology. Edwin Seroussi has written, "What is known as 'Jewish music' today is thus the result of complex historical processes". A number of modern Jewish composers have been aware of and influenced by the different traditions of Jewish music. Religious Jewish music Religious Jewish music in the biblical period The history of religious Jewish music spans the evolution of cantorial ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matzah
Matzah, matzo, or maẓẓah ('','' : matzot or Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashk. matzos) is an Unleavened bread, unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which ''chametz'' (leaven and five grains deemed by Jewish law to be self-leavening) is forbidden. According to the Torah, God commanded the Israelites (modernly, Jews and Samaritans) to eat only unleavened bread during the seven-day Passover festival. Matzah can be either soft like a pita or a crisp variety, widely produced commercially because of its long shelf life. The soft matzah only keeps for a day or so unless frozen; very limited commercial production, only in the period leading up to Passover, is available. Some versions of the crisp type are available all year. Matzah meal and matzah cake meal is crisp matzah that has been ground. The cake meal has a very fine near flour-like consistency, useful in baking, while the standard matzah meal is somewhat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shabbat Hagadol
Special Shabbatot are Jewish Shabbat (Hebrew, שבת ''shabbath'') days on which special events are commemorated. Variations in the liturgy and special customs differentiate them from the other Shabbats (Hebrew, שבתות ''Shabbatot'') and each one is referred to by a special name. Many communities also add piyyutim on many of these special Shabbatot. Two such Shabbats, ''Shabbat Mevarchim—''the Shabbat preceding a new Hebrew month—and ''Shabbat Rosh Chodesh'' (which coincides with the new month/moon) can occur on several occasions throughout the year. The other special Shabbats occur on specific sabbaths before or coinciding with certain Jewish holidays during the year according to a fixed pattern. Shabbat Shuvah – Return ''Shabbat Shuvah'' or ''Shabbat Shubah'' or ''Shabbat Teshuvah'' ("Sabbath fReturn" שבת שובה or "Sabbath fRepentance" שבת תשובה) is the Shabbat that occurs during the Ten Days of Repentance, but is between (i.e. not including) the tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pizmonim
''Pizmonim'' (Hebrew פזמונים, singular ''pizmon'') are traditional Jewish songs and melodies sung with the intention of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, ''bar mitzvahs'', weddings and other ceremonies. ''Pizmonim'' are extra-liturgical, as distinct from ''piyyutim'', which are hymns printed in the prayer-book and forming an integral part of the service. Similar songs sung in the synagogue on the Sabbath morning between midnight and dawn are called ''baqashot'' (שירת הבקשות). Geographical background ''Pizmonim'' are traditionally associated with Sephardi Jews, although they are related to Ashkenazi Jews' ''zemirot''. The best known tradition is associated with Jews descended from Aleppo, though similar traditions exist among Iraqi Jews (where the songs are known as ''shbaḥoth'', praises) and in North African countries. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siddur
A siddur ( ''sīddūr'', ; plural siddurim ) is a Jewish prayer book containing a set order of daily prayers. The word comes from the Hebrew root , meaning 'order.' Other terms for prayer books are ''tefillot'' () among Sephardi Jews, ''tefillah'' among German Jews, and ''tiklāl'' () among Yemenite Jews. History The earliest parts of Jewish prayer books are the '' Shema Yisrael'' ("Hear O Israel") (Deuteronomy 6:4 ''et seq'') and the Priestly Blessing ( Numbers 6:24-26), which are in the Torah. A set of eighteen (currently nineteen) blessings called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' or the ''Amidah'' (Hebrew, "standing rayer), is traditionally ascribed to the Great Assembly in the time of Ezra, at the end of the biblical period. The name ''Shemoneh Esreh'', literally "eighteen", is a historical anachronism, since it now contains nineteen blessings. It was only near the end of the Second Temple period that the eighteen prayers of the weekday Amidah became standardized. Even at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sephardic
Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendants. The term "Sephardic" comes from '' Sepharad'', the Hebrew word for Iberia. These communities flourished for centuries in Iberia until they were expelled in the late 15th century. Over time, "Sephardic" has also come to refer more broadly to Jews, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, who adopted Sephardic religious customs and legal traditions, often due to the influence of exiles. In some cases, Ashkenazi Jews who settled in Sephardic communities and adopted their liturgy are also included under this term. Today, Sephardic Jews form a major component of world Jewry, with the largest population living in Israel. The earliest documented Jewish presence in the Iberian Peninsula dates to the Roman period, beginning in the fir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Library Of Israel
The National Library of Israel (NLI; ; ), formerly Jewish National and University Library (JNUL; ), is the library dedicated to collecting the cultural treasures of Israel and of Judaism, Jewish Cultural heritage, heritage. The library holds more than 5 million books, and is located in the Government complex (Kiryat HaMemshala) near the Knesset. The National Library owns the world's largest collections of Hebraica and Judaica, and is the repository of many rare and unique manuscripts, books and artifacts. History B'nai Brith library (1892–1925) The establishment of a Jewish National Library in Jerusalem was the brainchild of (1844–1919). His idea was creating a "home for all works in all languages and literatures which have Jewish authors, even though they create in foreign cultures." Chazanovitz collected some 15,000 volumes which later became the core of the library. The B'nai Brith library, founded in Jerusalem in 1892, was the first public library in the Palestine (re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Melakha
The 39 ''Melakhot'' (, '' lamed-tet avot melakhah'', "39 categories of work") are thirty-nine categories of activity which Jewish law identifies as prohibited by biblical law on Shabbat. These activities are also prohibited on the Jewish holidays listed in the Torah ("Yom Tov"), but there are significant exceptions that permit carrying and preparing food under specific circumstances on holidays (except Yom Kippur). In addition to the 39 melakhot, certain other activities are forbidden on Shabbat due to rabbinic law. It is of note that the (strict) observance of Shabbat is often seen as a benchmark for orthodoxy and indeed has legal bearing on the way a Jew is seen by an Orthodox religious court regarding their affiliation to Judaism. The commandment The commandment to keep Shabbat as a day of rest is repeated many times in the Hebrew Bible. Its importance is also stressed in Exodus 31:12–17: Meaning of "work" Though ''melakha'' is usually translated as "work" in English, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
