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Maftir
Maftir () is the last person called up to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads (or at least recites the blessings over) the ''haftarah'' portion from a related section of the Nevi'im (prophetic books). Informally, the portion of the Torah read or blessed by the maftir is called the "maftir portion", or the "maftir" for short: in a Chumash ,the word "maftir" is printed in the margin at the beginning of that portion. On a normal Shabbat morning, seven people are formally called up to the Torah, and a part of the week's Torah portion is read by or to each of them. The ''maftir'' is not counted among the seven, and is sometimes not formally called up by name: on the conclusion of the seventh reading and after reciting Chatzi kaddish, in some communities the gabbai simply calls "''maftir''" (or in Western Ashkenazic communities does not call at all and the Maftir simply goes up) and repeats the last few verses in the presence of the ''maftir''. On J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torah Reading
Torah reading (; ') is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation (trope), and returning the scroll(s) to the ark. It is also commonly called "laining" (''lein'' is also spelt ''lain'', ''leyn'', ''layn''; from the Yiddish לייענען (), which means "to read"). Regular public reading of the Torah was introduced by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Judean exiles from the Babylonian captivity ( BCE), as described in the Book of Nehemiah. In the modern era, Orthodox Jews practice Torah reading according to a set procedure almost unchanged since the Talmudic era. Since the 19th century CE, Reform and Conservative Judaism have made adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern of Torah reading has usually remained the same: As a pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosh Chodesh
In Judaism, Rosh Chodesh or Rosh Hodesh (; trans. ''Beginning of the Month''; lit. ''Head of the Month'') is a minor holiday observed at the beginning of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the birth of a new moon. Rosh Chodesh is observed for either one or two days, depending on whether the previous month contained 29 or 30 days. Origin The Book of Exodus establishes the new moon of Nisan, which is the first month of Aviv, as the beginning of the Hebrew calendar: In the Book of Numbers, God speaks of the celebration of the new moon to Moses: In , both new and full moon are mentioned as a time of recognition by the Hebrews: In the Bible, Rosh Chodesh is often referred to simply as "Chodesh", as the Hebrew word "chodesh" can mean both "month" and "new month". Declaring the month Judaism uses a lunisolar calendar, so Rosh Chodesh is celebrated in connection with the date of the new moon. Originally, the date of Rosh Chodesh was confirmed on the testimony of witnes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aliyah (Torah)
An (; pl. , ; or ) is the calling of a member of a Jewish congregation up to the '' bimah'' for a segment of the formal Torah reading. One receiving an is called an (male) or (female). The individual receiving the goes up to the ''bimah'' before the chanting and recites a series of blessings specific to ritualized Torah chanting. After the portion of the Torah is read, the recipient recites another blessing. Babylonian Jewry completed the cycle of Torah portions annually, and Palestinian Jewry adopted a triennial cycle, according to '' Megillah'' 29b. The weekly chanting of the ''haftara'', a portion of the ''Nevi'im'' linked by the '' Tannaim'' to the week's Torah portion, originated during the Mishnaic era (''Megillah'' 24a). This practice probably began after the canonization of the Hebrew Bible and the ensuing effort by Jews to highlight the Jewish prophets. Process The Torah reading consists of a series of ''aliyot'': three on normal weekdays, seven on Shabbat, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Klaf
Klaf or Qelaf () is the designation given a particular piece of skin. The Talmudic definition includes both the form of the skin and the way it is processed, in particular, that it must be tanned. Since the innovative ruling of ''Rabbeinu Tam'' (12th century Tosafist) it is primarily used to refer to parchment or vellum. It is one of the materials upon which a writes certain Jewish liturgical and ritual documents. Description and rules is a specially prepared, tanned, split skin of a kosher animalgoat, cattle, or deer. Rabbinic literature addresses three forms of tanned skin: , consisting of the full, unsplit hide; and and , which are the split halves of the full hide. The rabbinic scholars are divided upon which is the inner and which is the outer of the two halves. Maimonides is of the opinion that was the inner layer and that was the outer layer. The "Shulchan Aruch" rules in the reverse that was the outer layer and that was the inner layer. There are halachic rules ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Haftarah
The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', ) "parting," "taking leave" (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros''), is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Prophets") of the Hebrew Bible (''Tanakh'') that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Judaism, Jewish religious practice. The ''haftara'' reading follows the Torah reading on each Shabbat, Sabbath and on Jewish holidays, Jewish festivals and ta'anit, fast days. Typically, the ''haftara'' is thematically linked to the ''parashah'' (weekly Torah portion) that precedes it. The ''haftara'' is sung in a chant. (Chanting of Biblical texts is known as "ta'amim" in Hebrew, "''trope''" in Yiddish, or "Hebrew cantillation, cantillation" in English.) Related blessings precede and follow the haftara reading. The origin of haftara reading is lost to history, and several theories have been proposed to explain its role in Jewish practice, suggesting ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Shabbat
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] |
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle (), also known as the Tent of the Congregation (, also Tent of Meeting), was the portable earthly dwelling of God used by the Israelites from the Exodus until the conquest of Canaan. Moses was instructed at biblical Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai to construct and transport the tabernacle with the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness and their subsequent conquest of the Promised Land. After 440 years, Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem superseded it as the dwelling-place of God. The main source describing the tabernacle is the biblical Book of Exodus, specifically Exodus 25–31 and 35–40. Those passages describe an inner sanctuary, the Holy of Holies, created by the veil suspended by four pillars. This sanctuary contained the Ark of the Covenant, with its cherubim-covered mercy seat. An outer sanctuary (the "Holy Place") contained a gold lamp-stand or candlestick. On the north side stood a table, on which lay the showbread. On th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chanukah
Hanukkah (, ; ''Ḥănukkā'' ) is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights and days, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, which may occur at any time from November 28 to December 27 in the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by lighting the candles of a candelabrum with nine branches, commonly called a menorah or hanukkiah. One branch is placed above or below the others and its candle is used to light the other eight candles. This unique candle is called the '' shammash'' (, "attendant"). Each night, one additional candle is lit by the ''shammash'' until all eight candles are lit together on the final night of the festival. Other Hanukkah festivities include singing Hanukkah songs, playing the game of dreidel and eating oil-based foo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jewish Festivals
Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' (, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed by Jews throughout the Hebrew calendar.This article focuses on practices of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism. Karaite Judaism#The calendar, Karaite Jews and Samaritans#Samaritanism, Samaritans also observe the biblical festivals, but not in an identical fashion and not always at exactly the same time. They include religious, cultural and national elements, derived from four sources: ''mitzvot'' ("biblical commandments"), rabbinic mandates, the history of Judaism, and the State of Israel. Jewish holidays occur on the same dates every year in the Hebrew calendar, but the dates vary in the Gregorian. This is because the Hebrew calendar is a lunisolar calendar (based on the cycles of both the sun and moon), whereas the Gregorian is a solar calendar. Each holiday can only occur on certain days of the week, four for most, but five for holidays in Te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av ( ; , ) is an annual fast day in Judaism. A commemoration of a number of disasters in Jewish history, primarily the destruction of both Solomon's Temple by the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Second Temple by the Roman Empire in Jerusalem. Tisha B'Av precedes the end of the three weeks between dire straits. This day is regarded as the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. It is categorized as a day destined for tragedy. Tisha B'Av falls in July or August in the Gregorian calendar. Observances of the day include five prohibitions, most notable of which is a 25-hour fast. The Book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem, is read in synagogue, followed by the recitation of '' kinnot'', liturgical dirges that lament the loss of the Temples and Jerusalem. As the day has become associated with remembrance of other major calamities which have befallen the Jewish people, some ''kinnot'' also recall events such as the murder of the Ten Martyrs by the Romans ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the Genesis creation narrative, creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt. Since the Hebrew calendar, Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday. Shabbat observance entails refraining from 39 Melachot, work activities, often with shomer Shabbat, great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abraham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Sabbaths
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 two ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
