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A Glossary of
Hebraic Terms |
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T
t j
t’fillin — black leather boxes
containing scrolls of Scripture passages, also called phylacteries. Sometimes during prayers
one box is affixed to one’s hand and arm and the other to one’s forehead as a physical
effort to obey the passage in Deuteronomy 6:8 (Exodus 13:1-16; Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21)
ta’am ha’elyon — the “upper”
mode of cantilation of the passage of the Ten Commandments
ta’anug — evil pleasure
ta’anugot — evil pleasures
ta’avah — evil desire/lust
ta’avot — lusts
Taanit — a section of the Talmud
on Fasts … a fast day
aaanit chalom — a fast over a
bad dream
taavah — lust
tachanun — a prayer of
supplication
tacharut — competition
tachlis — purpose
tachrichim (alt. tachrichin) —
burial shrouds
tachtiy — the depths
(figuratively a pit, the womb) — low (parts, -er, -er parts, -est), nether (part)
tag — ornamental flourish or
“tittle”
taharah — ritual purification of
the deceased in preparation for burial … washing of the dead body
tahor — ritually pure or clean …
able to enter the Beit HaMikdash or Mishkan
takhrikhim — shrouds prescribed
by Jewish law
takhmos —
night-hawk
takif — influential man
Tal — (Dew) The prayer for dew
(in Eretz Yisrael) recited on first day of Passover
tallit — prayer shawl with
ceremonial fringes on four corners (alt. talit, talis)
tallit katan (alt. talit) — a
small prayer shawl; a special undershirt with four corners each bearing tzitziyot
talmid —
disciple, student (fem. talmidah; pl. talmidim); a true talmid does not only want to know
what the teacher knows, he/she wants to be what the teacher is.
talmid chacham — a scholar of
the Torah
Talmud —the two commentaries on the Mishnah, one produced in the Holy Land about AD 275,
the other in Babylonia about AD 500; the designation for both the Mishnah and the
commentaries on it (Gemara). The Talmud is the collected legal and ethical discussions of
the rabbis.
tam’ei — (alt. tameh, tameis,
tamei) ritually impure or unclean (specifically by virtue of contact with the dead), not
able to enter the able to enter the Beit HaMikdash or Mishkan
tamid — the daily sacrifice in
the Sanctuary
tamim — faultless
Tammuz — tenth month on the
Jewish civil calendar
tana — rabbi in the Mishnaic period (pl. tannaim, alt. tana’im)
Tanach —
Tenach
tanshemet — horned owl
Targum — (Translation)
Traditionally the name given the Aramaic translation of the Bible, read to the populace in
Babylonian periods. The custom of reading services in Aramaic following the Hebrew goes back
to hundreds of years before the great diaspora. Except for some interpolations and
paraphrases, the Targum Bavli, also known as the Targum Onkelos, is a very faithful
translation. Less faithful to the text are the Targum Yerushalmi and others of fragmentary
character (pl. Targumim)
tarnegol — cock
Tashlich — traditional Rosh
haShanah afternoon ceremony in which individuals symbolically cast their sins (crumbs) into
a body of water … the casting away of sin
tata — papa
tav — mark
tavnit — pattern; copy
techinnah — petition;
supplication
techiyah — resurrection
tefillah — (alt. tefilah) lit. prayer; also refers to the central group of prayers in each
service, alternatively called the Amidah or Shemoneh Esre (pl. tefillos, tefillot)
Tefillah Zakah — (alt. Tefilah)
“a prayer of purity” recited upon the advent of Yom Kippur before Kol Nidrey
tefillin — (alt. tefilin) black
square leather boxes containing parchments with sections of the Torah (Shma etc.). Jewish
men are obligated to wear them the forehead and arm during prayers every morning. (Of course
if one sees the sunrise 45 times a day as an astronaut might, this may create problems.)
Tehillim — Psalms
tehom — abyss
tehom gedolah — a great abyss;
chasm
tehorah — pure
tehorim — clean
Teki’ah — a shofar sound
tekufa — era; period
Tekufah — one of the four
seasons of the year (pl. Tekufot)
tekumah — revival
telos — the point aimed at as a
limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of an act or state (termination, result,
purpose); specifically an impost or levy (as paid) — continual, custom, end (-ing), finally,
uttermost
telunnah — murmuring
tema’im — unclean
temarim — palms
Tenakh — (alt. Tanach, Tenach) the
Hebrew Bible, consisting of Torah, Prophets, and
Writings … an acronym formed from the initial letters of the Hebrew Torah,
Nevi’im,
Ketuvim
teretz — excuse
Teruah — an awakening blast on
the Shofar
terumah — contribution
terumah haissa — portion;
offering of the dough
terutz — excuse
teshukot — desires
teshuvah — (alt. teshuva) lit. turning or returning; repentance … repentance from sin,
spiritual reawakening … desire to strengthen the connection between oneself and the sacred …
turning toward G‑d
Tetragrammaton — the four Hebrew
letters hwhy usually transliterated YHWH or YHVH that form a biblical proper name of G‑d
Tetzaveh — a portion in the Book
of Exodus
teva — ark
teva — nature
tevel — world
Tevet — fourth month of the
Jewish year
tevilah — lit. immersion …
immersing in a ritual bath.
Therapeutae — sternly ascetic
Jewish party whose views and practices were kindred to the Essenes in Palestine
tevunah — wisdom
tief — deep and profound;
erudite; keen
tiferet — splendor; beauty
tihur — purification
tikkun — restoration; repair
Tikkun Chatzot — (alt. Tikun) a
prayer of lamentation over the destruction of the Sanctuary, recited at midnight
Tikkun Leil Shavuot — (alt.
Tikun) lit. service of the night of
Shavuot
tikkun olam (alt. tikun) —
repairing our broken world
Tikkun Soferim (alt. Tikun)
(alt. Sofrim) — the set of rules for the writing of a Torah Scroll
tikvah — hope
tikvateinu — our hope
timtum halev — hardening of the
heart
tipesh — idiot
tipshus — foolery
tipus — type; pattern
tish — table
Tishah
Be’av — The ninth day of the month of Av; a day of mourning for
the destruction of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem
tishen — tables
Tishri (alt. Tishrei) (Ethanim)
— first month of the Hebrew civil calendar (September-October)
Titkabel — a verse in the kadish,
“Let the prayers of Israel be accepted.”
tizkoret — reminder
to’evah — abomination
tochnit — master plan
todah — thanks, thank you, the
thanksgiving offering in the Sanctuary
toeva — abomination
tohorah — purification
tohorat mishpakhah — family
purity
tohu vavohu — disorder; chaos
tohuw — to lie waste; a
desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively a worthless thing; in vain — confusion,
empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness
toitzaa — outcome
tokhechah — reproof
toldah — (alt. towledah)
descent, i.e. family; (figuratively) history — birth, generations
toldot — genealogies
Torah — teaching or instruction, but usually erroneously
translated “law” … the instruction of G‑d.
In its most narrow sense, the Five Books of Moshe (Moses), the Pentateuch — B’resheet
(Genesis), Sh’mot (Exodus), Vayikra (Leviticus), B’midbar (Numbers), D’varim (Deuteronomy),
called the “Written Torah” and hand-written on a parchment scroll.
The Torah plus the Prophets (Nevi’im) and Writings (K’tuvim) are together called the
TaNaKh (TNK), Tenach (alt. Tanach, Tanakh, Tenakh), the Hebrew Bible, or the so-called “Old
Testament.”
In a broad sense, the whole written Word of G‑d is the Torah, including both the Tanakh
and the B’rit Chadashah (New Testament).
In its broadest sense, “Torah” is all of Judaism, which flows from those Books.
Additional material called the “Oral Torah” is considered in varying degrees as
authoritative in traditional Judaism. Uncapitalized, the work can be understood as
“principle.”
Torah-observant — walking in yielded obedience to the teaching
of the Scriptures; in traditional Judaism this includes obeying the complex instructions of
the Talmud as well.
torud — completely absorbed and
involved
Tosefta (alt. Tocefta) —
(Supplement) Anthology of tannaitic text parallel to Mishnah, but outside Mishnaic canon,
and more expansive. Rabbi Nehemiah, second century, began the work; in the third century it
was continued by Hiyya ben Abba and Oshaiah
tous ritztzuy — reconciliation
tov — good
tov l’teshuva — fruit worthy of
repentance
tovim — good ones
tovot — good things
toyus — error
treif — (alt. trefah) lit. torn
apart; food that is not ritually fit … the opposite of
kosher
trombeniks — gluttons
Tru’ah — a shofar sound
Trumah — a heave offering,
contribution … the seventh portion in the Book of Exodus
Trumpets, Feast of — the modern
Rosh Ha-Shanah,
the first day of Tishri, the seventh month of the Jewish calendar, celebrated (unbiblically)
as the Jewish New Year
tsaphoon — hidden
tsemach xmc — branch
tshuka — yearning
tsur — rock
Tu Bishvat — fifteenth day of
the month of Shevat; a minor holiday known as the New Year of the Trees, observed by
planting trees
tugah — sadness
tum’a — uncleanness; impurity
tza’ar — pain and suffering
tzad — side
tzaddik — righteous man
Tzaddik (alt. Tzadik) — Chasidic
sages were so called; they were often raised by their followers to the status of direct
intermediaries with G‑d, super-human miracle workers … a just man, righteous, upright (pl.
Tzaddikim, alt. Tzadikim)
tzaddikim — righteous ones
tzafon — north
Tzafun — the phase of the Seder
ceremony in which the hidden afikoman is eaten
tzar — narrow
tzarah — trouble
Tzarah Gedolah — Great
Tribulation
tzarut ayin — envyings
tzavva’a — will
tzechok — laughter
tzedakah — contribution
tzedakah — (alt. tsedakah) lit.
justice or righteousness; the Hebrew word we use for charity and charitable acts
tzedek — righteousness
Tzedokim — (alt. Tzedukim) Sadducees — Religio-political sect of Judaism in the late Second
Temple period that focused on priestly functions and the sacrificial system … their views
and practices were opposed to those of the Pharisees. They denied the authority of oral
tradition, the resurrection of the dead, and the existence of angels.
tzelamim — idols
tzelem — image
tzevi’ut — hypocrisy
tzevua — (pl.
tzevuim) hypocrite
tzfarde’im — frogs
tzidkat — righteousness
Tzidkatcha Tzedek — verses
recited after the minchah prayer on Shabbat
Tziduk Hadin — a prayer of
accepting G‑d’s Judgment
tzitzis — (alt. tzitzit)
ceremonially knotted fringes to be worn on all four-cornered garments (pl. Tzitziyot)
tzive’ot zarim — armies of the
aliens
tziveot haparashim — troops of
cavalry-men
tznius — modesty
tzom; tzomot — fast; fastings
tzon — flock
tzorich iyun — unresolved
puzzlement
tzoros — troubles
tzufloigen — dazed
tzufriedenkait — contentment
tzushtel — comparison
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http://FamilyBible.org/Glossary/T.htm
Page last revised on
Saturday, March 22, 2008 |