Word origins

• orConnects at least two alternative words, phrases, clauses, sentences, etc., each of which could make a passage true.
• abAn abscess caused by injecting an illegal drug, usually heroin.
• ramA male sheep, typically uncastrated.
• sinA violation of divine will or religious law.
• kenTo give birth, conceive, beget, be born; to develop (as a fetus); to nourish, sustain (as life).
• betA wager, an agreement between two parties that a stake (usually money) will be paid by the loser to the winner (the winner being the one who correctly forecast the outcome of an event).
• jonathanAn apple cultivar from New York.
• aiA pale-throated sloth (Bradypus tridactylus), endemic to forests of southern Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil.
• peThe seventeenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew פ, Syriac ܦ, and others; Arabic has the analog faa).
• IsraeliA person from Israel or of Israeli descent.
• salmonOne of several species of fish, typically of the Salmoninae subfamily, brownish above with silvery sides and delicate pinkish-orange flesh; they ascend rivers to spawn.
• aviSynonym of avatar.
• cohenA Jewish priest: direct male descendant of the Biblical high priest Aaron, brother of Moses.
• DeborahA judge of Israel.
• EliA student at Yale University.
• gerA yurt.
• carmelA mountain range in Israel.
• PerezThe father of Hezron and the son of Judah; the grandson of Jacob.
• TorahA specially written scroll containing the five books of Moses, such as those used in religious services.
• KatzA surname; variant form Kats.
• britA British person.
• bethelA holy place.
• TalA male given name from Hebrew.
• abigailA lady's maid.
• imaI'm.
• seraA language spoken in Papua New Guinea.
• HassanA male given name from Arabic.
• chaiA female Romani.
• tartanWoven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now with different clans (though this only dates from the late 18th century) and some Scottish families and institutions having their own patterns; (countable) a particular type of such fabric.
• mitzvahAny of the 613 commandments of Jewish law.
• luzA small bone in the human spinal column, believed in Muslim and Jewish traditions to be the indestructible bone from which the body will be rebuilt at the time of resurrection.
• NagarA surname of Indian usage.
• GIDEONA member of Gideons International, an evangelical Christian association, founded in 1899, that distributes free copies of the Bible.
• HanukkahAn eight-day Jewish festival, starting on the 25th day of Kislev, which commemorates the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek Syrians.
• shalomA traditional Jewish greeting or farewell.
• yahYes.
• asherA member of the alt.suicide.holiday newsgroup, which deals with the topics of suicide and depression.
• goliathAny large person or thing; someone or something that is abnormally large or powerful.
• SegalA surname from Hebrew.
• shabbatThe Jewish Sabbath, from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday, commemorating God's rest on the seventh day in the book of Genesis.
• MLKSynonym of Moloch, a Canaanite god.
• agoraA place for gathering.
• shekelA currency unit of both ancient and modern Israel.
• moserAn informer; one who tells on another.
• horaA circle dance popular in the Balkans, Israel and Yiddish culture worldwide.
• JahA shortened form of the Tetragrammaton.
• GraElijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kremer, the Vilna Gaon.
• NoamA male given name from Hebrew.
• alephThe first letter of the Proto-Canaanite alphabet, and its descendants in descended Semitic scripts, such as Phoenician 𐤀 (ʾ, ʾaleph), Aramaic 𐡀 (ʾ), Classical Syriac ܐ ('ālaph), Hebrew א (aleph) and Arabic ا (ʾalif).
• AronThe ark, the cabinet in which the Torah is kept.
• JaffeA surname from Hebrew.
• TalmudA collection of Jewish writings related to the practical application of Judaic law and tradition (may refer to either the Babylonian Talmud or the shorter Jerusalem Talmud).
• HymanA male given name from Hebrew.
• kabbalahA body of mystical Jewish teachings based on an esoteric reading of the Hebrew scriptures.
• HillelA male given name from Hebrew.
• BaruchAny of a number of Old Testament men, including the scribe and companion of Jeremiah.
• dafA large frame drum, resembling a tambourine, used to accompany popular and classical music in the Middle East.
• RebekahThe sister of Laban; Isaac's wife; the mother of Jacob and Esau.
• kazana cauldron or cooking pot used in Central Asian cuisine
• elonSynonym of metol (“p-methylaminophenol sulfate”).
• golemA humanoid creature made from clay, animated by magic. The most famous was made by Rabbi Loew in the 16th century to defend the Jews of Prague from a pogrom.
• OrenA male given name from Hebrew, probably from the Bible (1 Chronicles 2:25).
• BacaA surname.
• MeirAn outer suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England (OS grid ref SJ9342).
• DovA male given name of Hebrew usage.
• DelilahA beautiful, cunning and treacherous woman; a femme fatale.
• lilithA type of female Mesopotamian demon, typically seen as coming to men in dreams and as endangering women during pregnancy or childbirth.
• arieA male given name from Hebrew.
• PurimA Jewish festival, celebrated on the fourteenth day of Adar, commemorating the deliverance of the Persian Jews from a complete massacre at the hand of Haman the Amalekite.
• HagarThe Egyptian concubine of Abraham, mother of Ishmael.
• bibiA grandmother.
• IlanA male given name from Hebrew.
• GolanA city in the Middle East, generally identified with modern-day Sahm el-Jaulān in Daraa governorate, Syria.
• LikudA leading rightist political party in Israel.
• YosefA male given name from Hebrew.
• ElamAn ancient civilization and empire in modern southwestern Iran, existing between c. 3200 BCE and 539 BCE. Capital: Susa.
• NetanyahuA surname from Hebrew, most notably borne by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
• sederThe ceremonial meal held on the first night or first two nights of Passover.
• menorahA holy candelabrum with seven branches used in the Temple of Jerusalem.
• YehudaA male given name from Hebrew.
• KnessetThe Israeli parliament, located in Jerusalem.
• yadA pointer used in the ritual of Torah-reading.
• ChabadA branch of Orthodox Chassidic Judaism founded in 1755 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi
• datireligious rather than secular; observing Jewish customs
• AvrahamA male given name from Hebrew, alternative form of Abraham.
• OnanThe second son of Judah.
• AshkenaziOf or relating to Jews of German origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals. Their traditional vernacular is Yiddish, and they historically dominated Jewish life in Europe north of the Mediterranean, in contrast to the Sephardim.
• MizrahiOf, or relating to Jews of Middle Eastern origin, and their traditions, customs, and rituals.
• MordecaiOne of the main personalities in the Book of Esther. He adopted and raised his cousin Esther and foiled a plot to assassinate the king.
• magaThespesia grandiflora, a tree native to Puerto Rico also planted elsewhere for its fairness and the working properties of its wood.
• EliezerAny of a number of men in the Hebrew Bible, including a son of Moses.
• MossadThe national intelligence agency of Israel.
• ElohimGod; {{n-g|the name used for God in Hebrew scriptures
• kibbutzA community, usually an agricultural one in Israel, based on a high level of social and economical sharing, equality, direct democracy and tight social relations.
• midrashA Rabbinic commentary on a text from the Hebrew Scripture.
• KenanA surname from Hebrew.
• NegevA desert region in southern Israel.
• PesachThe Jewish festival of Passover.
• ZoharA Jewish cabalistic book attributed by tradition to Rabbi Simon ben Yochi, who lived about the end of the 1st century AD. Modern critics believe it to be a compilation of the 13th century.
• goelyellow