Word origins

• ChemoshThe god of the ancient Moabites.
• cheshbon hanefesha Jewish practice before the High Holidays where a person takes time to reflect on their character and actions.
• cheshbon nefeshSynonym of cheshbon hanefesh
• chevra kadishaA society that ensures proper treatment of the dead before burial.
• chillul HashemA disgrace before God; especially, shameful behavior by a Jew seen as 'giving God a bad name'.
• chiyuvAn obligation.
• ChokmahWisdom.
• Chol HaMoedThe intermediate days between the beginning and end of the Jewish festivals of Pesach and Sukkot, on which some work is permitted.
• chovahA ritual that is not commanded in the Torah but that is still considered mandatory.
• chumraObservance of a law to an extent beyond that required by the laxest interpretation.
• ComayA surname from Hebrew.
• dageshA symbol used in Hebrew script to denote a geminated consonant, or a consonant pronounced as a plosive as opposed to as a fricative.
• datlashAn apostate from Judaism.
• dayenuIt will (or would) have been sufficient.
• derech eretzProper behavior; manners
• DizaA female given name from Hebrew.
• Doobon coatAn Israeli military winter coat, designed to be able to stay in cold temperatures for long periods of time.
• drashaA sermon
• dunamAn Ottoman Turkish unit of surface area nominally equal to 1,600 square (Turkish) paces but actually varied at a provincial and local level according to land quality to accommodate its colloquial sense of the amount of land able to be plowed in a day, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine stremma or English acre.
• dveykutIntense devotion or piety.
• edahA Jewish community.
• Edot HaMizrachMizrahim collectively.
• eephusAn off-speed pitch with unusually low velocity, intended to catch the hitter off guard.
• eheviThe four Hebrew letters that can serve as vowels: alef, he, vav, and yodh.
• eiduttestimony attesting to having witnessed the commission of the offense.
• Ein SofIn Kabbalah, God existing prior to creating anything.
• ElishebaA female given name from Hebrew.
• El ShaddaiEpithet of Yahweh, usually translated as "God Almighty", though the exact meaning of "Shaddai" remains uncertain.
• Eretz YisraelIsrael
• EthanimSynonym of Tishrei.
• firgunGenuine delight or pride in another person's achievement or in something good that has happened or may happen to another person.
• gabbaiA custodian of a synagogue, who often performs assistant duties in services.
• ga-gaA variant of dodgeball played inside a fenced area, usually a hexagon or octagon.
• galutThe Jewish Diaspora (dispersion from Israel).
• gazozAn Israeli soft drink made from fruit concentrate and soda water.
• GehinnomThe realm of the afterlife where unrepentant souls are cleansed of their spiritual impurities before returning to the presence of God.
• gelilahThe act or ceremony of scrolling the Torah back up after reading it.
• gemachA free-loan fund for Orthodox Jews.
• gerahAn ancient Hebrew unit of weight and currency, one twentieth of a shekel.
• gereshThe symbol "׳", that serves as a diacritical mark that modifies the pronunciation of several letters, or as a punctuation mark that marks abbreviations or numerals, in Hebrew.
• gezerahA preventive rabbinic enactment.
• gilgulreincarnation, metempsychosis
• giyoretA female convert to Judaism.
• grushA historic currency of Mandatory Palestine, equal to a hundredth of a Palestine pound.
• hagalahThe process of putting eating utensils into boiling water to kasher them.
• hagigahA sacrificial offering at one of the three pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles).
• hakafotA procession of people making circuit around something.
• hakhamA wise man or scholar.
• HakhelThe mitzvah (commandment) to “assemble” the Jewish people to hear the Torah (Deuteronomy 31:12).
• hakhsharaZionist training in preparation for emigration to Israel and subsequent life in a kibbutz.
• halitzahA rite by which a widow absolves herself of the duty of levirate marriage. It involves making a declaration, removing a shoe, and spitting on the floor.
• halukkaAn organized collection and distribution of charity funds for Jewish residents of the Land of Israel.
• halutziutThe pioneering work of the halutzim.
• hamotziA brief prayer recited before consuming bread.
• hanachas tefillinA ceremony at which a child first wears tefillin, typically held a short time before the bar mitzvah.
• HanielAn angel in Jewish lore and angelology, generally associated with the planet Venus.
• hanukkiahA nine-branched menorah used during Hanukkah.
• harosethA paste made of fruits and nuts eaten at Passover, representing the mortar mixed by the Israelites during their slavery in Egypt.
• hashgachaDivine providence
• hashkabahA Sephardic prayer for the dead.
• hashkafahA worldview, a philosophical outlook or orientation.
• HasidA follower of Hasidism.
• hatafat dam britAn alternative to brit milah preformed for those who are born without foreskin or who convert after previously having been circumcised for an unrelated purpose, in which a droplet of blood is extracted from the penis using a knife or needle.
• HatikvahThe national anthem of Israel, based on a 19th-century Jewish poem.
• HatzalahA Jewish volunteer emergency medical service.
• hatzotzrahAn instrument similar to a trumpet used by the ancient Israelites.
• havlagahThe Haganah policy of abstaining from revenge on Arab groups who attacked Jewish settlements during the British Mandate.
• hazzanA Jewish cantor in a synagogue.
• hechsherA certification that a food product or establishment is kosher.
• hefsekAn interruption in the performance of a mitzvah, rendering it invalid.
• hekeshApplication of a stated law to an unstated but analogous case.
• helekA unit of time equal to an eighteenth of a minute (3⅓ seconds)
• hespedA eulogy.
• hidatoA puzzle game in which the player fills in boxes with numbers, attempting to fill the grid with consecutive numbers that connect either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
• hiloniAn irreligious and/or lightly-observant Jew
• hiriqA Hebrew nikud vowel sign, a dot written beneath a letter, indicating the phoneme /i/.
• holamA Hebrew nikud vowel sign represented by a dot above the upper-left corner of the consonant letter. It indicates the mid back rounded vowel.
• Hoshana RabbahThe seventh day of Sukkot, marked by a special synagogue service in which seven circuits are made by the worshippers with their lulav and etrog while the congregation recites prayers.
• illuiA young Talmudic prodigy or genius.
• -imUsed to form plurals in words derived from Hebrew.
• ImriTwo minor Biblical figures: one is an ancestor of ancient Hebrew exiles mentioned in 1 Chronicles 9:4 and the second is the father of Zaccur, who worked to build a around Jerusalem in Nehemiah 3:2.
• inyanA topic or subject matter, especially in the context of Jewish discussion.
• isru chagThe day after a chag.
• issaronSynonym of omer: a Hebrew unit of dry volume equal to about 2.3 L or 2.1 quarts.
• issurA prohibition; something forbidden.
• izmelA specialized surgical knife used by the mohel in the Jewish circumcision ritual of Brit Milah for infant males. It must have certain characteristics, per Jewish Law, including that it may not stop the flow of blood (unlike the constricting devices commonly used by a surgeon or Urologist).
• JahazielVarious male characters in the Hebrew Bible, one of whom, a Levite, is described as delivering a divine message.
• JoktanA male given name from Hebrew.
• JophielA non-canonical archangel of wisdom, understanding, and judgment, one of the Seven Archangels in Pseudo-Dionysian teachings.
• kahalThe local governing body of a former European Jewish community, administering religious, legal and communal affairs.
• kal v'chomerAll the more so, a fortiori.
• kamatzA Hebrew nikud vowel sign, shaped like a small uppercase T, which is written beneath a letter to indicate an /a/ sound (or, in Ashkenazi pronunciation, an /o/ sound).
• kanehA Hebrew measure of length, equal to six cubits.
• kapotaA long black coat worn on certain occasions by members of the Chabad movement.
• kapparahAtonement.
• kapparotA customary atonement ritual practised by Orthodox Jews on the eve of Yom Kippur, involving the waving of money or a chicken over a person's head before it is donated to charity or to feed the hungry.
• KaraismA Jewish movement that recognises only the Tanakh as a supreme legal authority, distinct from Rabbinic Judaism.
• karethExtirpation or cutting off, a form of punishment for sin, mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and later Jewish writings.
• karpasA traditional ritual dish eaten at Passover, consisting of a vegetable (typically celery or parsley) dipped in salt water or other liquid.
• kavanahHeartfelt intent during prayer, as opposed to roteness.