Content tagged with “judaism”

There are 13 item(s) tagged with “judaism” on this site.

Other tags used by these items: history, israel, faith, race, ethnicity, zionism, antisemitism, idiom, geography, religion, linguistics, islam, place, middle-east

Ashkenazi Jew
Section
Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
October 12, 2022
Words
166

“This refers to the largest ethnic groups of Jews. (Note: there are a lot of different ethnic/racial divisions among Jews .) The Ashkenazi was a group of Jewish people who migrated North from the Middle East to Eastern Europe about 1000 BC. In turn, this group immigrated heavily to the United…”

The Balfour Declaration
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
April 24, 2023
Words
300

“This was a 1917 letter from the British Foreign Secretary (their Secretary of State, basically) to a leader of the British Jewish community which expressed support for a Jewish homeland in the area of (then) Palestine. It was the first open acceptance and validation of Zionism . The letter was both…”

B’nai B’rith
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
December 16, 2021
Words
325

“This is a Jewish non-profit service organization founded in 1843 that promotes Jewish rights and identity, and fights antisemitism. It’s pronounced ‘bi-nay brith’ (like ‘breath’, but with an ‘i’ sound). The name comes from the Hebrew ‘benē brīth,’ which means ‘Sons of the Covenant.’ From their…”

Borscht Belt
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
July 5, 2022
Words
197

“A series of mountain resorts in the Catskills of Upstate New York which catered largely to Jewish families. They were popular because they were within train distance from New York City at a time when air travel was new and expensive, and antisemitism was sill prevalent, which caused Jewish families…”

Goy
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
November 12, 2021
Words
121

“This is Yiddish for a non-Jew. The plural is ‘goyim.’ It’s disputed as to whether the word is a Semitic slur – a word that Jewish people use to pejoratively refer to non-Jews. Wikipedia has a list of Yiddish phrases where ‘goy’ is meant to refer to something trivial, frustrating, or pointless. The…”

Hebrew vs. Yiddish
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
October 28, 2024
Words
129

“They are related, but they are separate languages. Hebrew is the more historical and traditional of the two. Yiddish is sort of a regional dialect/creole of Hebrew. Yiddish was spoken by European Jews. It’s a mixture of Hebrew, German, and other Eastern European languages. Hebrew is a language born…”

Hora
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
November 21, 2023
Words
61

“ This is the traditional Jewish wedding dance where the married couple is lifted up in chairs and the guests lock arms and dance in a circle around them. It’s often performed to a song called the Hava Naglia. ”

L’chaim
Section
Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
October 26, 2024
Words
148

“This is a traditional Jewish toast which means ‘to life.’ It’s a lot like Salud / Salut is for the Italians. It’s sometimes used as a noun to mean: A toast, in itself. You can offer ‘a l’chaim’ A celebratory party, like a wedding or a graduation. You can attend ‘a l’chaim.’ In English, it’s…”

Mohel
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
November 27, 2024
Words
55

“ This is a Jewish man trained to give ritual circumcisions. ”

Shabbat
Section
Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
June 29, 2023
Words
318

“This is the Jewish day of rest. It lasts from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. Observant Jews – known as ‘shomer Shabbat’ – are prohibited from doing any work during this time. The definition of ‘work’ comes from 39 prohibited categories. Many of things are historic jobs performed by…”

Temple Mount
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Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
April 23, 2022
Words
424

“This is a holy site in Jerusalem. It’s actually several overlapping sites, important to all three Abrahamic religions. The Template Mount itself is the claimed former site of Solomon’s Temple, which was destroyed twice – the last time in the years just after Jesus died. It’s a raised plaza – kind…”

Zion
Section
Stuff I Looked Up
Type
Explanation
Date
April 28, 2022
Words
272

“This is a Biblical name for a fortress that became the city of Jerusalem specifically, and the entire state of Israel generally. It has often been extended to refer to the Jewish people and community. The word is found 152 times in the Old Testament, the first time in 2 Samuel 5:7: Nevertheless,…”