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 * Date || Word || Short Definition || Long Definition ||
 * Sept. 16 || L'shanah Tovah : (H) || Happy New Year || Literally, "For a Good Year". An abridgement of the phrase "L'shanah tovah tikateyvu" (may you be inscribed for a good year), alluding to the imagery of God keeping a ledger book with the names of those who will continue to live through the coming year. A related phrase of greeting used between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur is "g'mar chatimah tovah" (may you wind up with a good signature....a favorable entry in the ledger). ||
 * Sept. 23 || shofar: (H) || a Ram's horn that is used as a musical instrument during the High Holidays (Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur). || The hollowed horn of a ram which, when blown with proper technique, produces a distinctive sound that carries far and wide. The blowing of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur helps make the High Holidays special and unites us with Jews all over the world who are also using it in their observances. It derives from the Bible: "Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land." (Leviticus 25:9)

Traditional Jews blow the shofar at the morning service every day during the month of Elul, leading up to Rosh Hashanah. And of course, the shofar is sounded several times in a prescribed manner during the course of the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipur observances.

In very ancient times, the sounding of the ram's horn was to scare away the evil spirits associated with the fall pagan farming holidays. || hannukiya; chanukiah; (H) [All are variant transliterations of this Hebrew word...there are many more!]
 * Sept. 30 || Sukkah: (H) || Temporary dwelling; a booth in which farmers live in their fields during the harvest season || A temporary hut or booth with an open top used during Sukkot, the Jewish fall harvest festival. Ceremonies include the waving of willow branches (the lulav) and smelling the aroma of a citrus fruit (the esrog). During biblical times, the pagan fall harvest rituals were converted into a holiday celebrating the mythical exodus from Egypt with the temporary field dwelling of the farmer becoming the dwellings of the Jews during the exodus. As secular Jews, the Sukkah reminds us of the work of farmers in the fields and makes the celebration of the harvest a uniquely Jewish event. ||
 * Oct. 7 || eyns, tsvey, drai, fir, finf (Y) || one, two, three, four, five || The counting numbers one through five ||
 * Oct. 14 || Oy vay! (Y) || exclamation to denote pain or astonishment. || oy vay is mir. Literally, Oh, woe is me! ||
 * Oct. 21 || Emmes (Y) || truth || tbd ||
 * Oct. 28 || Sha Shtil: (Y) || Be quiet || tbd ||
 * Nov. 4 || Hakhnasat Orhim: (H) || Welcoming guests, hospitality, a traditional Jewish value || tbd ||
 * Nov. 11 || Shemirat Ha Lashon: (H) || Guarding your tongue (what to say: polite speech; what not to say: shame, gossip, slander); a traditional Jewish value || tbd ||
 * Nov. 18 || Tikkun Olam: (H) || repairing (improving) the world, a traditional Jewish value || Tikkun olam (literally, "world repair"): A term adapted in the 1950's to mean Social action (social service and social justice) used to improve societal ecology (lives of people). It is part of the traditional Jewish values of tzedakah (financial support of the poor), g’milut hasadim (acts of loving kindness), and tzedek (justice). More recently, it is used to mean Environmental action to improve the natural ecology (e.g. conservation, polution reduction). For many orthodox Jews and Jewish mystics, Tikkun Olam is the incremental repair of the world that occurs when individual Jews follow any of the commandments and thereby hasten the coming of the messiah. For secular as well as other Jews, it is a call to action to make the world a better place ||
 * Dec. 2 || Sevivon (H), dreydl (Y) || Four sided spinning top used on Hannukah, with a Hebrew letter on each side. || The Yiddish word is derived from the German drehen, “to turn.” The Hebrew word is based on the root "to spin". It is a four sided spinning top used on Hannukah for gambling. Each side has a Hebrew letter that is used to determine the payout for the spinner: nun (wins nothing), gimel (wins whole pot), hey (wins half the pot), shin (must add one to the pot). ||
 * Dec, 9 || hanukkiyah;

Chanikeh menorah (Y) || special menorah used on Hanukkah consisting of eight candle holders plus one (shamash), which is used to light the others || A special menorah used on Hanukkah consisting of eight candle holders plus one (shamash or servant), which is used to light the others. The standard menorah consists of 7 candle holders. The first Hanukkah was actually a delayed celebration of Sukkot (a holiday lasting 8 days) that later became associated with the victory of the Maccabees over the Greeks. The original story about the 8 lights described the day the Temple was liberated and lighting 8 spears wrapped with oil-soaked rags as a beacon to announce the happy event. About 200 years later, the miracle of one day's oil lasting for eight days was invented to add a religious aspect to the celebration. The rabbis changed Hanukkah from a Temple holiday to a home holiday with lighting of candles at home. Hillel changed the first day of Hanukah to the 25th of Kislev, to coincide with the darkest night of the month in the darkest season of the year. Thus, as we light an additional candle each night, the natural light from both the moon and the sun are also getting brighter and brighter. We observe Hanukkah to celebrate the fight for religous freedom. || todah rabah || Thank you; thank you very much || (literal translation, no explanation needed) || (חלה)** ||  ||  || are about to do and / or for those who provided what is about to be eaten or drunk. || a declaration of thanksgiving or gratefulness said before eating or drinking, before some ceremonial act such as lighting Shabbos candles or as part of community program or celebration. Blessings often describe the bounty of the earth and, by extension, affirm our care and concern for the natural environment. A religious blessing affirms the wonderfulness (blessedness) of God, often acknowledging that God has provided for a particular human need, enjoyment or activity. For secular as well as other Jews, blessings of any kind never make things special or holy and never thank animals or inanimate objects, but they do increase the importance of what is happening and help us to focus on the present moment. ||
 * Dec. 16 || Todah (H);
 * Jan. 13 || Shabbat Shalom (H); Gut Shabbes (Y) || Have a peaceful Sabbath; Have a good Sabbath || The most common greeting when meeting another Jew during the Sabbath, observed from Friday at sunset through Saturday at dark. (At the conclusion of the Sabbath, or throughout the week, the parallel greetings are "Shavuah Tov" (H) and "Gut Vokh", both meaning "A good week". ||
 * Jan. 20 || **challah, hallah
 * Jan. 27 || Blessing || a declaration of thanksgiving or gratefulness for what the speakers
 * Feb. 3 || Kiddush || a blessing said before drinking grape wine or juice. Also, a reception with food and drink following a community program or celebration such as Rosh Hashanah. || a blessing (declaration of thanksgiving or gratefulness) said over grape wine or juice before drinking. Among religious Jews, the kiddush affirms the wonderfulness(blessedness) of God for creating the fruit of the vine (ie grapes - from which wine and juice are made). Also, a reception with food and drink following a community program or celebration such as Rosh Hashanah. Often blessings over the wine and challah are recited prior to drinking and eating. Thus, a kiddush (reception) begins with a kiddush (blessing over wine) ||
 * Feb.10 || Ess (Y) || to eat || tbd ||
 * Feb.17 || kvetch (Y) || One who nags or complains in an insistent fashion ||
 * Feb.24 || schlepp (Y) || to carry along or pull with difficulty; to travel || tbd ||
 * Mar.2 || Kehilla (H) || community, such as The Kehilla for Secular Jews || tbd ||
 * Mar.9 || purimshpiel(Y) || humorous performance telling the story from the Book of Esther (Purim) || tbd ||
 * Mar.16 || Magen David (H) Mogen Dovid || six-pointed star of David ||
 * Mar.30 || Nosh (Y) || Snack || tbd ||
 * Apr.6 || Dayenu Gnueg || The sister of Moses and Aaron, the daughter of Amram and Jochebed. She appears first in the book of Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. || tbd ||
 * Apr.20 || Afikomen (Aramaic) || lit., dessert. || As part of the Passover seder, a small piece of matzah is set aside before the festive meal to ensure that there will be at least a symbolic bit left for dessert. Family traditions vary, but in one common variant the seder leader hides the afikomen (to be sure it doesn't mysteriously "disappear" during the seder). At some point during the seder (such as when the leader excuses him/herself to perform the ceremonial washing of the hands), children search for the afikomen, liberate it from its hiding place, and re-hide it from the leader. Later, when the leader attempts to find and distribute the dessert, the children ransom their hostage for a reward ||
 * Apr. 27 || Mazel Tov! (H) || congratulations || tbd ||
 * May 4 || Kibitz || to offer unwanted advice || Influenced by german kiebitz ||
 * May 11 || Magen David (H) Mogen Dovid || six pointed star of david || tbd ||
 * May 18 || havurah || A group of people who gather together for study or socializing ||