EC+WOW2007

=2007 Word of the Week (Actions)=

In Biblical times, the pagan sounding of the ram's horn to scare away the evil spirits associated with the fall farming holidays was converted into the Jewish practice of sounding the shofar on the high holidays. The shofar helps make the High Holidays special and unites us with Jews all over the world who are using it in their observances. || Emet (H) || truth || Literally, "truth"; also used colloquially in the sense of the English "Right on!" or its more recent variant, "Truth!" The word frequently appears transliterated as "Emeth" in the names of synagogues, such as Philadelphia's (recently demised) Beth Emeth. || Sheket (H) || Be quiet || The Yiddish can connote more than the literal "be quiet", and is also used in the sense of "calm down or you'll give yourself a stroke". The Hebrew root word is used as a noun, verb, and adjective || 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). || hannukiya; chanukiah; (H) [All are variant transliterations of this Hebrew word...there are many more!]
 * 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 produces a distinctive sound and is blown on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (High Holidays).
 * 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 etrog). 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 first five numbers in Yiddish. ||
 * Oct. 14 || Oy vay! (Y) || exclamation to denote pain or astonishment. || oy vay is mir. Literally, Oh, woe is me! ||
 * Oct. 21 || Emmes (Y)
 * Oct. 28 || Sha Shtil: (Y)
 * Nov. 4 || Hakhnasat Orchim: (H) || Welcoming guests, hospitality, a traditional Jewish value || With its roots going back so far as to have been mentioned in stories in Genesis, the importance of hospitality is fundamental to Middle Eastern cultures. (See the story of Abraham welcoming and honoring guests -- Genesis 18:1-16.) ||
 * Nov. 11 || Shemirat Halashon: (H) || Guarding your tongue (what to say: polite speech; what not to say: shame, gossip, slander); a traditional Jewish value || An ethical precept mentioned in the Talmud and aimed especially at women, for whom the Talmud has special concerns over their (supposed) propensity for gossip. Notwithstanding that, a closely monitored tongue is urged of all. ||
 * 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),
 * Dec, 9 || hanukkiyah;

Chanikeh menorah (Y) || special menorah used on Hanukkah consisting of eight candle holders plus one for the shamash or servant, the candle 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 the lighting of 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 religious freedom. || todah rabah || Thank you; thank you very much || (literal translation, no explanation needed) || (חלה)** || Braided loaves of fine bread. || Challot (the Heb. plural of challah) are bread loaves, braided or of some other distinctive design, which by tradition are eaten on Shabbat and Festival meals.
 * 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

On festive occasions many Jews say a blessing over two loaves, symbolizing the biblical account of two portions of manna being distributed on Fridays to the Israelites during their desert wanderings following the exodus, as they were prohibited from the work of gathering the daily portion of manna on the Sabbath. The breads are covered on the table by a decorative challah cover or a white napkin, which represents the dew that collected on the manna in the morning.

(For more information, please follow the link in the 2nd column.) || Brukhe (Y) B'rakha (H) || a declaration of thanksgiving or gratefulness for what the speakers 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. || Schlepper - (SHLEP-er) n. A drip; a jerk; a shabby person; a nonentity who works for low wages. || Panim (H) || Face || Famous in the Yiddish "Shayne punim!" (spoken especially of babies and brides). In Hebrew, the word is famously found in the Bible in the description of how God was said to have spoken with Moses alone: "panim al panim" -- face to face. || G'nug (Y) || Enough || "Dayenu" is the Hebrew conjugation of "Dai" to form "enough for us". We sing the song "Lo Dayenu" -- "it's not enough for us" at Passover. We want more. We want to strive toward perfection of the world: tikun olam.
 * Jan. 27 || Blessing
 * 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 || Haymish || home like, friendly, folksy. || domestic, home-made, cozy, snug, familiar, intimate, informal. Homey; plain and unaffected; also: homely. Haim = home. Sometimes spelled as //haimish// or //heymish.// ||
 * Feb.17 || Boker Tov (H) || Good Morning || Morning greeting, literally good morning ||
 * Feb.24 || schlepp (Y) || to carry along or pull with difficulty; to travel || to drag or haul (an object); to make a tedious journey (from Yiddish שלעפ //shlepn// and German //schleppen//)
 * Mar.2 || Kehilla (H) || community, such as The Kehilla for Secular Jews || A //**kehilla**// or //**kehillah**// (קהילה, [|Hebrew]: "community") is a [|Jewish] [|community]. In pre-War Europe, all towns or cities with a Jewish population had one communal organization, or occasionally more. As a result of the dispersal caused by the War, larger agglomerations may have had more than one community, each centred around one [|synagogue], with the various communities together providing the services previously run by the //kehilla//, such as a //[|mikvah]// (immersion pool), //gemach// (loan society) and //[|kashrut]// (supervision of kosher food production). ||
 * Mar.9 || purimshpiel (Y) || humorous performance telling the story from the Book of Esther (Purim) || The Purimshpiel is, ideally, a hilarious production. Its mood fits with the traditional "obligation" known as "ad lo yada", which involves drinking "until you don't know" the difference between the names of Mordekhai (the hero) and Haman (the villain). ||
 * Mar.16 || Punim (Y)
 * Mar.30 || Nosh (Y) || Snack || snack (from Yiddish נאַשן //nashn//). Also a verb "Nu, stop noshing on that nosh." ||
 * Apr.6 || Dai (H)

The religious sing an older form of the song "Dayenu", which expresses gratitude to God for what was done for the Jews at the time of the Exodus from Egypt. || Mazel Tov! (Y) || congratulations || From the Hebrew words "mazal" and "tov" (good). Mazal: luck or zodiacal sign ("Under which mazal were you born?....What's your sign?", or "ayzeh mazal!"..."What good fortune! How lucky!") || Also part of the phrase "kibbutz galuyot", the "ingathering of the exiles". Used in similar constructions, among which are: "kvutzah" -- a band, group, or team "kvutzat kokhavim" -- constellation (gathering of stars) || Shield of David (Lit.)
 * Apr.20 || Chazarai (Y) || Junk, garbage, junk food || Derived from the Hebrew "chazir" meaning pig. One who consumes chazarai or over-consumes anything can be referred to in Yiddish as a "chazer" (as in "Don't be such a chazer....leave some for the rest of us!) ||
 * Apr. 27 || Mazel Tov! or Mazal Tov! (H);
 * May 4 || Kibbutz (H) || Israeli collective farm || From the root word "kibaytz", meaning to gather or assemble.
 * May 11 || Magen David (H) Mogen Dovid || Star of David;

|| A six-pointed star said to have been the shield and standard of King David. It is the central symbol on the Israeli flag.

It was not referenced in ancient documents as a symbol for the Jewish nation or people; the ancient symbol was the menorah. One reference says "...the symbol is so rare in early Jewish literature and artwork that art dealers suspect forgery if they find the symbol in early works."

The symbol of intertwined equilateral triangles is a common one in the Middle East and North Africa, and is thought to bring good luck. ||
 * May 18 || chavurah (H) || A group of people who gather together for study or socializing || From the Hebrew root "chaver", meaning friend or comrade. ||