Glossary

Hebrew and Yiddish terms

Aron kodesh	The holy ark where the Torah is kept in a Synagogue.
Bedikat chametz.	Checking for chametz to make sure we didn’t miss any.
Birkat Hamazon	the prayer after meals
Biyur chametz	Removing all chametz from the household, the tradition of burning the scraps on the morning of Passover Eve.
Chametz	a product of leavened bread forbidden for consumption on Passover.
Chazal	the Sages / ancient commentators
Chumash	A physical copy of one of the five books of Torah.
Fleishik	Meat / observing the hours after eating meat, before eating dairy.
Gebrochts	Matzah that got wet.
Halacha/halachic	Something related to the observence of Jewish laws.
Isha Kushit	The dark skinned woman.
Kasher	To make kosher.
Kitniyot	Legumes, sort of. These are grains, beans, and other types of plants which can be made into flour. Some types of Jews, usually Ashkenazi, avoid eating these on Passover.
Korech	also known as the Hillel Sandwich
Kvetching	Complaining.
Maror	Bitter herbs.
Midrash	The Midrash is a collection of stories and fables by ancient Judaic authorities which are often used to interpret the scriptures.
minhag	custom.
Motzi	The blessing over bread.
Omer	the seven weeks between Passover and Shavuot
Pareve	something that is neither dairy nor meat.
Pesach	Passover
Pesadik	Kosher for Passover.
Siyum	The celebration of completing the study of a set of Mishnah or Talmud books.
Ur’hatz	Washing the hands.
Yachatz	Splitting the middle matzah.
Yontiff	A sacred day, like shabbat, but specific to a Jewish Holiday such as Passover, Sukkot, Rosh Hashannah, etc.
Zuzim	Two pieces of some very old currecny.