Judaism is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Along with Samaritanism, to which it is closely related, Judaism is one of the two oldest Abrahamic religions.
Shabbat or the Sabbath, also called Shabbos by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt, and look forward to a future Messianic Age. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday.
Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October.
Messianic Judaism is a syncretic Abrahamic new religious movement that combines various Jewish traditions and elements of Jewish prayer with Evangelical Protestant theology. It is generally considered to be a sect of Christianity, including by all major groups within mainstream Judaism, and by most other Evangelical Christian movements, but it considers itself to be a form of Judaism. Belief in Jesus as a messianic figure and as divine is considered by Jews to be one of the most defining distinctions between Judaism and Christianity.
Aleinu or Aleinu leshabei'ach, meaning "it is upon us" or "it is our obligation or duty" to "praise God," is a Jewish prayer found in the siddur, the classical Jewish prayerbook. It is recited in most communities at the end of each of the three daily Jewish services and in the middle of the Rosh Hashanah mussaf. It is also recited in many communities following Kiddush levana and after a circumcision is performed. It is second only to the Kaddish as the most frequently recited prayer in current synagogue liturgy.
Kol Nidre is an Aramaic declaration which begins Yom Kippur services in the synagogue. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it were a prayer. This declaration and its ceremonial accompaniment have been charged with emotional undertones since the medieval period, creating a dramatic introduction to Yom Kippur on what is often dubbed "Kol Nidrei night", with the entire Yom Kippur evening service popularly called Kol Nidrei.
The Amidah, also called the Shemoneh Esreh, is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the Amidah at each of three daily prayer services in a typical weekday: morning (Shacharit), afternoon (Mincha), and evening (Ma'ariv). On Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and Jewish festivals, a fourth Amidah (Mussaf) is recited after the morning Torah reading, and once per year, a fifth Amidah (Ne'ilah) is recited, around sunset, on Yom Kippur. Due to the importance of the Amidah, in rabbinic literature, it is simply called "hatefila". According to legend, the prayer was composed by the rabbis of the Anshei Knesset HaGedolah. Accordingly, in Judaism, to recite the Amidah is a mitzvah de-rabbanan, i. e., a commandment of rabbinic origin.
The machzor is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized machzorim on the three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot. The machzor is a specialized form of the siddur, which is generally intended for use in weekday and Shabbat services.
In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe consist of:
- strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ;
- by extension, the period of ten days including those holidays, known also as the Ten Days of Repentance ; or,
- by a further extension, the entire 40-day penitential period in the Jewish year from Rosh Chodesh Elul to Yom Kippur, traditionally taken to represent the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai before coming down with the second ("replacement") set of the Tablets of Stone.
Hoshana Rabbah is the seventh day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the 21st day of the month of Tishrei. This day is marked by a special synagogue service, the Hoshana Rabbah, in which seven circuits are made by the worshippers with their lulav and etrog, while the congregation recites Hoshanot. It is customary for the scrolls of the Torah to be removed from the ark during this procession. In a few communities a shofar is sounded after each circuit.
Torah reading is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation (trope), and returning the scroll(s) to the ark. It is also commonly called "laining".
Acharei Mot is the 29th weekly Torah portion in the annual cycle of Torah reading in Judaism. It is the sixth parashah or weekly portion (פָּרָשָׁה) in the Book of Leviticus, containing Leviticus 16:1–18:30. It is named after the fifth and sixth Hebrew words of the parashah, its first distinctive words.
Congregation Beth Elohim, also known as the Garfield Temple and the Eighth Avenue Temple, is a Reform Jewish congregation and historic synagogue located at 274 Garfield Place and Eighth Avenue, in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States.
Special Shabbatot are Jewish Shabbat days on which special events are commemorated. Variations in the liturgy and special customs differentiate them from the other Shabbats and each one is referred to by a special name. Many communities also add piyyutim on many of these special Shabbatot. Two such Shabbats, Shabbat Mevarchim—the Shabbat preceding a new Hebrew month—and Shabbat Rosh Chodesh can occur on several occasions throughout the year. The other special Shabbats occur on specific sabbaths before or coinciding with certain Jewish holidays during the year according to a fixed pattern.
Avinu Malkeinu is a Jewish prayer recited during Jewish services during the Ten Days of Repentance, from Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur inclusive. Since the 17th century, most Eastern Ashkenazic communities recite it also on all fast days; in the Sephardic and Western Ashkenazic tradition it is recited only during the Ten Days of Repentance.
An aliyah is the calling of a member of a Jewish congregation up to the bimah for a segment of the formal Torah reading. A person receiving an aliyah is called an oleh (male) or olah (female).
Beth Shalom Reform Synagogue is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Auckland Road, in the City of Cambridge, England, in the United Kingdom.
Congregation Beit Simchat Torah ("CBST") is a non-denominational, pluralistic, progressive LGBTQ+ Jewish synagogue located at 130 West 30th Street, in Manhattan New York City, New York, United States.
Yom tov sheni shel galuyot, also called in short yom tov sheni, means "the second festival day in the Diaspora". This is a principle in halakha that mandates the observance of an additional day for Jewish holidays outside the Land of Israel.
The Ark Synagogue is a Liberal Judaism Synagogue situated in Northwood, in a northwest London suburb, in the London Borough of Hillingdon, in the United Kingdom. Since its foundation in 1964 it has become the largest Liberal Jewish Synagogue outside of central London with over 1100 adult and 300 younger members. Previously known as Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue (NPLS), in December 2020 they adopted the name "The Ark Synagogue".
