A
Silent prayer consisting of nineteen blessings (seven on Shabbat)
Refers to Jews of Central/Eastern European ancestry (Eng. Ashkenazic)
B
Mikveh attendant
Lit. “swallowed up” – refers to items found in normally inaccessible parts of the body that do not require cleaning before mikveh (e.g., ear canal)
thank G-d
Refers to a less than optimal manner of fulfilling a halachic requirement, acceptable after the fact or in difficult situations (opposite of l’chat’chila)
Self administered, halachic internal examination (pl. bedikot)
Bedikah cloth (taharah cloth, ed) – White cloth used for internal examination
The interval between sunset (sh’kiah) and tzet hakochavim (nightfall)
The Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed in 70 C.E.
Accessible “hidden places” that require cleaning before mikveh but do not actually require contact with the water (e.g., inside mouth)
Woman who has never had intercourse
G-d willing
Blessings recited as part of nisu’in (marriage) ceremony (the six birkot chatanim plus the blessing over wine are called sheva brachot, seven blessings)
Grace after meals
A blessing recited in praise of G-d
A difficult situation or an emergency in which certain halachic leniencies may apply
Building, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (braiding hair is included in this prohibition)
A blessing, recited in praise of G-d (e.g., before and after eating), or upon performing a commandment (e.g., immersing in the mikveh)
C
In most places about 20 minutes before sunset Friday evening
A subgroup of Chasidism, also called Lubavitch
Cleansing in preparation for mikveh immersion
Heaven forbid!
Bridegroom
A barrier intervening between one’s body and the water that can invalidate mikveh immersion
A halachic presumption (e.g., that a woman has stopped bleeding)
Sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, approx 200 BCE to 600 CE (abbreviation for Chachamim Zichronam Livracha, Sages of Blessed Memory)
Acts of kindness
A halachic stringency (opposite of kula)
Jewish wedding ceremony (also refers to the canopy under which the ceremony takes place)
A wedding that takes place while the bride is niddah
D
blood
Hymenal bleeding the first time(s) a woman has relations
Bleeding due to the excitement of the approaching wedding
Bleeding due to trauma, injury, or irritation, which does not make a woman niddah
connection
Torah law, refers to halachot stated in or derived directly from verses in the Torah
Rabbinic law, refers to decrees enacted by the rabbis subsequent to the giving of the Torah
E
Another term for a bedikah cloth (lit. witness)
Witnesses (e.g., to the kiddushin segment of the marriage ceremony)
The land of Israel
The day preceding Shabbat (i.e., Friday during the day)
The day preceding Yom Kippur
The day preceding a festival
First segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the couple becomes committed exclusively to each other, also called kiddushin
On the eve of a festival that will be followed immediately by Shabbat, some prepared food is set aside for Shabbat. This allows preparations for Shabbat to continue during the festival.
G
A bill of divorce
Shearing, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (includes cutting or removing hair or nails)
A measurement of surface area equivalent to the size of a split bean, a circle 19 millimeters in diameter
H
The interval from one menstrual period to the next
Jewish law
A universally accepted halachic ruling
A blessing recited immediately before going to sleep at night
Restrictions designed to minimize the possibility of physical contact between a couple while the wife is niddah
A halachically relevant sensation accompanying the onset of menses
An internal examination to establish that uterine bleeding has ceased (also called a hefsek)
A reminder of the niddah status, required when husband and wife are eating together during niddah
Sunrise (also called netz hachamah, netz)
A halachic ruling permitting something that might otherwise be prohibited (e.g., contraception)
I
The area of halacha concerned with that which is permitted and forbidden (e.g., kashrut, niddah)
Inspection of the body for possible chatzitzot before mikveh immersion
K
Jewish mysticism (adj. kabbalistic)
Bride
A woman who teaches brides the laws of niddah before marriage
A very serious punishment (“excision”) for certain transgressions of Torah law (e.g., eating on Yom Kippur, relations during niddah)
Holiness
A stain. Bloodstains meeting certain criteria make a woman niddah according to rabbinic law.
Marriage contract spelling out the obligations of a husband to his wife
Blessing recited over a cup of wine at a Shabbat meal
First segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the couple become committed exclusively to each other, also called erusin
Refers to sacrifices brought in the Temple in Jerusalem, for which ritual purity was required
Halachically acceptable (e.g., food, mikveh immersion) – noun kashrut
A halachic leniency (opposite of chumra)
L
Optimal manner of fulfilling a halachic requirement (opposite of b’diavad)
M
Scrupulous, particular
Ritual washing of hands after a meal common before Birkat Hamazon
A nursing woman, halakhically defined as a woman within two years postpartum whether or not she is actually nursing
Susceptible to ritual impurity
The rabbi who officiates at a wedding ceremony
A woman not expected to menstruate (e.g., during pregnancy, after menopause)
A pregnant woman
Ritual bath in which a woman immerses to exit the niddah status
Two and one half proportional hours before sunset
Custom. May be halakhically binding for those who practice it
Quorum of ten adult Jewish men required for recital of public prayers
Authoritative compilation of halacha, completed approximately 200 CE.
Commandment (pl. mitzvot)
Commandments in the area of interpersonal relations
Smoothing, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (includes using a bar of soap)
Bedikah cloth inserted into the vagina from sunset until nightfall immediately following the hefsek taharah examination (also called moch)
Saturday night
N
Uprooted, refers to a veset that no longer needs to be observed
Touching, the prohibition against contact between men and women who are not married or closely related
Ritual washing of hands (e.g., before a meal, upon awakening)
Halachic status, acquired through menstruation or other uterine bleeding, during which physical contact between husband and wife is forbidden
Second segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the husband symbolically brings the wife into his household.
O
A time period (pl. onot)
a) one day or night, measured from sunrise to sunset or from sunset to sunrise
b) the length of one menstrual cycle
c) the mitzvah for a couple to have relations (mitzvat onah)
The average interval between menstrual periods, 30 days
Period of separation at the time of expected menses; marital relations are forbidden and the woman must do an internal examination. (pl. Onot Perishah)
Refers to the practice of observing an extra onah immediately prior to the onat perishah.
P
The Torah commandment to be fruitful and multiply, incumbent on men and fulfilled by fathering at least one boy and one girl
A situation where life is at risk. In such situations almost all prohibitions may be violated.
Halachic decisor
One twelfth of the period from sunrise to sunset, or from sunset to sunrise (Heb. Sha’ah zmanit)
Halachic ruling (also psak halacha, pl. piskei halacha)
R
Rabbi (pl. rabbanim)
Uterine bleeding caused by marital relations
Beginning of a new Hebrew month, observed on the 1st day of the month. If the previous month had 30 days, then Rosh Chodesh is observed for two days: the 30th of the previous month and the 1st of the new one.
S
doubt
Wringing out (e.g., water from a towel), an activity forbidden on Shabbat
A measurement of volume, approximately 8.3 liters. The minimum quantity of water in a mikveh is 40 seah.
Refers to Jews of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern ancestry, also called “Edot HaMizrach”
A meal in which participation is considered a mitzvah (e.g., a Shabbat meal, a wedding meal)
Proportional hour, one twelfth of the period from sunrise to sunset, or from sunset to sunrise
Sabbath, a day of rest observed from sunset Friday until nightfall Saturday (also called Shabbos)
Marital harmony (lit. peace in the home)
Sunset (also called sh’kiah)
Verses from Torah declaring acceptance of G-d’s sovereignty, recited during morning and evening prayers and before going to sleep
Seven blessings recited during the marriage ceremony, and after Birkat Hamazon following a wedding meal or a festive meal during the week after the wedding (these festive meals are also called Sheva brachot.
A change from the usual manner of performing an activity
Week of mourning following the death of a close relative
Seven blood-free (“clean”) days counted as part of the process of exiting the niddah status
Sunset (also called sh’kiat hachamah)
Authoritative code of Jewish law, compiled by Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century CE
Holy books (Torah or prayer books)
Happiness, or a joyful event (e.g., wedding)
Castration, sterilization
T
Penitential prayers recited on weekdays
a) not niddah; b) ritually pure
purity, the state of being tahor/tehorah
Family purity, the laws of niddah
A rabbinic enactment
Authoritative rabbinic compilation of halacha and tradition, an extended commentary on the Mishnah. There are two versions, the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmud. Most Jewish law cites the Babylonian Talmud which was completed in the 6th century CE.
see tahor
see tamei
Tithe from produce, for which ritual purity was required
a) Repentance; b) Rabbinic responsum
immersion in the mikveh (verb – tovel)
Mikveh immersion on the appropriate night
Ninth of Av, 24-hour fast commemorating the destruction of the Temple
immerse in the mikveh (noun, tevilah)
ritually impure, sometimes used as a synonym for niddah
impurity, the state of being tamei/temeiah
charity
Nightfall (literally, when the stars come out, also called tzet)
modesty
V
a) The pattern of a woman’s menstrual cycle
b) The time or circumstance when a woman anticipates her menses
A semi-regular menstrual pattern, i.e., a woman consistently menstruates after a certain point in her cycle, but the precise day is not predictable
A menstrual pattern based on physical symptoms that precede or accompany the onset of bleeding
A halachically regular menstrual pattern, established by three consecutive occasions
A menstrual pattern that is not halachically considered regular
Confessional prayer, recited on Yom Kippur and on one’s wedding day
Y
Private seclusion of a man and a woman, prohibited for couples not married to each other or closely related, and observed by bride and groom after the chupah or after the wedding, depending on custom
A woman certified to serve as a resource for women with questions regarding Taharat Hamishpacha
A woman during or after childbirth, who has a halachic status similar to niddah
Date exactly one Hebrew month after the beginning of a woman’s previous menses
Day of Atonement (10 Tishrei)
Festival on which certain types of work are prohibited
Z
A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding on three consecutive days (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding on fewer than three consecutive days (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
Lit. “elderly woman” – a woman at least 53 years old who has not menstruated for 90 days