A Day in the Life of a Jewish Rabbi

This literally means ‘House of Assembly’ and is another name for a synagogue.

As well as being places for prayer and worship, synagogues are often a centre for Jewish community events, activities and educational programmes.

This is the both the name of the ancient language used by Jews for prayer and study, and the everyday language used in the modern state of Israel.

In the Bible, the Jewish people are often called ‘Hebrews’ after the language they spoke. So Moses, for example, led the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt.

Judaism, the religion of the Jews, traces its roots back to Abraham and its laws back to Moses. It is a worldwide religion with around 15 million followers.

The vast majority of Jews live in Israel and the United States of America. Many of the words here are Hebrew in origin, though some variations come from Jewish communities who lived throughout central and eastern Europe.

This means “lawful” or “pure” and refers to foods that Jews are allowed to eat.

Jews may not eat pork or shellfish as they are named as unclean in the Bible. They also have to ensure that animals are slaughtered in the right way so that meat is fit for eating (kosher), and that meat and milk products are not mixed.

This literally means ‘doorpost’ but usually refers to the small box, with texts from the Torah inside, that is fixed to the doorposts in Jewish homes.

The parchment rolled up inside the mezuzah will have been written by a qualified scribe; it contains the Shema, which reads, in Hebrew, ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord (is) our God the Lord is One’.

A Jewish teacher with a high level of Jewish learning who is able to make rulings or verdicts for their community.

The rabbi is often the religious leader of a Jewish community.

This is the weekly Day of Rest that starts at sunset on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday.

For Jews this is a really important day in which the body, mind and spirit can rest and be renewed. A Shabbat song, Lecha Dodi, which welcomes the Shabbat, is often sung, and Jews remember how even God rested after creating the world and everything in it.

There are 24 books in the Hebrew TeNaCh, mostly written in classical Hebrew. Jews traditionally study the Hebrew Bible as a divinely inspired text though some read it as a human creation.