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B’derech Mimeila: (lit. “effortlessly”); used as a contrast to hitlabshut, this term refers to an effusion of light or energy that reveals the source as it is, without considering the limitations of the recipient
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Baal HaTanya: "Author of the Tanya." Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, 1745-1812, founder and first Rebbe of the Chabad branch of chassidism, known also as the "Alter Rebbe," and as “the Rav”; lived in Li'ozna and Liadi, White Russia; author of Tanya, a classic text of the chassidic tradition, and Shulchan Aruch HaRav, a code of Jewish law.
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Baal Hora’a: (lit. “master of rulings”); one who has mastered the ability to issue definitive rulings of law based on the Shulchan Aruch and Poskim
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Baal Korei: (colloq. form of baal keriah, lit., “master of reading”); one who reads from the Torah scroll during the synagogue prayer service
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Baal Shem Tov, R. Israel: (lit. “Master of the Good Name”); Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (1698-1760), founder of Chassidism
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Baal Teshuvah, The: (lit. “master of return”); a person who turns to G d in repentance, after willful or unknowing transgression of the Torah’s commandments; a Jew of secular or not fully observant background who has decided to undertake full Torah observance
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Baal Tokea: (lit. "master of the blast"); the person sounding the Shofar in the synagogue
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Bach: (acronym for Bayit Chadash): a Halachic commentary on the Tur written by R. Yoel Sirkis (1561-1640) in Poland; one of the classic works of Jewish law
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Bachur: (lit. "young man"); generally used in reference to a yeshivah student
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Bachya ben Yosef ibn Paquda (Chovat Halevavot): eleventh century sage and writer on Jewish thought (1040-1080); his most acclaimed work is Chovat Halevavot (Duties of the Heart)
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Badchan: Jewish jester or entertainer
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Bal Tashchit ("do not destroy"): ("do not destroy") The prohibition against destroying or wasting resources.
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Balaam: An anti-Semitic gentile necromancer and prophet. Commissioned by Balak, King of Moab, to curse the Israelites. Despite his attempts to comply with Balak's wishes, G-d only allowed blessings to emit from his mouth. He was eventually slain by the Israelites when they destroyed Midian.
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Balak: King of Moab. After the Israelites conquered the neighboring Emorite kingdoms, he hired Balaam to curse the Israelites.
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Bamidbar: (Lit. "in the desert"); Numbers; the fourth book of the Pentateuch
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Bamidbar: The fourth of the Five Books of Moses, relates the story of the Israelites' sojourn in the desert. The main points include: the consecration of the Levites and the Kohanim, the Spies' trip to Canaan, Korah's mutiny, Balaam's attempt to curse the Israelites, and the Israelites’ war against Midian.
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Bar Mitzra (Neighbor's right of first refusal): (Aramaic, lit. "the one on the boundary"); a neighbor who is granted certain rights with regard to the purchase of adjoining property
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Bar Mitzvah: (lit. “son of the commandment”) a Jewish boy who reaches the age of thirteen, the age of adulthood in Jewish life, thus becoming religiously responsible for his own conduct; also refers to the event marking this milestone
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Barad: hail, the 7th of the Ten Plagues
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Barak: Together with Deborah led a small Israelite army in battle against the occupying armies of the Canaanite king, Jabin, and his general, Sisera. They were victorious and regained their independence.
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Barchu: (lit. “Bless...”); one of the responsive readings in congregational prayer.
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Baruch Hashem: "Thank G-d."
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Baruch ShePetarani: (lit. "Blessed is He who has absolved me"); the blessing recited at the reading of the Torah by the father of a bar-mitzvah
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Bat: (lit. “daughter of...”); used as part of a woman’s formal name, followed by the name of either her father or mother
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Bat Mitzvah: (lit. “daughter of the commandment”) a Jewish girl who reaches the age of twelve, the age of adulthood in Jewish life, thus becoming religiously responsible for her own conduct; also refers to the event marking this milestone
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Batsheba: (a) (9th century BCE) Originally married to Uriah the Hittite. Married King David after Uriah's death. Mother of King Solomon. (b) A common Jewish name.
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Batul: (lit. "nullified"); (a) with regard to the laws of kashrut, this refers to an amount of a forbidden substance that has become mixed with a greater portion of permitted substances to the extent that the forbidden substance is considered as insignificant and thus “nullified”; (b) in Chassidic terminology, this refers to Divine service which results in self-nullification in the presence of G-dliness
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Batyah: Daughter of Pharaoh, saved Baby Moses when she saw him floating in the Nile and raised him as her own.
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Bavel: Babylon
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Bavli: (lit. "Babylonian"); the Babylonian Talmud, developed in Babylonia, and edited at the end of the fifth century.
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Bavot: (Aramaic, lit. “gates”): the first three tractates of the section of the Talmud which deals primarily with monetary and property issues: Bava Kamma (“the First Gate”) deals chiefly with property damages and personal injuries; Bava Metzia (“the Middle Gate”) deals chiefly with ownership and transfer of personal property; Bava Basra (“the Last Gate”) deals chiefly with ownership and transfer of real property, and with legal documents
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b'deeavad: Fulfilling the requirement after the fact in a way that is short of ideal, as opposed to l'chatchila - initially the proper way.
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B'dieved: Fulfilling the requirement after the fact in a way that is short of ideal, as opposed to l'chatchila - initially the proper way.
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Bechirah chofshit: Free choice. The principle according to which every individual is empowered to make unconstrained moral decisions and hence be held accountable for his or her conduct, be it good or evil.
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BeHaB: (acronym for the Hebrew words for Monday, Thursday, Monday); a series of three fasts on the Monday, Thursday, and Monday following certain festivals
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BeHitchadshut: (lit. "in renewal"); a new and incremental element to the existing gestalt
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Bein HaMetzarim: (lit. "between the straits"); refers to the Three Weeks of mourning from the Seventeenth of Tammuz through the Ninth of Av
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Beinoni, The: (lit. “intermediate one”); an individual whose spiritual labors have brought him to a level of perfection in thought, word and deed, despite his still-active evil inclination; see Tanya, ch. 12.
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Beirach: (lit. “bless...”); the stage in the Passover seder at which the Grace After Meals is recited
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Beit: the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, prounounced "b" (or "v" if without a dagesh), with a numerical value of 2
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Beit Din: (lit. "house of law"); rabbinical court
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Beit HaMidrash: (lit. "house of study"); study hall
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Beit Hamikdash: the Holy Temple in Jerusalem
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Beit Hillel: The Torah academy founded by Hillel was known as the “House of Hillel.” The Mishnah records 316 disagreements between the House of Hillel and the school founded by Shammai, known as the " House of Shammai." The House of Hillel generally takes the lenient view and the House of Shammai, the more stringent one. In all but 18 cases, the halachah is accordance with the House of Hillel.
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Beit Shammai: The Torah academy founded by Shammai was known as the “House of Shammai.” The Mishnah records 316 disagreements between the House of Shammai and the school founded by Hillel, known as the "House of Hillel." The House of Shammai generally takes the stringent view and the House of Hillel, the more lenient one. In all but 18 cases, the halachah is accordance with the House of Hillel.
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Beit Yosef: the halachic commentary to the Tur written by Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488-1575)
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Beitzah (Egg): (a) a hard-boiled egg used on the Passover Seder plate; (b) a tractate of the Talmud dealing primarily with the laws of the holidays
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Ben: (lit. “son of...”); used as part of a man’s formal name, followed by the name of either his father or mother
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Benjamin: (a) (1553-1438 BCE) Son of Jacob and Rachel, youngest of the Twelve Tribes. With his brother Joseph’s sale and presumed death, he assumed the status of Jacobs’s favored son. (b) A common Jewish name.
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Beraita: (Aramaic, lit. "outside material"); a body of teachings authored by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi during the same period as the Mishnah, but not included in that text; often quoted in the Gemara; when not capitalized, the term refers to a single teaching of this type
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Bereishit: (lit. “in the beginning”); Genesis, the first book of the Pentateuch; the first word of the Torah
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Bereishit: The first of the Five Books of Moses, relates the story of creation and Noah's Flood, and describes the lives and deeds of the Patriarchs, Matriarchs, and the Twelve Tribes. Genesis ends with the Israelites' descent to Egypt and Jacob's passing.
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Berel: familiar form of the name Ber, which is the Yiddish form of the Hebrew name Dov
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Beriah; World of Creation, The: (lit. “creation”); more specifically creation ex nihilo; in Kabbalistic terminology, the second of the four spiritual worlds, the realm of spiritual existence which represents the first beginnings of a consciousness of self
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Beruriah: (2nd century CE) Daughter of Rabbi Hananiah ben Teradion, wife of Rabbi Meir. An extremely learned woman who was proficient in the Scriptures and would studied three hundred halachot (Torah laws) daily; the sages would consult her on matter of halachah.
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Besamim (Havdalah spices): (lit. "spices") Spices or other aromatic plant or fruit used during the Havdalah ceremony marking the close of Shabbat
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Besht: Acronym for "Baal Shem Tov" (lit. “Master of the Good Name”); Rabbi Yisrael ben Eliezer (1698-1760), founder of Chassidism
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BeSimchah: in a state of joy
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Bethuel: Father of Rebecca and Laban, son of Abraham's brother Nahor.
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Bezalel: (a) Great-grandson of Miriam. Chosen by G-d to be chief architect and builder of the Tabernacle together with Oholiab the son of Ahisamach. (b) Common Jewish name.
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B'ezrat Hashem: "with G-d's help"
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BH: Abbreviation of "Baruch HaShem" (lit. "blessed be G-d").
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Bichedei achilat pras: the time period in which one can usually eat a portion of food of a specific size
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Bigthan: A chamberlain in King Ahasuerus's court. Together with his colleague Teresh, plotted to assassinate the king. Mordecai discovered their plot, and they were both hanged. This event played a pivotal role in the Purim story, as described in the Scroll of Esther which is read every year on Purim.
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Bikurim (first fruits): the first fruits which the Jews would bring to the Temple in Jerusalem
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Bilhah: Rachel’s handmaid. Due to her own childlessness, Rachel gave her to her husband Jacob as a concubine, hoping to rare the progeny of this union. Mother of Dan and Naphtali. After Rachel’s death, she became embroiled in Reuben’s Sin.
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Bimah: (lit. "platform"); raised table at which the Torah is publicly read in the synagogue, and from which a sermon is often delivered
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Binah (Understanding; Analysis): (lit. "comprehension"); the second of the ten Sefirot, in Chassidic thought, the second stage of the intellectual process of Chab”ad, the power that develops abstract conception of chochmah, giving it breadth and depth
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Binding of Isaac, The: (lit. “the binding”); Abraham’s preparation of Isaac as a sacrifice
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Birchat Kohanim: The blessing by the descendents of the priestly family of Aaron.
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Birkat HaChamah: (lit. "the blessing of the sun"); the blessing of the sun which takes place once every 28 years
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Birkat HaGomel: blessing of thanksgiving recited at the reading of the Torah by a person delivered from danger
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Birkat Hamazon: Grace after meals, the blessings of thanksgiving after a meal that included bread
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Birur: (lit. “refinement”); the process of discovering the Divine sparks within the material world and within the forces of evil, and separating and elevating these sparks by using them or relating to them in their divinely intended context
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Birurim: (lit. "refinements"); elements of spiritual refinement and purification latent within all material things
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Bishul Akum: Food cooked by a non-Jew.
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Bitachon (Trust in G-d): faith and trust in G-d; this is not the belief in G-d per se, rather it is the faith that everything that G-d does--everything that occurs--will be for the good
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Bithiah (Pharaoh's Daughter): Daughter of Pharaoh, saved Baby Moses when she saw him floating in the Nile and raised him as her own.
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Bittul: Nullification. A concept employed in various areas of Jewish law. Examples: a) Before Passover we nullify all chametz that may be in our possession. b) Depending on the circumstance, if a minute quantity (usually 1/60th) of non-kosher food is mixed into a kosher dish, it becomes nullified, and the entire dish is kosher.
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Bittul (Self Abnegation; Selflessness): (lit. "self-nullification"); a commitment to G-d and divine service that transcends self-concern
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Bittul Bimetziut: utter and complete self-nullification
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Bittul Hayesh: the negation of one’s selfhood
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Blessing: (a) ritual blessing recited before eating, the performance of certain mitzvot, and at certain other occasions; (b) a blessing shared with another for good health, etc.
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Bnei Noach: (lit. “descendants of Noah”); non-Jews, individuals not obligated to observe the Torah’s laws
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Bnei Noah: Lit., "Sons of Noah." The halachic term for non-Jews. (See Noah)
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Bnei Torah: Torah students
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Boaz: (d. 969 BCE) Relative of Naomi, husband of Ruth and progenitor of the Davidic dynasty. The story of his marriage to Ruth is recorded in the Book of Ruth, which is read on Shavuot in many communities.
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Brit Bein HaBetarim: Covenant Between the Parts.
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Brit Milah; Circumcision: (lit. "covenant of circumcision"); the ritual circumcision of a Jewish boy, generally at eight days old
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Bubbe: (Yiddish) grandmother
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Bulach: (Russian) clod
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Butler, the Royal: Fell out of Pharaoh’s graces. Was incarcerated in the same prison-dungeon as Joseph, where Joseph correctly deciphered a dream he had, interpreting it as a sign that he would be restored to his original post. He later recommended that Joseph interpret Pharaoh's dreams, leading to Joseph's appointment as viceroy of Egypt.
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