ב"ה
Glossary
Panim Yafot: (lit. “Beautiful Faces”); commentary on Chumash, based on both Halachah and Kabbalah, by R. Pinchas HaLevy Horowitz of Frankfürt (c. 1730-1805), a disciple of the Maggid of Mezritch |
Pardes: (lit. “orchard”); the metaphorical term used to refer to the four levels of Torah interpretation: pshat (the literal meaning of the text), remez (its allusions), derush (the homilies that can be derived from it), and sod (its mystical secrets) [20 related articles] Oral Torah, The » Pardes |
Parnas: the leader-head of the congregation |
Parochet: (lit. "veil or partition"); (a) curtain which divided between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies. (b) curtain covering the synagogue ark. |
Parshah (Weekly Torah Reading): The weekly Torah portion. [5270 related articles] |
Parshat HaChodesh: (lit. "portion of the month"); Torah portion concerning the Passover offering and the mitzvah to keep a calendar, read on the Shabbat before the month of Nissan [20 related articles] |
Parshat Parah: (lit. "portion of the cow"); Torah portion concerning the mitzvah of the red heifer, read on Shabbat in the second half of the month of Adar. [18 related articles] |
Parshat Shekalim: (lit. "portion of shekels"); Torah portion concerning the mitzvah of the half-shekel, read on the Shabbat before the month of Adar [33 related articles] |
Parshat Zachor: (lit. "portion of rememberance"); portion of Torah concerning the mitzvah to remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people, read on the Shabbat before Purim. [31 related articles] |
parshiot: plural form of "parshah." [5270 related articles] |
Partzufim: (lit. "faces"); the sefirot as they are joined together in various ways, as taught in Kabbalah [4 related articles] |
Parush: (lit. “one who keeps himself apart”); (a) an ascetic and chaste individual; (b) one who practices celibacy |
Passover: (a) The seven-day festival (eight in the Diaspora) beginning on 15 Nissan, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt; (b) the sacrifice offered on the eve of that holiday during Temple times. [1785 related articles] |
Pasuk: The Hebrew term for a verse in the Torah. |
Pat Yisrael: (lit., "Jewish bread") It is preferable to use grain-based products that were cooked or baked with the participation of a Torah-observant Jew [5 related articles] |
Patriarchs, The: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, from whom the entire Jewish nation descended; the husbands of the Matriarchs . [21 related articles] |
Pe'ah: The mitzvah of Pe’ah is the requirement to leave a corner of one’s field uncut and available for the poor to take. [4 related articles] |
Peleg: (2003-1764 BCE) Son of Eber. The dispersal that followed the construction of the Tower of Babel occurred in the year that he died. [1 related article] |
Penimi: (a) inner aspect; (b), a person of inner integrity |
Penimiyut (Innerness; Integrity): (lit. "innerness"); the endeavor to make one's deeds and attainments an integral part of one's being; the opposite of superficiality [18 related articles] |
Peninah: (a) (10th century BCE) Second wife of Elkanah; bore him ten sons. She would frequently annoy her rival wife, Hannah, badgering her about her childlessness. (b) A common Jewish name. [5 related articles] |
Peru U'revu (the mitzvah of procreation): "Be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28) is the first mitzvah given in the Torah [28 related articles] Mitzvah; Mitzvot » Peru U'revu (the mitzvah of procreation) |
Pesach: (a) Passover, the seven-day festival (eight in the Diaspora) beginning on 15 Nissan, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt; (b) the sacrifice offered on the eve of that holiday during Temple times. [1785 related articles] |
Pesach Sheni ("Second Passover"): (lit. “the second Passover”); opportunity given to certain persons who were unable to offer the Passover sacrifice to do so one month later (discussed in Bamidbar 9:6-14); celebrated as a minor Passover, on Iyar 14 [43 related articles] |
Pesachdikke: (Yiddish) kosher for Passover use |
Pesachim: Talmudic tractate dealing chiefly with the festival of Passover, its rituals and sacrificial service, and things forbidden during the festival [11 related articles] |
Pesukei d'Zimra: (lit. “verses of praise”); the bracket of passages of praise, mainly from Psalms, which appear early in the morning services, opening with Baruch SheAmar and closing with Yishtabach [24 related articles] |
Pey: the seventeenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, prounounced "p," with a numerical value of 80 [5 related articles] Language » Speech; Communication » Faculties and Talents » Pey |
Peyot: sidelocks [11 related articles] Mitzvah; Mitzvot » Peyot |
Pharaoh's Butler: 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. [6 related articles] |
Phinehas: (a) Son of Elazar, grandson of Aaron. When the Israelites were smitten with a plague after consorting with non-Jewish women, Phinehas courageously slew an Israelite tribal leader, who himself had sinned, and thus brought an end to the plague. Later led the war against Midian. Anointed high priest after his father’s death. (b) Common Jewish name. [20 related articles] |
Phylacteries: Tefillin. Small black leather cubes containing parchment scrolls inscribed with the Shema and other biblical passages, wrapped on the arm and head of adult men during weekday morning prayers. [237 related articles] Mitzvah; Mitzvot » Phylacteries |
Pidyon HaBen: Redemption of the (firstborn) son. The ceremony wherein a firstborn male born to Israelite (non Kohen or Levite) parents is redeemed from a Kohen, in exchange for 5 silver coins, 30 days after his birth. [31 related articles] Life Cycles » Pidyon HaBen |
Pidyon Nefesh: (lit. “redemption of the soul”); note, accompanied by donation for charity, in which the writer requests his Rebbe to intercede in prayer on behalf of himself or of another person named therein [3 related articles] |
Pidyon Shevuyim (Ransoming of Captives): ransom of captives [13 related articles] |
Pikuach Nefesh (Saving a Life): saving a life [11 related articles] |
Pilpul: a complex scholarly dissertation |
Pirkei Avot: ("Pirkei Avot" in Hebrew) The Ethics of our Fathers, the tractate of the Mishnah which contains the ethical teachings of our Sages. [322 related articles] |
Piskei HaRosh: a compilation of Halachic rulings by R. Asher ben Yechiel (c. 1250-1327, also known as the Rosh, an acronym for Rabbeinu Asher), gleaned from his commentary on the Talmud |
Pnimiyut HaTorah: the innermost, mystical dimension of the Torah, viz., Kabbalah and Chassidut |
Poel: (lit. "actual"); the actual expression of a potential |
Poskim: (lit. “deciders”); (a) the halachic authorities following the Talmudic era; (b) the works of applied Jewish law authored by these authorities. |
Potiphar: Egyptian chamberlain of Pharaoh’s butchers. Acquired Joseph as his slave and appointed him to run all his household affairs. He later cast Joseph into prison because of his wife’s false accusation that Joseph raped her. [1 related article] |
Potiphar's Wife: Wife of Joseph's master, Potiphar. Attempted to seduce Joseph. When Joseph resisted her overtures, she claimed that he raped her and he was thrown into prison. [5 related articles] |
Prat: (a) A detail. (b) A member of a collective unit. |
Pri Eitz Chayim: a fundamental text of Kabbalah, based on the teachings of the Arizal, authored by R. Chayim Vital |
Prophets (Section of the Tanach): Nevi’im (lit. Prophets) is the second section of the Bible (Tanach)—the Written Torah. [110 related articles] Tanach » Prophets (Section of the Tanach) |
Proverbs, the Book of: The book of Tanach containing Solomon's wise sayings and parables. [5 related articles] |
Pruzbul: document allowing a debt to be collected in the Sabbatical year [9 related articles] |
Psalms: the Book of Psalms, alternatively, several Psalms [73 related articles] |
Pshat: the plain meaning of a scriptural passage [2 related articles] |
Pur: (lit. "lots"), the lots that Haman cast to determine the date of his proposed annihilation of the Jews [5 related articles] Post First Temple (Biblical Events) » Pur |
Purim: (lit. "lots"), the holiday that commemorates the Jews' salvation from Haman's plot to annihilate them. [641 related articles] |
Purim Katan: (lit. “Minor Purim”); semi-festive day in the intercalated first month of Adar in a leap year, whose date corresponds to the date in which Purim is actually celebrated that year in the following month of Adar [14 related articles] |