kosher

en-adj

kosher (comparative more kosher, superlative most kosher)

more kosher (comparative)
most kosher (superlative)

From Yiddish כּשר (kosher), from Hebrew כָּשֵׁר (kashér).

Only in New York can you find a good, kosher hamburger!

David's mother kept a kosher kitchen, with separate sets of dishes for meat and for dairy.

In order for a suit to be kosher, it cannot contain both wool and linen together.

(Judaism) Fit for use or consumption, in accordance with Jewish law (especially relating to food).

Is what I have done kosher with Mr. Smith?

(figuratively, by extension) In accordance with standards or usual practice.


kosher

Just like eating halal is not a choice for our Muslim brothers and sisters, for us, eating kosher is not voluntary; it’s who we are and as necessary as the oxygen we need for sustenance.

2020 August 20, Eliezer Brand, “ICE is forcing Muslims to eat pork. My fellow Orthodox Jews: This is our fight!”, in The Forward:

In a kosher manner; in accordance with kashrut.


kosher

en-verb

kosher (third-person singular simple present koshers, present participle koshering, simple past and past participle koshered)

koshers (present singular third-person)
koshering (participle present)
koshered (participle past)
koshered (past)

(transitive) To kasher; to prepare (for example, meat) in conformity with the requirements of the Jewish law.


genizah

en-noun

genizah (plural genizahs or genizot or genizoth)

genizahs (plural)
genizot (plural)
genizoth (plural)
geniza (alternative)

From Hebrew גְּנִיזָה (g'nizá, “archiving, preservation, storage; hiding; genizah”) (plural גְּנִיזוֹת (g'nizót)), from Old Persian *ganzam, from Old Median *ganǰam (“depository; treasure”).

der

The Cairo Genizah was discovered in 1896.

In the year 1870 the Russian Minister of Public Worship purchased from the well-known Karaite traveller and archaeologist Abraham Firkowitsch his collection of Samaritan MSS. for the Imperial Library of St. Petersburg. It consists almost exclusively of fragments, this circumstance arising from the fact that the collector during his stay in Nablus and Egypt completely ransacked the Samaritan Genizoth (that is to say, the garrets and cellars of the synagogues whither their worn-out books were conveyed), thus acquiring several fragments of Samaritan Pentateuch rolls— […]

1874, John W. Nutt, “Appendix I. The Collection of Samaritan MSS. at St. Petersburg.”, in A Sketch of Samaritan History, Dogma, and Literature, Published as an Introduction to “Fragments of a Samaritan Targum, Edited from a Bodleian MS.”, London: Trübner and Co., →OCLC, page 153:

Unfortunately, too, the fragment begins in the very middle of a sentence, as do most of these Genizah fragments. It is evident that the leaves come from a large volume, as each drug was numbered.

1935 January 15, R[ichard James Horatio] Gottheil, “A Fragment on Pharmacy from the Cairo Genizah”, in The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: With which are Incorporated the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, part I, London: Published by the Society, 74 Grosvenor Street, London, W. 1, →OCLC, page 124:

The rule of burying the old Scrolls which became spoiled or torn was in course of time extended to all Hebrew books which became torn or spoiled. This, indirectly, probably led to the well-known practice of having special places called Geniza, where such books were temporarily kept before being buried[…]. In almost all Jewish centers, there are Genizot in the synagogues—under the Bima, within the walls, or in the garrets. As the place grew overcrowded, the content was carried to the cemetery for burial.

1983, Jacob Z[allel] Lauterbach, “73. Ritual for Disposal of Damaged Sefer Torah (Vol. XXXIV, 9124, pp. 74–75)”, in Walter Jacob, editor, American Reform Responsa: Collected Responsa of the Central Conference of American Rabbis 1889–1983, New York, N.Y.: Central Conference of American Rabbis, →OCLC, page 243:

[A]ccording to Jewish law and practice, ritual objects which contained the name of God could not be thrown away or destroyed. The tradition was to treat these objects with great reverence. A place called a Genizah (from Persian, "ganoz," which means "treasury" or "hidden place") was created to house these ritual objects. […] A genizah, therefore, was a place of concealment. Sometimes this was a hidden cave; other times it was space between the stories of a building or a separate cupboard or small room with a small opening into which could be placed the remnants of books and manuscripts which contained the name of God. […] Often things placed in the genizah were destroyed over the years from mildew and erosion, but in certain climates they were preserved. Such was the case with a great genizah in old Cairo that was discovered by Professor Solomon Schechter. Schechter's discovery opened to modern Jewish scholarship thousands of pages of ancient manuscripts and original works that had been lost or not known to modern scholars.

2002, Stephen M. Brown, “Beginning Talmud Torah”, in Stephen Garfinkel, Karen L. Stein, editors, Reclaiming Our Legacy: The More Torah, the More Life, revised edition, New York, N.Y.: Department of Youth Activities, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, →OCLC, pages 110–111:

Originally Jewish law required only the words of Scripture to be stashed in genizahs, but over time the understanding of which texts were sacred often became far broader. Soon Jews were depositing rabbinic writings as well as scriptural ones into their genizahs. Later, they included any document even mentioning God and sometimes documents bearing any Hebrew at all. In fact, by the tenth century—particularly in the highly literate lands of the Middle East and North Africa—many Jews seem to have considered any document of any kind worthy of preservation in their genizah repositories.

2016, Mark Glickman, “Loading the Jewish Bookshelf”, in Stolen Words: The Nazi Plunder of Jewish Books, Philadelphia, Pa.: Published by the University of Nebraska Press as a Jewish Publication Society book, →ISBN, page 33:

(Jewish law) A depository where sacred Hebrew books or other sacred items that by Jewish law cannot be disposed of are kept before they can be properly buried in a cemetery.

جنيزا

depository where sacred Hebrew books, etc., are kept before being buried in a cemetery


Halacha

From Hebrew הֲלָכָה (halakhá), from the root הלך (“to walk”).

halacha (alternative)
Halachah (alternative)
halachah (alternative)
halakah (alternative)
Halakha (alternative)
halakha (alternative)
Halakhah (alternative)
halakhah (alternative)


heter

What comes to mind is the famous issue on ZIM SHIPPING - an Israeli company owned by Jews and they tried to get a heter for running their ships on Shabbos.

1995 February 3, YOSEF KAZEN, “Petitions, Acceptance, and Moshiach”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet):

Special permission from a rabbi to break a commandment.


kashrut

Borrowed from Hebrew כַּשְׁרוּת (kashrut).

bor+

kashruth (alternative)
kashrus (alternative)

(Jewish law) The Jewish dietary laws, stating which foods are fit to eat.


eruv

eruvs (plural)
eruvim (plural)
eruvin (plural)
erub (alternative)
eiruv (alternative)

From Hebrew עירוב / עֵרוּב (eirúv, “mixture”).

Sam is sad that people don't visit him at home on Shabbos because he lives outside the eruv.

“We live in a day and age,” he continued, “where if you don’t have an eruv, you’re taking yourself off of many people’s lists.”

2007 August 12, Jake Mooney, “A Slender Thread to Knit a Neighborhood”, in New York Times:

‘Fat’ is the word you hear shouted in the playground, or on the street – it's never allowed over the threshold of the house. My mum won't have that filth in her house. At home, together, we are safe. It's like an eruv for the slow and soft.

(Jewish law, most commonly) An eruv chatzerot; ritual aggregation of properties that allows Jews observing traditional Shabbat rules to carry burdens across property lines.

érouv

eruv chatzerot, ritual aggregation of domains

(Jewish law) One of the other types of eruv; an eruv tavshilin or eruv techumin.


pareve

/ˈpɑː.ɹə.və/

Borrowed from Yiddish פּאַרעוו, פּאַרעווע (parev, pareve), of uncertain origin. Suggestions include:
* Perhaps from Middle High German bar (“bare, naked”), from Old High German bar, and thus cognate with English bare.
* Perhaps from a West Slavic source such as Czech párový (“occurring in pairs”), because according to Jewish dietary laws, meat and milk cannot be combined, but as pareve food contains neither, it can be paired with either meat dishes or milk dishes.

bor

פּאַרעוו, פּאַרעווע

My mom made a pareve casserole with soy hot dogs.

"Parev ice" includes Kosher ice and means the substance intended for sale for human consumption which resembles ice-cream and which— / (a) is usually known as Parev ice or Kosher ice, and / (b) contains no milk or milk derivatives, […]

1970, Statutory Instruments, London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, page 4249:

There are on the market many items which resemble such dairy products as coffee cream, sour cream and whipped cream both in taste and appearance but actually are pareve. These are customarily served in the original container to show that the product is pareve despite the dairy appearance.

1990, Bonne Rae London, “Introduction to Kashruth: Why Keep Kosher?”, in Hi-tech Jewish Cooking: Recipes for the Microwave, Processor, Blender and Crock Pot, New York, N.Y.: Shapolsky Publishers, →ISBN, page 4:

A food product containing neither meat nor milk, or derived from either is neutral. The Yiddish word parev (parve) or the Hebrew word stam is used to describe this third category. The neutral (parev) category includes (1) everything which grows from the soil: vegetables, fruits, nuts, coffee, spices, sugar, salt, (2) all kosher fish, (3) eggs, and (4) items manufactured from chemicals. Parev foods may be eaten or cooked with either dairy or meat products.

1991, Hayim Halevy Donin, “The Dietary Laws: A Diet for the Soul”, in To Be a Jew: A Guide to Jewish Observance in Contemporary Life: Selected and Compiled from the Shulhan Arukh and Responsa Literature, and Providing a Rationale for the Laws and the Traditions, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, →ISBN, page 113:

After eating parve food cooked in a meat pot or cut with a meat knife, does one need to wait six hours to eat dairy? Parve food that was cooked in a meat pot [but without any meat in the pot, such as fish cooked in a meat pot] does not require a wait of six hours before dairy may be eaten. […] [Note that our discussion here applies only to dairy food eaten after parve food, not together with it.]

2002 July, Doniel Yehuda Neustadt, דיוני הלכה [Diyune Halakhah]: The Weekly Halachah Discussion: A Review of Practical Halachic Topics Related to the Parashah of the Week, 2nd rev. edition, Jerusalem, Nanuet, N.Y.: Feldheim Publishers, →ISBN, page 205:

From the marketing perspective, most manufacturers would prefer that products not inherently dairy (such as cheese snacks) enjoy a Pareve status. In many situations, however, considerations other than the status of ingredients may make it necessary to confer a Dairy (or Dairy Equipment) status to otherwise potentially Pareve products. Examples of such situations may include: / The equipment used to cook or heat the inherently Pareve items is also used to process dairy products. In such situations, the equipment may require a Kosherization from dairy to Pareve productions, a process which may prove impractical.

2009, Zushe Yosef Blech, Kosher Food Production, 2nd edition, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Blackwell, →ISBN, page 201:

In true kosher cooking, meat and dairy should never be combined. Pareve margarine is made up of 100 percent vegetable oil. Dairy margarine has milk as one of the ingredients plus perhaps added vegetable oil. This is why when cooking a meat or dairy meal, if the recipe requires butter or margarine, I substitute it with pareve margarine.

2011, Avrom Honig, “Bubbe” [pseudonym], “Quick Notes on Keeping Kosher”, in Feed Me Bubbe: Recipes and Wisdom from America's Favorite Online Grandmother, Philadelphia, Pa.: Running Press, →ISBN:

(Jewish law) Of food: that has no meat or milk in any form as an ingredient.


shochet

en-noun

shochet (plural shochets or shochetim or shochtim)

shochets (plural)
shochetim (plural)
shochtim (plural)
schochat (alternative)
schochet (alternative)
shochat (alternative)
shohet (alternative)

From Hebrew שׁוֹחֵט (shokhét, “slaughterer, butcher”).

uder

2001, Oliver Sacks, Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood, Alfred A. Knopf (2001), 9,
He was by profession a boot and shoe manufacturer, a shochet (a kosher slaughterer), and later a grocer […]

A person certified under Jewish law to slaughter cattle and poultry


tzeniut

Hebrew צניעות, literally "modesty" or "privacy".

Hebrew צניעות

tsnius (alternative)
tzenius (alternative)
tzniut (alternative)
tznius (alternative)

(Jewish law) Standards of modesty in dress and conduct, especially between the sexes.


lashon hara

(Jewish law) Any form of communication — verbal, written, body language — that can result in emotional, financial, or physical harm to another person


yotzei

Borrowed from Yiddish יוצא זײַן (yoytse zayn), from Hebrew יוֹצֵא (yotsé), active participle of יָצָא (yatsá, “to exit”).

In order to be yotzei, you must hear every word of the bracha.

(Jewish law) having fulfilled the requirements of a mitzvah


assur

Wool which has been shorn from it or which has fallen off it is assur (prohibited for any beneficial use) and if it becomes mixed with other wool the whole becomes assur (Y.D. 308).

1968, Samson Raphael Hirsch, Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances:

In their commentary, the Tosafot conclude that it is assur to inflict a wound in one's body (chovel be'atzmo) even if he benefits from it.

2006, Rabbi Alfred S. Cohen, editor, Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, numbers 51–56:

After chatzos it is assur to daven shacharis.

2011 February 23, Philogos, “How To Understand Yeshivish”, in The Forward:


tahor

There are also observations in the Talmud that, e.g., tanners stink. However, odor doesn't prevent a person from becoming tahor.

2011 May 31, Yisroel Markov, “Leftwing anti-semitism”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):


hekesh

One SCJ commentator said how he felt that the custom of kissing the mezzuzah was something that should be banned as being too close to avodah zarah. (and he made a hekesh to the nachash nechoshet)

1992 September 8, Yechezkal Shimon Gutfreund, “Not a Charm?”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet):

He regarded the hekesh as the equivalent of an explicitly written teaching.

1995 June 6, Avi Sion, Judaic Logic: A Formal Analysis of Biblical, Talmudic and Rabbinic Logic, Avi Sion, →ISBN, page 150:

Talmudic tradition (Shabbat 92a) connects them with a hekesh, teaching that both reached full stature: “Just as the mishkan was ten cubits tall, so too the altar was ten cubits tall.”

2006, Abraham Isaac Kook, Gold from the Land of Israel, Chanan Morrison, →ISBN, page 150:

(Jewish law) Application of a stated law to an unstated but analogous case.


eidut

The reasons for women's exclusion from eidut have expired now that women occupy secular positions of great responsibility and are no longer influenced by their husbands in public matters in the way they once were.

1999 October 22, j e rosenbaum, “Orthodox Institute Holds Graduation Ceremony for Female Rabbis”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet):

A person may not give eidut against themselves in a beit din.

2000 October 3, Lisa Beth, “Lieberman and Chillul Hashem”, in soc.culture.jewish (Usenet):

(Jewish law) testimony attesting to having witnessed the commission of the offense.


tameh

(Jewish law) Ritually impure or tainted.


negiah

Borrowed from Hebrew נְגִיעָה (“touch”).

negia (alternative)
negiyah (alternative)

(Jewish law) Physical contact between the sexes outside of marriage or familial relations.

If I see a young man and woman out on a date in the US, would I not assume that even if they were makpid on kashrut, they might not be as makpid on negia? Or even on pre-marital sex? After all, that is exceedingly common in the US today, and it's even made inroads among ostensibly Orthodox Jews.

2006 June 9, Lisa, “LESBIAN & GAY SHABBAT DINNER - 5 JUNE -- RODEPH SHOLOM (NYC)”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated (Usenet):

(Jewish law) The prohibition against this.


hatafat dam brit

en-noun

hatafat dam brit (plural hatafat dam brits)

hatafat dam brits (plural)
hatafat dam bris (alternative)

From Hebrew הַטָּפַת דַּם בְּרִית.

bor

הַטָּפַת דַּם בְּרִית

Hebrew הַטָּפַת דַּם בְּרִית

(Jewish law) An alternative to brit milah preformed for those who are born without foreskin or who convert after previously having been circumcised for an unrelated purpose, in which a droplet of blood is extracted from the penis using a knife or needle.