Glossary of Terms
- Aron (Pronounced - Orren) - A
coffin or casket.
- Avel (Pronounced - Abel, Ovel)
- A Mourner of the nearest blood relations; child,
parent, brother or sister. While others may be
equally saddened when death strikes a family only
those above-mentioned are, for ritual purposes,
regarded as mourners.
- Bar Minan (Pronounced - Bar
Minen)A deceased person - a term used for the period
between death and interment.
- Bet Olam (Pronounced - Bet
Almin)To bury; everlasting home. Burial grounds in
Hebrew are referred to as "Bet hakevoros"
- The House of Graves.
- Hesped A eulogy. A true
evaluation of a man's life as part of the funeral
service.
- Shivah - Meaning seven - The
first seven days of mourning. Those nearest
relatives who are mourning abstain from accustomed
labor and diversions and stay at home for the first
seven days of mourning.
- Shivah candleA candle provided
by the funeral director which burns for seven days.
- Daven - Meaning to pray.
- Kaddish A prayer recited to
memorialize the dead.
- Kevurah - Meaning Burial -
Jewish tradition is averse to the disposal of mortal
remains by any other way than burial, "For Thou
art dust and unto dust thou return.
- Kever - Meaning Grave
- Kriah (Pronounced - Keriah,
Krieh) - As a symbol of grief an incision is made in
the upper corner of a garment worn by the mourners.
- Levaya A funeral.
- Minyan (Pronounced - Minyen) To
constitute a quorum for public worship, ten men (or
women) above the age of thirteen are required.
- Niftar Departed, deceased - One
who has departed this world. Death is not an end,
but a transition to immortality.
- Sholoshim Meaning thirty; the
first thirty days of mourning, based on the Biblical
period of mourning for the death of Moses.
- Tachrechim
Shroud. Robe in which the dead are arrayed for
burial. The shroud is amde from white linen cloth
which is cut and sewed together with long stitches;
the ends of the thread are left unknotted; the
garment is designed to last only until the body has
disintegrated.
- Tallith A tasseled shawl or
scarf worn over the head or around the shoulders
during prayer.
- Taharah Ceremony of washing a
dead body for burial.
- Tehilim Hebrew word for
Psalms; prayers said before the funeral services
by a group of friends.
- Yahrzeit
The anniversary of death. At least once a year a
loved one is remembered through the observance of
the Yahrzeit by lighting a candle at home and the
recital of Kaddish in the Synagogue. Jewish
tradition assigned the day of death instead of the
day of birth for rememberance because, as Israel's
sages declared, "When a ship sails from port,
no one can tell what its lot may be; therefore, the
celebration takes place on the ship's safe return.
So with man, his life should be remembered and
evaluated at the end of the journey rather than at
the beginning.
- Yamakas A scull cap worn by
jews in the home and Synagogue.
- Yizkor On the Day of
Atonement - Yom Kippur - memorial services for the
departed are recited at the Synagogue. This Prayer
of Yizkor, "May God Remember Our
Departed" is not only a memorial to the dead
but it is also a rededication of one's forebears.
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