Latter authorities, literally, “Last Ones,” meaning Torah scholars who lived after the compilation of the Shulchan ‘Arukh in 1563, and continuing on to the present day. The Acharonim were preceded by the Rishonim, former authorities of “First Ones,” c. 1038 CE -1563; by the Geonim, c. 650-1038 CE; by Hazal, c. 250 BCE-625 CE. A…
Knowledge Base
Amoraic
Belonging to the era of the Amoraim, the rabbis who compiled the Gemara, the commentaries on the Mishnah known collectively as Talmud, in the 3rd through 5th centuries CE. Amoraim lived in both Eretz Yisrael and Bavel (Babylonia, which is how Jews referred to Sassanian Persia and later Abbasid Iraq). Just as there were 7…
Bavel
(Babylonia) is what Jews called the region of present-day Iraq ruled in the Talmudic period by Sassanid Persia and later, in the period of the Geonim, by the Abbasid Muslim caliphate.
Bavli
The Babylonian Talmud, the Gemara as redacted in Bavel, the major Jewish community of antiquity outside of Eretz Yisrael. Also refered to as Shas.
Bereshit Rabbati
בראשית רבתי – A late midrash on Sefer Bereshit that is attributed to the school of Moshe ha-Darshan of Narbonne in Provence, who was active during the first half of the 11th century. Bereshit Rabbati was known only by references to it until modernity, when a single Hebrew manuscript of it surfaced, which was published…
Birkat ha-Ilanot
A blessing said upon seeing blossoming fruit trees in Nisan, or first time one sees flowering trees in the season. The words of the blessing are: בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה’ אֱלֹקינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם שֶׁלֹּא חִסַּר בְּעוֹלָמוֹ כְּלוּם וּבָרָא בוֹ בְּרִיּוֹת טוֹבוֹת וְאִילָנוֹת טוֹבוֹת לֵהָנוֹת בָּהֶם בְּנֵי אָדָם. Blessed are You, the Lrd our Gd, Sovereign of…
Chazal
חז”ל – “our Sages, of blessed memory,” the abbreviation for חכמנו זכרונם לברכה – Chakhmenu zikhronam li-verakhah, meaning the rabbis of the Mishnah and Talmud, the Tannaim and Amoraim, respectively. Variations are also used, such as רז”ל – Rabbotenu zichronam li-verakhah, “our Rabbis, of blessed memory.”
Chumash
The five books of the Torah, the first five of Tanakh: BeReshit, Shemot, VaYikra, BeMidbar, and Devarim; in English, via Greek and Latin: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. As the Written Torah (Torah she-be-khetav), the words of these five books have a high degree of sanctity, in distinction to those books composed by prophecy…
Four Parshiyyot
Among the special Shabbatot in the calendar year, there are four preceding Pesach known as the Four Parshiyyot (Arba’ Parshiyyot), during which special maftir and haftarah portions are read. In distinction to special Shabbatot that coincide with holidays, the Four Parshiyyot do not have a coinciding occasion. Rather, they are tied to their relationship to…
Gaon
גאון – pl. גאניםת Geonim – the formal title of the head of one of the yeshivot (academies) of Bavel (Babylon, or present-day Iraq). See Geonim.