- Day of Fasting. There are six fast days in the Jewish calendar: Tsum Gedaliah, Yom Kippur, Asarah B'Tevet, Taanit Esther, Shivah Asar B'Tammuz, and Tisha B'av.
- Also known as the Oslo II Agreement, on September 29, 1996, Rabin and Arafat signed the Taba Agreement that outlined the second stage of Palestinian autonomy and gradual extension of Palestinian rule. It divided the territories into three zones and phased Israeli withdrawal and redeployment. It also established Palestinian Legislative Council responsibilities and called for its elections.
The tent-structure used to house the portable wilderness sanctuary that served as the center of ancient Israelite worship until the construction of the Temple in Jerusalem by King Solomon.
Tabernacles, Festival/Feast of
- See Sukkot.
- (pl. taharot) Ritual purity.
- Laws of family purity; include a prohibition of sexual activities for at least twelve days during ever menstrual cycle, and requiring the woman to immerse herself in a mikva.
- (pl. takkanot) Correction; a rabbinic edict that supersedes the existing halacha.
- A large, four-cornered shawl with fringes and special knots at
the extremities, worn during Jewish morning prayers. The fringes,
according to the Bible (Numbers 15.38-39), remind the worshiper
of God's commandments. It is traditional for the male to be buried
in his tallit, but without its fringes.
- (Heb. small garment) Refers to a small
four-cornered garment, with tzitzis attached, customarily worn throughout the
- (Heb. study, learning) Rabbinic Judaism
produced two Talmuds: the one known as the Babylonian
is the most famous in the western world, and was completed around
the fifth century CE; the other, known as the Palestinian
or Jerusalem Talmud, was edited perhaps
in the early fourth century CE. Both have as
their common core the Mishnah collection of the tannaim, to which are added commentary and discussion
(gemara) by the amoraim (teachers) of the respective
locales. Gemara thus has also become a colloquial, generic term
for the Talmud and its study.
- Talmud Bavli
- Babylonian Talmud.
- Term generally applied to Jewish religious (and ultimately to
talmudic) study, also used to refer to traditional Jewish religious
- Talmud Yerushalmi
- Jerusalem Talmud .
- The armed wing of Fatah, Tanzim was established in 1995 to counter the Islamic militants who opposed Arafat and the Palestinian National Authority.
- Acronym for T'nuah Lamasoret b'Israel; Movement for Tradition in Israel, a Sephardi political party.
- The fourth month of the Jewish religious year, corresponding approximating
- A relatively modern acronym for the Jewish Bible, made up of the
names of the three parts of the Torah (Pentateuch or Law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings)thus
TNK pronounced TaNaK.
- Collection of 4th-century homiletical midrashim on the Torah, arranged according to the ancient triennial cycle; attributed to Tanhum bar Abba; land of Israel.
(Heb. repeater, reciter; adj. tannaitic,
pl. tannaim) A Jewish sage from the period of Hillel (around
the turn of the era) to the compilation of the Mishnah (200 CE),
distinguished from later amoraim. Tannaim were
primarily scholars and teachers. The Mishnah, Tosefta,
and halakic Midrashim were among their literary achievements.
- The first Rebbe of the Labuvitch Chassidic Movement.
- (Heb. translation, interpretation)
Generally used to designate Aramaic translations
of the Jewish scriptures. See also Septuagint
(in a sense, Greek Targums).
- An Aramaic free translation of the Torah, completed in the second half of the first millennium C.E.
- (Heb. to send, to cast out) This
is the special ceremony on Rosh Hashanah afternoon
in which Jews symbolically cast their sins (in
the form of bread crumbs) into a body of flowing
- (Blue-Green) A color required
for threads of tzitzis by the Torah. The source of the dye was lost for thousands of years
and therefore Jews wore tzitzit without techelet. However, in the
1980s, the process of dying techelet was rediscovered based on scientific
research from the 19th and 20th centuries. Today, the mitzvah of techelet is slowly coming back after almost 1400 years of
Resurrection of the dead.
- A unit of length, approximately equal to eight centimeters, or 3.2 inches.
- Jewish Prayer.
- Usually translated as phylacteries. Box-like appurtenances
that accompany prayer, worn by Jewish adult males at the weekday
morning services. The boxes have leather thongs attached and contain
scriptural excerpts. One box (with four sections) is placed on the
head, the other (with one section) is placed (customarily) on the
left arm, near the heart. The biblical passages emphasize the unity
of God and the duty to love God and be mindful of him with "all
one's heart and mind" (e.g., Exod. 13.1-10,
11-16; Deut. 6.4-9; 11.13-21). See also Shema.
Tefillin Shel Rosh
- (Tefillin of the head) Of the
two tefillin, the one worn on the head.
Tefillin Shel Yad
- (Tefillin of the hand)
Of the two tefillin, the one worn on the arm.
- The Book of Psalms, on of the Books of the Tanakh.
- (“Revival”) Political party formed in 1978 as a reaction to the peace agreement between Israel and Egypt. Primarily a “hawkish” party, wants to retain Israeli sovereignty over land captured in 1967. Unique because it is composed of both religious and non-religious members.
- One of four characteristic blasts of the shofar (ram's horn).
See also Rosh Hashanah.
- Israel's largest and most cosmopolitan city, located along the
- In the ancient world, temples were the centers
of outward religious life, places at which public
religious observances were normally conducted
by the priestly professionals. In traditional
Judaism, the only legitimate Temple was the one
in Jerusalem, built first by King Solomon around
950 B.C.E., destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar
around 587/6 B.C.E., and rebuilt about 70 years
later. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
The site of the ancient Jewish Temple is now
occupied, in part, by the Dome of the
Rock Mosque. In recent times, temple has
come to be used synonymously with synagogue in
some Jewish usage.
The platform on Mt. Moriah where both Jewish Temples once stood.
- Temple Mount Faithful
- A religious group committed to the reconstruction of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount.
- German sect that founded settlements in Palestine in the 19th
and 20th centuries.
- Temporary International Peace in Hebron
- The UN Security Council called for a resolution that instituted peace keeping forces in Hebron in response to the Hebron Massacre on March 18, 1994.
- Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire proposed by CIA director George
Tenet. The cease-fire took effect on June 13, 2001, but was quickly
broken by the Palestinians, and the plan was never fully implemented.
Terezin (Czech), Theresienstadt (German)
- Established in early 1942 outside Prague as
ghetto, Terezin was not a sealed section of town,
but rather an eighteenth-century Austrian garrison.
It became a Jewish town, governed and guarded
by the SS. When the deportations from central
Europe to the extermination camps began in the
spring of 1942, certain groups were initially
excluded: invalids; partners in a mixed marriage,
and their children; and prominent Jews with special
connections. These were sent to the ghetto in
Terezin. They were joined by old and young Jews
from the Protectorate, and, later, by small numbers
of prominent Jews from Denmark and Holland. Its
large barracks served as dormitories for communal
living; they also contained offices, workshops,
infirmaries, and communal kitchens. The Nazis
used Terezin to deceive public opinion. They
tolerated a lively cultural life of theater,
music, lectures, and art. Thus, it could be shown
to officials of the International Red Cross.
Terezin, however, was only a station on the road
to the extermination camps; about 88,000 were
deported to their deaths in the East. In April
1945, only 17,000 Jews remained in Terezin, where
they were joined by 14,000 Jewish concentration
camp prisoners, evacuated from camps threatened
by the Allied armies. On May 8, 1945, Terezin
was liberated by the Red Army. (see Baeck, Leo).
- One of four characteristic blasts of the shofar (ram's horn).
See also Rosh Hashanah.
- Return, repentance. The objective during the days between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
- Term for an agreement between two (or more)
parties, such as a
last will and testament. In Jewish tradition, the covenant
concept played an important role, and was translated as testament,
especially in Christian references to the scriptures of the old
covenant (Old Testament) and the new (New
- (Greek, four lettered [name])
- The science of producing death; description given during the Nuremberg
trials to the medical experiments performed during the Holocaust.
- The position that affirms the existence of a deity. See also atheism,
- From Greek, divine rule; the idea
that God should be the ultimate ruler, over or
instead of human rulers. See zealots.
- From Greek, study of deity; a general term for discussions
and investigations of things pertaining to God(s), and by extension,
to religious matters. One who engages formally in theological studies
is called a theologian.
- An appearance of God, or God's presence (e.g. the theophany at Sinai).
- See Terezin.
- Third Reich
- Meaning third regime or empire, the
Nazi designation of Germany and its regime from
1933-45. Historically, the First Reich was the
medieval Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until
1806. The Second Reich included the German Empire
- Statement of classical Jewish outlook by Maimonides.
- One of the famed ancient "walled cities"of
Israel, in central Israel, on the western shore
of the Sea of Galilee.
- printed edition of the Torah which has vocalized and pointed text
in one column, and a photographic representation of a Sefer Torah
next to it, used to learn to chant Torah.
- Correcting [perfecting] the world, repairing the world; an action
promoting social justice.
- Literally “Corrections of the Scribes;” 18 changes to the Hebrew biblical text to avoid references to God that were deemed unseemly, dating from pre-Rabbinic times.
- Projections, missiles; also, the range of extinct volcanoes on the Golan Heights.
- The groom's table where the Chatan, his groomsmen, and
male family members gather for song and dance before the b'deken.
There is a tradition in which the groom tries to give a speech about
the current week's Torah portion. The friends and family do everything
possible to make sure that the groom's speech does not get delivered.
Tisha be-Av, Ninth of Av
- Fast day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second
Titus, Flavius Vespasianus
- Roman emperor (79-81 CE), son of Vespasianus, who accompanied his
father in his operations in Galilee, captured Josephus, and in 70
CE destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem as the head of the Roman
- A hike or trip.
- Literally means organization in Arabic. This name was given to
a part of Fateh that operates as a loose collection of militants
for enforcing order. This group is given credit for starting the
Al-Aqsa intifada and has engaged in numerous terrorist attacks against
- Produce; cooperative economic institution dating from Mandate times.
- (Heb.) Thank you.
- (Heb. teaching, instruction) In general, torah refers
to study of the whole gamut of Jewish tradition or to some aspect
thereof. In its special sense, "the Torah" refers to the
"five books of Moses" in the Hebrew scriptures (see Pentateuch).
In the Quran, "Torah" is the main term
by which Jewish scripture is identified.
- Torah min HaShamayim
- (Heb. Torah from the Skies) The belief that the Torah was given in its entirity by God to Moses and the Jewish People on Mt. Sinai.
- (Heb. Torah from Mount Sinai) refers
to the doctrine that the entire Torah, including
the Oral Law, was given to Moses at Sinai..
- (pl. Tosafot) (Heb. supplement)
Tannaitic supplements to the Mishnah. Called beraita (extraneous
material) in the Talmud.
Totenkofverbande (Death's Head unit or detachments)
- Originally members of these units guarded the concentration camps.
In 1938 they participated, alongside the Verfügunstruppen, in
the occupation of Austria, the Sudetenland and
In 1939, 6,500 of their most experienced members,
under the command of the former commandant of
the concentration camp Dachau, and Inspector
of Concentration Camps 1933-1939, Theodore Eicke,
formed the first Waffen SS unit, the Totenkopfdivision.
Until mid-1941 its units were employed in policing
occupied territories, and the supervision and
implementation of deportations and executions. Immediately
prior to the assault on the USSR, the Totenkopfverbände
were incorporated in units of the Waffen SS.
Totenkofwachsturbanne (Death's Head Guard Battalions)
- These were the units of the SS which guarded
the concentration camps during the war, whose
members were drawn from the Allgemeine SS. As the military situation worsened in 1942/43, their more
able-bodied members were transferred to the Waffen SS. The
place of these was taken by older members of
the SA, soldiers from the armed services who
had been wounded and were no longer fit for active
duty, and members of the Waffen SS who were not
fit for field duties.
- (Heb.) Good.
- In theology, the aspect of God that is beyond time and space, as opposed to God's immanence.
Treaty of Versailles
- Treaty designed by members of the allied powers
in the aftermath of World War I, its' chief objective
was to keep Germany from being a future military
threat. The Treaty entailed the loss of territory
to Germany, the establishment of the Polish corridor
which separated East Prussia from the "Fatherland",
and required that the German standing army exceed
no more than 100,000 men. The treaty also demanded
a heavy cost on the German economy in the form
of war reparations. Once in power, Hitler began
to break all aspects of the treaty.
- Extermination camp in northeast Poland (see Extermination Camp). Established in May 1942 along with the Warsaw-Bialystok railway
line, 870,000 people were murdered there. The camp operated until
the fall of 1943 when the Nazis destroyed the entire camp in an
attempt to conceal all traces of their crimes.
- (Aramaic, twelve) The twelve minor
prophets in the Tanakh.
- Not kosher.
von Tresckow, Major-General Henning
- Tresckow was general staff officer of Army Group Center 1941-43.
In 1942 made several plans to kill Hitler. Later, he worked with
Stauffenberg in implementing Operation Valkyrie. Tresckow had voiced
dissent over the actions against Jews and Russian POW's in the East.
He committed suicide after the attempted coup of July 20.
- A color badge worn on the clothes of a concentration
camp inmate that disclosed the reason for his
incarceration. Green triangles were for criminals;
yellow triangles were for Jews; red triangles
for political prisoners; purple triangles for
Jehovah's Witnesses; pink triangles for homosexuals;
black triangles for Roma (Gypsies) and "asocials";
and blue triangles for emigrants.
- Tripartite Arab Federation
- On April 29, 1963, Egypt, Iraq, and Syria met in Cairo and established the Tripartite Arab Federation with the sworn determination to free Palestine form the Zionists.
- On August 11, 1949 and publically released on May 25, 1950 United States, Great Britain, and France agree to control the flow of arms to the Middle East by not selling weapons to any country with aggressive tendencies towards its neighbors.
- Algeria, Syria, South Yemen, and Libya meet in Tripoli on December 5, 1977 and decide to freeze relations with Egypt in protest to its peace treaty with Israel.
- System of cantillation marks and their music, which are used to
chant sacred books; there are trop systems for Torah, haftarah, and
Truce Commission for Palestine
- UN commission consisting of Belgium, France, and US representatives to assist in implementing Resolution 46 during the War of Independence.
- Trusteeship Council
- The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish a Trusteeship Council on April 26, 1948 to prepare a draft statue for Jerusalem.
- The fifteenth of the Hebrew month Av. A day that is traditionally
associated with the engagements of young men and women.
- (Lit. 15th of Shevat). The new year for the purpose of counting
the age of trees for purposes of tithing.
- See zaddik. A righteous person.
Tzahal (Tzva Haganah Leyisrael)
- Israel's Defense Forces. See also IDF.
- Troubles or misfortunes.
- (Heb. righteousness) Term
in Judaism usually applied to deeds of charity and philanthropy.
- In the image of God.
Tzfia (Looking Ahead)
- A fundamentalist group established in the summer of 1984 to promote the ideas of the Jewish Underground; led by Rabbi Israel Ariel, it published three large collections of extremist essays.
- Vegetarian; slang for dovish politician.
- Fringes, (see Numbers 15:38) "...they
shall make fringes for themselves on the corners
of their garments."
- Day of fasting.
- Tzom Gedaliah
- The day of Fasting that commemorates the assassination of Gedaliah ben Achikam, the Governer of the Jews appointed by the Babylonians after the desturuction of the First Temple. After his death, Jews lost all independent authority.
- Crossroad, right-wing political party.
- Trouble, woe, suffering.
Tzvah Haganah L'Israel
- Israeli Defense Force (IDF)