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kosher

(Encyclopedia)kosher [Heb.,=proper, i.e., fit for use], in Judaism, term used in rabbinic literature to mean what is ritually correct, but most widely applied to food that is in accordance with dietary laws based o...

Blau, Joseph Leon

(Encyclopedia)Blau, Joseph Leon blou [key] 1909–86, American Jewish scholar and educator, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Columbia (A.B., 1931; M.A., 1933; Ph.D., 1945). He taught at Columbia from 1944, becoming profess...

hallel

(Encyclopedia)hallel həlālˈ, hălˈĕl [key] [Heb.,=praise], in Judaism, Psalms 113 to 118, sung every morning of Hanukkah, at the Passover service, and at the morning service of most major Jewish holidays as an...

Schechter, Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Schechter, Solomon shĕkhˈtər [key], 1847–1915, Jewish scholar. Born in Romania, he was educated in Vienna and at the Univ. of Berlin. He went to England in 1882 and in 1890 he was made lecturer i...

Silverman, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Silverman, Joseph, 1860–1930, American rabbi, b. Cincinnati. He was a rabbi at Dallas, Tex. (1884–85), at Galveston (1885–88), and at the Temple Emanu-El, New York City (1888–1922). He was pre...

monotheism

(Encyclopedia)monotheism mŏnˈəthēĭzəm [key] [Gr.,=belief in one God], in religion, a belief in one personal god. In practice, monotheistic religion tends to stress the existence of one personal god that unifi...

Asenath

(Encyclopedia)Asenath ăsˈənăth [key], in the Bible, Poti-phera's daughter, the Egyptian wife of Joseph, mother of Manasseh and Ephraim. Her betrothal to Joseph and conversion to Judaism are the subject of Josep...

Diaspora

(Encyclopedia)Diaspora dīăsˈpərə [key] [Gr.,=dispersion], term used today to denote the Jewish communities living outside the Holy Land. It was originally used to designate the dispersal of the Jews at the tim...

Wellhausen, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Wellhausen, Julius yo͞olˈyo͝os vĕlˈhouˌzən [key], 1844–1918, leading German biblical scholar of the 19th cent. He is recognized for his documentary hypothesis that sought to account for both ...

Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Abraham [according to the Book of Genesis, Heb.,=father of many nations] or Abram āˈbrəm [key] [Heb.,=exalted father], in the Bible, progenitor of the Hebrews; in the Qur'an, ancestor of the Arabs....