The term Halacha refers to the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions. Halacha guides not only religious practices and beliefs, but numerous aspects of day-to-day life. Although Halacha is often translated as “Jewish Law”, a more literal translation might be “the path” or “the way of walking.” The word derives from the root that means to go or to walk.
When discussing Halacha and the practices and rituals that characterise a Jewish life, numerous terms are used that are often unfamiliar to the uninitiated. I have listed some of them below. Many, as you will see, are related to the rules of taharat hamishpacha, an area of Jewish law that relates to women, marriage and sexuality. For more information concerning these subjects, here is an excellent resource available online: Nishmat Yoatzot Halacha.
Balanit – Mikveh attendant
Balua – Lit. “swallowed up” – refers to items found in normally inaccessible parts of the body that do not require cleaning before mikveh (e.g., ear canal)
Bediavad – Refers to a less than optimal manner of fulfilling a halachic requirement, acceptable after the fact or in difficult situations (opposite of l’chat’chila)
Bedikah – Self administered, halachic internal examination (pl. bedikot)
Bedikah cloth (taharah cloth, ed) – White cloth used for internal examination
Bein hashmashot – The interval between sunset (sh’kiah) and tzet hakochavim (nightfall)
Beit Hamikdash – The Temple in Jerusalem, destroyed in 70 C.E.
Beit hastarim – Accessible “hidden places” that require cleaning before mikveh but do not actually require contact with the water (e.g., inside mouth)
Betulah – woman who has never had intercourse
B’ezrat Hashem – G-d willing
Birkot chatanim – Blessings recited as part of nisu’in (marriage) ceremony (the six birkot chatanim plus the blessing over wine are called sheva brachot, seven blessings)
Birkat hamazon – Grace after meals
Birkat hashevach – A blessing recited in praise of G-d
Bish’at hadechak – A difficult situation or an emergency in which certain halachic leniencies may apply
Boneh – Building, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (braiding hair is included in this prohibition)
Bracha – A blessing, recited in praise of G-d (e.g., before and after eating), or upon performing a commandment (e.g., immersing in the mikveh)
Chafifah – Cleansing in preparation for mikveh immersion
Chatan – Bridegroom
Chatzitzah – A barrier intervening between one’s body and the water that can invalidate mikveh immersion
Chazakah – A halachic presumption (e.g., that a woman has stopped bleeding)
Chazal – Sages of the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, approx 200 BCE to 600 CE (abbreviation for Chachamim Zichronam Livracha, Sages of Blessed Memory)
Chesed (gemilut chasadim) – Acts of kindness
Chumra – A halachic stringency (opposite of kula)
Chupah – Jewish wedding ceremony (also refers to the canopy under which the ceremony takes place)
Chupat niddah – A wedding that takes place while the bride is niddah
Dam – Blood
Dam betulim – Hymenal bleeding the first time(s) a woman has relations
Dam chimud – Bleeding due to the excitement of the approaching wedding
Dam makkah – Bleeding due to trauma, injury, or irritation, which does not make a woman niddah
Devek – Connection
D’Oraita – Torah law, refers to halachot stated in or derived directly from verses in the Torah
D’Rabbanan – Rabbinic law, refers to decrees enacted by the rabbis subsequent to the giving of the Torah
Ed – Another term for a bedikah cloth (lit. witness)
Edim – Witnesses (e.g., to the kiddushin segment of the marriage ceremony)
Erev Yom Tov – The day preceding a festival
Erusin – First segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the couple becomes committed exclusively to each other, also called kiddushin
Eruv tavshilin – On the eve of a festival that will be followed immediately by Shabbat, some prepared food is set aside for Shabbat. This allows preparations for Shabbat to continue during the festival.
Get – A bill of divorce
Gozez – Shearing, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (includes cutting or removing hair or nails)
Gris – A measurement of surface area equivalent to the size of a split bean, a circle 19 millimeters in diameter
Haflagah – The interval from one menstrual period to the next
Halacha pesukah – A universally accepted halachic ruling
Hamapil – A blessing recited immediately before going to sleep at night
Harchakot – Restrictions designed to minimize the possibility of physical contact between a couple while the wife is niddah
Hargashah – A halachically relevant sensation accompanying the onset of menses
Hefsek taharah – An internal examination to establish that uterine bleeding has ceased (also called a hefsek)
Heker – A reminder of the niddah status, required when husband and wife are eating together during niddah
Henetz hachamah – Sunrise (also called netz hachamah, netz)
Heter – A halachic ruling permitting something that might otherwise be prohibited (e.g., contraception)
Issur v’heter – The area of halacha concerned with that which is permitted and forbidden (e.g., kashrut, niddah)
Iyun – Inspection of the body for possible chatzitzot before mikveh immersion
Kabbalah – Jewish mysticism (adj. kabbalistic)
Kallah – Bride
Kallah teacher – A woman who teaches brides the laws of niddah before marriage
Karet – A very serious punishment (“excision”) for certain transgressions of Torah law (e.g., eating on Yom Kippur, relations during niddah)
Kedushah – Holiness
Ketem – A stain. Bloodstains meeting certain criteria make a woman niddah according to rabbinic law.
Ketubah – Marriage contract spelling out the obligations of a husband to his wife
Kiddush – Blessing recited over a cup of wine at a Shabbat meal
Kiddushin – First segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the couple become committed exclusively to each other, also called erusin
Kodshim – Refers to sacrifices brought in the Temple in Jerusalem, for which ritual purity was required
Kosher – Halachically acceptable (e.g., food, mikveh immersion) – noun kashrut
Kula – A halachic leniency (opposite of chumra)
L’Chat’chila – optimal manner of fulfilling a halachic requirement (opposite of b’diavad)
Makpid – scrupulous, particular
Mayim acharonim – ritual washing of hands after a meal common before Birkat Hamazon
Meineket – A nursing woman, halakhically defined as a woman within two years postpartum whether or not she is actually nursing
Mekabel tumah – Susceptible to ritual impurity
Mesader kiddushin – The rabbi who officiates at a wedding ceremony
Mesuleket damim – A woman not expected to menstruate (e.g., during pregnancy, after menopause)
Me’uberet – A pregnant woman
Mikveh (also spelled mikveh, pl. mikvaot) – Ritual bath
Minchah k’tanah – Two and one half proportional hours before sunset
Minhag – Custom. May be halakhically binding for those who practice it
Minyan – Quorum of ten adult Jews required for recital of public prayers
Mitzvah – Commandment (pl. mitzvot)
Mitzvot bein adam l’chaveiro – Commandments in the area of interpersonal relations
M’machek – Smoothing, one of the 39 categories of work forbidden on Shabbat (includes using a bar of soap)
Moch dachuk – Bedikah cloth inserted into the vagina from sunset until nightfall immediately following the hefsek taharah examination (also called moch)
Motzei Shabbat – Saturday night
Ne’ekar – Uprooted, refers to a veset that no longer needs to be observed
Negiah – Touching, the prohibition against contact between men and women who are not married or closely related
Netilat yadayim – Ritual washing of hands (e.g., before a meal, upon awakening)
Niddah – Halachic status, acquired through menstruation or other uterine bleeding, during which physical contact between husband and wife is forbidden
Nisu’in – Second segment of the marriage ceremony, in which the husband symbolically brings the wife into his household.
Onah – A time period (pl. onot)
a) one day or night, measured from sunrise to sunset or from sunset to sunrise
b) the length of one menstrual cycle
c) the mitzvah for a couple to have relations (mitzvat onah)
Onah beinonit – The average interval between menstrual periods, 30 days
Onot perishah – Period of separation at the time of expected menses; marital relations are forbidden and the woman must do an internal examination. (pl. Onot Perishah)
Or Zarua – Refers to the practice of observing an extra onah immediately prior to the onat perishah.
Peru urevu – The Torah commandment to be fruitful and multiply, incumbent on men and fulfilled by fathering at least one boy and one girl
Pikuach nefesh – A situation where life is at risk. In such situations almost all prohibitions may be violated.
Posek – Halachic decisor
Psak – Halachic ruling (also psak halacha, pl. piskei halacha)
Rav – Rabbi (pl. rabbanim)
Roah mechamat tashmish – Uterine bleeding caused by marital relations
Rosh Chodesh – Beginning of a new Hebrew month, observed on the 1st day of the month. If the previous month had 30 days, then Rosh Chodesh is observed for two days: the 30th of the previous month and the 1st of the new one.
Safek – doubt
S’chitah – Wringing out (e.g., water from a towel), an activity forbidden on Shabbat
Seah – A measurement of volume, approximately 8.3 liters. The minimum quantity of water in a mikveh is 40 seah.
Sephardi – Refers to Jews of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern ancestry, also called “Edot HaMizrach”
Seudat mitzvah – A meal in which participation is considered a mitzvah (e.g., a Shabbat meal, a wedding meal)
Sha’ah zemanit – Proportional hour, one twelfth of the period from sunrise to sunset, or from sunset to sunrise
Shalom bayit – Marital harmony (lit. peace in the home)
Sh’kiat hachamah – Sunset (also called sh’kiah)
Sheva brachot – Seven blessings recited during the marriage ceremony, and after Birkat Hamazon following a wedding meal or a festive meal during the week after the wedding (these festive meals are also called Sheva brachot)
Shinui – A change from the usual manner of performing an activity
Shivah – Week of mourning following the death of a close relative
Shivah neki’im – Seven blood-free (“clean”) days counted as part of the process of exiting the niddah status
Sh’kiah – Sunset (also called sh’kiat hachamah)
Shulchan Aruch – Authoritative code of Jewish law, compiled by Rabbi Yosef Karo, 16th century CE
Sifrei kodesh – Holy books (Torah or prayer books)
Simcha – Happiness, or a joyful event (e.g., wedding)
Sirus – Castration, sterilization
Tachanun – Penitential prayers recited on weekdays
Tahor (fem. tehorah) – a) not niddah; b) ritually pure
Taharah – purity, the state of being tahor/tehorah
Taharat hamishpacha – Family purity, the laws of niddah
Takanah – A rabbinic enactment
Tehorah – see tahor
Temeiah – see tamei
Terumah – Tithe from produce, for which ritual purity was required
Teshuvah – a) Repentance; b) Rabbinic responsum
Tevilah – immersion in the mikveh (verb – tovel)
Tevilah bizmanah – Mikveh immersion on the appropriate night
Tovel – immerse in the mikveh (noun, tevilah)
Tamei (fem. temeiah) – ritually impure, sometimes used as a synonym for niddah
Tumah – impurity, the state of being tamei/temeiah
Tzedakah – charity
Tzet hakochavim – Nightfall (literally, when the stars come out, also called tzet)
Tzniut – modesty
Veset – a) The pattern of a woman’s menstrual cycle
b) The time or circumstance when a woman anticipates her menses
Veset chatzi kavua – A semi-regular menstrual pattern, i.e., a woman consistently menstruates after a certain point in her cycle, but the precise day is not predictable
Veset haguf – A menstrual pattern based on physical symptoms that precede or accompany the onset of bleeding
Veset kavua – A halachically regular menstrual pattern, established by three consecutive occasions
Veset she’eino kavua – A menstrual pattern that is not halachically considered regular
Vidui – Confessional prayer, recited on Yom Kippur and on one’s wedding day
Yichud – Private seclusion of a man and a woman, prohibited for couples not married to each other or closely related, and observed by bride and groom after the chupah or after the wedding, depending on custom
Yoetzet halacha – A woman certified to serve as a resource for women with questions regarding Taharat Hamishpacha
Yoledet – A woman during or after childbirth, who has a halachic status similar to niddah
Yom hachodesh – Date exactly one Hebrew month after the beginning of a woman’s previous menses
Yom Tov – Festival on which certain types of work are prohibited
Zavah – A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
Zavah gedolah – A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding on three consecutive days (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
Zavah ketanah – A woman who has non-menstrual uterine bleeding on fewer than three consecutive days (the distinction between niddah and zavah is no longer observed)
Zekeinah – Lit. “elderly woman” – a woman at least 53 years old who has not menstruated for 90 days
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