All asterisk indicates a cross-reference within this Glossary.

All non-English entries are Hebrew unless otherwise indicated.

ahavas Yisrael	(lit., the love of Israel): the love for one's fellow Jews
alef-beis	the Hebrew alphabet
AriZal	(lit., "the lion of blessed memory"): R. Isaac Luria (1534-1572), one of the leading *Kabbalistic luminaries
Asiyah	(lit., "deed"): In Kabbalistic terminology, this refers to the lowest of the four spiritual worlds, the realm of spiritual existence which relates directly to our material world.
Atzilus, the World of	(lit., "the World of Emanation"): the highest of the four spiritual worlds
Av	the fifth month of the Jewish year when counting from Nissan (or the eleventh when counting from Tishrei); the month in which both Temples were destroyed
baal teshuvah	(lit., "master of return"; pl. baalei teshuvah): a person who turns to G-d in repentance
batul	(lit., "nullified"): with regard to the laws of kashrus, this refers to an amount of a forbidden substance that has become mixed with a greater portion of permitted substances to the extent that the forbidden substance is considered as insignificant; with regard to our Divine service, a state where an individual loses self-consciousness
benoni	(lit., "intermediate man"): classically, an individual whose merits are equally balanced between good and evil; according to *Chassidus, an individual whose spiritual labors have brought him to a level at which he never sins in thought, word or deed, despite his still-active Evil Inclination; see Tanya, ch. 12
Beis HaMikdash	The Temple in Jerusalem
beyn hameitzarim	(lit., "between the straits"): the three weeks of mourning between the fall of Jerusalem on the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the destruction of the Beis HaMikdash on the Ninth of Av
Beriah, the World of	(lit., "the World of Creation"): the second (in descending order) of the four spiritual worlds
Binah	(lit., "understanding"): the second of the Ten *Sefiros, or Divine emanations; the second stage of the intellectual process, the power that develops abstract conception, giving it breadth and depth
bittul	self-nullification, a commitment to G-d and divine service that transcends self-concern.
Chabad	(acronym for the Hebrew words meaning "wisdom, understanding, and knowledge"): the approach to Chassidism which filters its spiritual and emotional power through the intellect; a synonym for Chabad is *Lubavitch, the name of the town where this movement originally flourished
chassid	a pious, kind-hearted person, whose commitment extends beyond the requirement of the law
Chassidus	the body of Chassidic thought and philosophy
chayah	the fourth level of the soul, the level identified with an all-encompassing faith in G-d
cheder	(lit., "rooms"): school in which young children learn reading skills and begin the study of the Torah
Chochmah	(lit., "wisdom"): the first of the Ten *Sefiros, or Divine emanations; correspondingly, the first stage of our intellectual process; reason in potentia
Chol HaMoed	the intermediate days of a festival
davar shebiminyan	(lit., "an entity which is counted"): an object which is sold by number rather than by weight or volume; accordingly, each unit is considered a significant entity and can never become *batul, halachicly insignificant, when mixed with other substances
E-lohim (poss., E-lohecho)	one of the names of G-d; in particular, this name is associated with the Divine attributes that hold back, limit, and conceal G-dly influence so that it can descend and ultimately, be enclothed within the limited context of worldly existence
ephah	a Biblical dry measure
Eretz Yisrael	(lit., the land of Israel)
Haftorah (pl. Haftoros)	(lit., "the final passage"): the passage from the Prophets read in the synagogue after the conclusion of the Torah reading
halachah (adj. halachic)	the body of Jewish Law; alternatively a single law
Havayah	the Four-Letter Name of G-d (with its letters transposed, as pronounced in the study of *Chassidus), signifying His transcendence of nature's finite bounds of time and space
ikvesa diMeshicha	the age which hears the approaching "footsteps of *Mashiach"
Kabbalah	(lit., "received tradition"): the Jewish mystical tradition
kabbalas ol	(lit., "the acceptance of [G-d's] yoke"): an unswerving, selfless commitment to carrying out the will of G-d
kelipah	(lit., "rind" or "shell"; pl. kelipos): used figuratively (on a personal or universal level) to signify an outer covering which conceals the light within; hence, the unholy side of the universe
kelipas nogah	(lit., "the shining *kelipah"): a dimension of kelipah in which the light is intermingled with the shell, giving it the potential to be refined
kosher	complying to the dietary laws; alternatively, fit to be used for ritual purposes
Lashon HaKodesh	(lit., "the Holy Tongue"): Biblical Hebrew
Lubavitch	(lit., "town of love"; Rus.): townlet in White Russia which from 1813-1915 was the center of *Chabad Chassidism, and whose name has remained a synonym for it
maamar	a formal chassidic discourse
Mashiach	the Messiah
mesirus nefesh	(lit., "sacrifice of the soul"): the willingness to sacrifice oneself, either through martyrdom, or through a selfless life, for the sake of the Torah and its commandments
Midrash	the classical collection of the Sages' homiletical teachings on the Bible
mikveh	a ritual bath
Mishnah	the first compilation of the Oral Law authored by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (approx. 150 C.E.); the germinal statements of law elucidated by the Gemara, together with which they constitute the *Talmud; when not capitalized, a single statement of law from this work
mitzvah	(lit., "commandment; pl., mitzvos): one of the 613 Commandments; in a larger sense, any religious obligation
Nassi	(a) in Biblical times, the head of any one of the Twelve Tribes; (b) in later generations, the civil and/or spiritual head of the Jewish community at large
nefesh	soul, more precisely the lowest of the five levels of the soul
neshamah	soul, more precisely the third of the five levels of the soul
Nigleh	(lit., "what has been revealed"): the body of Torah law
omer	a Biblical dry measure
Or Ein Sof	G-d's infinite light
parshah (pl. parshiyos, poss. parshas)	(lit., "portion"): one of the 54 weekly Torah readings
P'nimiyus HaTorah	(lit., "the inner dimension of the Torah"): the realm of the Torah that deals with mystical truth
Rabbeinu	our teacher, an appellation of respect added to the name of great educational leaders
Rambam	(acronym for Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon; 1135-1204): Maimonides, one of the foremost Jewish thinkers of the Middle Ages; his Mishneh Torah is one of the pillars of Jewish law, and his Guide to the Perplexed, one of the classics of Jewish philosophy
Rashi	(acronym for Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki; 1040-1105): the author of the foremost commentaries to the Torah and the Talmud
Rebbe	(lit., "my teacher [or master]"): saintly Torah leader who serves as spiritual guide to a following of chassidim
Rishonim	(lit., "the first ones"): the Torah sages of the Middle Ages
Rosh Chodesh (pl. Rashei Chodashim)	(lit., "head of the month"): the first day of each Jewish month
ruach	spirit, more particularly, the second of the five levels of the soul
Sefiros	Kabbalistic term for the attributes of G-dliness which serve as a medium between His infinite light and our limited framework of reference.
semichah	Rabbinic ordination
Shabbos (pl. Shabbosos)	the Sabbath
Shavuos	(lit., "weeks"): festival commemorating the Giving of the Torah at Sinai, in Eretz Yisrael falling on 6 Sivan, and in the Diaspora on 6-7 *Sivan
Shema	the fundamental Jewish prayer which we are obligated to recite each day, in the evening and in the morning
Shemoneh Esreh	(lit., "eighteen"): the eighteen (later amended to nineteen) blessings of the Amidah prayer which form the basis of the three daily prayer services
Shulchan Aruch	(lit., "a set table"): the standard Code of Jewish Law compiled by R. Yosef Caro in the mid-sixteenth century; also used to refer to later codes; e.g., the Shulchan Aruch HaRav compiled by R. Shneur Zalman of Liadi
sichah (pl., sichos)	an informal Torah talk delivered by a *Rebbe (cf. *maamar)
Sivan	the third month of the Jewish year when counting from Nissan (or the ninth when counting from Tishrei)
sotah	a woman suspected of immodest conduct who is forced to drink special waters as a test of her fidelity; see Numbers, ch. 5
Talmud	the basic compendium of Jewish law, thought, and Biblical commentary, comprising *Mishnah and Gemara; when unspecified refers to the Babylonian Talmud, the edition developed in Babylonia, and edited at end of the fifth century C.E.; the Jerusalem Talmud is the edition compiled in Eretz Yisrael at end of the fourth century C.E.
Tammuz	the fourth month of the Jewish year when counting from Nissan (or the tenth when counting from Tishrei)
Tanach	The Bible
Tanya	the classic text of Chabad chassidic thought authored by the Alter Rebbe
Targum	(lit., "translation"): the rendering of the Bible into Aramaic
tefillin	small, black leather boxes each containing four Biblical passages which the Torah commands adult males to wear daily
teshuvah	(lit., "return [to G-d]"): repentance
Toras Kohanim	(lit., "the laws of the priests"): a reference to the Book of Leviticus; alternatively, to an exegetical treatise on that book also referred to as Sifri written in the period of the Mishnah
tzaddik (pl. tzaddikim)	righteous man
tzedakah	charity
tzitzis	fringes on the corners of the tallis worn by males (cf. Numbers 15:37-40)
yechidah	the highest of the five levels of the soul, the rung in which the soul is in absolute unity with G-d
yesh	(lit., "it exists"): in Chassidic terminology, an entity which is limited and self-conscious
yetzer hora	the evil inclination
Yetzirah, the World of	(lit., "the World of Formation"): the third (in descending order) of the four spiritual worlds
Yiddishkeit	(lit., "Jewishness"; Yid.): the Torah way of life
Yud-Bais Tammuz	the twelfth of Tammuz; the Previous Rebbe's birthday and the anniversary of his release from capital sentence and imprisonment in Soviet Russia in 1927
Zohar	(lit., "radiance"): The title of the classic mystical work embodying the teachings of the *Kabbalah