David was the King of Israel (c. 1000 BCE) credited with uniting the many tribes of Israel into a centralized kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. David is said to have planned for the Temple in Jerusalem, which was subsequently built by his son Solomon. The Book of Psalms found in the Bible is also attributed to the young David.

The Kabbalah is the Jewish mystical tradition.

Especially in the Jewish tradition, there are those who describe themselves as secular Jews, meaning identified with the Jewish community and heritage, but not religiously observant.

Yom Kippur is the “Day of Atonement,” the holiest day of the Jewish year, a day of fasting and atonement. Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days, ordinarily falling in early autumn.

Jeremiah was a Hebrew prophet of the 7th century BCE who foresaw the downfall of Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Judah at the hands of the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

Rashi is the acronym of the most distinguished commentator on the Bible and the Babylonian Talmud, the French scholar Rabbi Schlomo Yitzchaki (1040-1105).

Literally “righteousness” or “justice,” tzedakah is the biblical mitzvah, or commandment, to give to the needy. Traditionally this is interpreted by Jews as 10 percent of one’s wealth.

A beit midrash is a Jewish house of study and discussion; in ancient times it was a school of higher learning.

The Jewish High Holidays are Rosh Hashanah (New Year, literally "head of the year"), and Yom Kippur (literally "day of atonement"). Both fall in the lunar month of Tishri, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and following ten days later with Yom Kippur. These days are called the “Days of Awe” because the entire period constitutes a season of judgment and repentance, forgiveness and spiritual renewal, standing in awe before God.

Passover, or Pesah in Hebrew, is a major Jewish holiday, also called “the festival of unleavened bread.” During the eight days of the festival, Jews commemorate God’s deliverance of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt, eating only unleavened bread or matzah, as did those who fled from Egypt. At the special ritual meal called the seder, the traditional narrative of Passover, as contained in the Passover Haggadah, is told.

Tefillin are the small black leather boxes containing verses of the Torah that Orthodox Jews bind to the forehead and non-dominant arm during morning prayer, thus fulfilling the Biblical commandment to love God with heart, soul, and might and to bind these commandments “as frontlets between your eyes” (Deuteronomy 6.8).

Aramaic is the language of the Talmud, and core parts of the liturgy used by Jews to this day. A famous teaching expressing the uniqueness of Aramaic says that even the angels do not understand Aramaic, and so when Jews pray in Aramaic, the prayer goes directly to God.

A Jewish Enlightenment movement of the 19th century that led to the evolution of modern Hebrew into new literary and spoken forms, leading to the energetic revival of Hebrew as the spoken language of the new state of Israel in the 20th century. The Haskalah Movement led to the emergence of Jewish Biblical Criticism, and is credited, in some ways, with paving the intellectual ground for the modern denominations.

The central musical manifestation of Hasidic life. Often, niggunim are sung using syllables such as “Ah,” “Oy,” “Hey,” “Bam,” instead of words.

Stereotyping is the ascription of generalized characteristics to a whole group of people, thus describing individuals by the characterization, usually a caricature, of the whole.