Learn Hebrew

W

Way of Life



(DE-rekh KHY-yeem) n. "The way (derekh) of life"; Salvation; Yeshu'ah; Yeshua (John 14:6). The path of life (including the life cycle); the manner of sojourning, etc.




Wave Offering



(te-noo-FAH) n. Wave ceremony; wave service; ceremony of waving (usually in six directions) a sacrifice, bread (lechem tenufah), lulav, etc. According to the Talmud (Menachos 62a), the tenufah was moved back and forth, up and down, to symbolize the fact that it is being offered to the Ruler of the entire world.  A picture of the resurrection.




Wedding Ceremony



(keed-doo-SHEEN) n. Marriage ceremony. The elements of a Jewish wedding normally include the following: one chosson (the groom), one kallah (the bride), and a ceremony sometimes referred to as kiddushin. Separate steps usually accompany a traditional wedding:

1. Shidduch - it's a match!
2. Vort - formal engagement
3. Ketubbah - marriage contract
4. Bedekin - the visit from the chosson to the veiled bride (after a week of no contact after the engagement)
5. Chuppah - the wedding canopy
6. Kiddushin - The giving of the ring
7. Sheva brachot - seven blessings recited over the couple
8. Breaking of the glass - remembering the exile even in our joy
9. Cheder yichud - "room of privacy" - the closed room where bride and groom are together for the first time. Normally they share a meal here, directly after the ceremony.
10. The reception - dancing, music, etc.

Wedding Feast of the Lamb



(meesh-TAY cha-too-NAT ha-SAY) n. "The wedding feast of the Lamb" (Rev. 19:9). (Mishteh = feast; chatunah = wedding; and seh = Lamb).  "And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."




Weekly Torah Portion



(pah-rah-SHAH / pah-rah-shee-YOHT) n. Weekly Torah reading(s). Cp. Sidrah. The weekly Torah portion is read during services. The Torah is divided into 54 parshiyot. One (and occasionally two) is read each week. Parashah means "portion." A Torah commentator is called a Parshan and the exegesis, interpretation, or commentary is called Parashanut. Here is a list of the weekly Torah readings (note that there are additional readings for holidays):

1. Bereishit (Genesis)
2. Noach
3. Lekh Lekha
4. Vayeira
5. Chayei Sarah
6. Toldot
7. Vayeitzei
8. Vayishlach
9. Vayyeshev
10. Mikeitz
11. Vayigash
12. Vayechi
     
13. Shemot (Exodus)
14. Va'eira
15. Bo
16. Beshalach
17. Yitro
18. Mishpatim
19. Terumah
20. Tetzaveh
21. Ki Tisa
22. Vayakhel
23. Pequdei
     
24. Vayikra (Leviticus)
25. Tzav
26. Shemini
27. Tazria
28. Metzora
29. Acharei Mot
30. Kedoshim
31. Emor
32. Behar
33. Bechukotai
     
34. Bamidbar (Numbers)
35. Nasso
36. Beha'alotkha
37. Shelach
38. Korach
39. Chuqat
40. Balaq
41. Pinchas
42. Mattot
43. Masei
     
44. Devarim (Deuteronomy)
45. Va'etchanan
46. Eiqev
47. Re'eh
48. Shoftim
49. Ki Teitzei
50. Ki Tavo
51. Nitzavim
52. Vayeilekh
53. Ha'azinu
54. Vezot Haberakhah

Weeks (feast of)



(shah-voo-OHT) n. Shavuot; Pentecost; Feast of Weeks; Weeks. The Festival commemorating giving of the Torah at Har Sinai to Israel. Observed on the fiftieth day after the first day of Pesach. Shavu'ot is the concluding festival of the Spring season, a festival of the offering of the first fruits, and a picture of the resurrection of Yeshua the Messiah as the Firstfruits (1 Cor. 15:20).




Western Wall



(KOH-tel ma-'a-rah-VEE) n. Western Wall; Kotel. "Wailing Wall"; Remnant of the western wall of the Temple in Jerusalem. Part of the wall enclosing Herod's Temple is still standing in the old section of Jerusalem. This part of the wall has been regarded as sacred ever since the Talmudic period and has served as a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all parts of the world.




Who Knows One?



(e-KHAD  mee yoh-DAY-ah) n.  Echad Mi Yodea, "Who knows one?" (אחד מי יודע). A "cumulative" song at the end of the Passover Haggadah designed to keep the children awake until the end of the Seder service. According to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, the song was first included in Ashkenazi Haggadot of the 1500s. The fundamental Jewish beliefs and traditions are imparted in the 13 stanzas of this poem.

1. Who knows one? I know one!  One is Hashem, one is Hashem, one is Hashem! In the Heaven and the Earth.
2. Who knows two? I know two!  Two are the tablets that Moses brought.
3. etc. etc.

Wholeness



(shlay-MUT) n. Wholeness; Completeness; Healing. Sometimes spelled shleimut, shleimus, etc.




Wimpel



(VEEM-pel) n. Yiddish. A long linen sash used to to wrap up a Torah Scroll.  A wimple is sometimes made from swaddling cloth used for a boy's brit milah. The swaddling cloth is cleaned, cut into strips and sewn into a sash. The boy's Hebrew name and date of birth are then embroidered onto the cloth, along with a traditional Hebrew blessing. The wimpel is then used when the child later reads from the Torah scroll (at his bar mitzvah) or on other occasions.






Wise at heart



(layv khah-kham ve-nah-VOHN) n. A wise and an understaning heart.  From 1 Kings 3:12. Note that levav chokhmah is another way to mean "wise at heart" or a "heart of wisdom."



Chakham-lev yikkach mitzvot - the wise of heart will receive commandments




Wisdom



(khohkh-mah) n. Wisdom; cleverness; cp. binah and da'at.



reishit chokhmah - keneh chokhmah
The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom; Prov. 4:7.



hachokmah me-ayin timatzei? v'ei zeh mekom binah?
Where shall wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? (Job 28:12)




Wisdom of God



(khohkh-mat e-loh-HEEM) n. The wisdom of God.




Wisdom of Solomon



(khohkh-mat she-LOH-moh) n. The wisdom of Solomon.




Wise (man)



(khah-KHAM) adj. Wise; sagacious; n. wise man; sage (note that Hebrew uses the word sakhal for prudence or circumspection; binah for discernment (or tevunah); arum for craftiness, and so on). A talmid chacham is a title given to one who is well-versed in Torah or Talmud.



Who are wise?
Those who learn from all people. (Avot 4:1)




Wise of heart



(khohkh-mat LAYV) n./adj. Wise; A wise heart; "Who is like the wise? And who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine, and the hardness of his face is changed" (Eccl. 8:1)




Witchcraft



(kee-SHOOF) n. Sorcery; witchcraft, soothsaying (all pagan/occult).  Sorcerers were outlawed in Israel and subject to the death penalty (Exodus 22:18). Sorcerers gained their supposed power from the powers of tumah (impurity). However, no weapon or spell cast against a true child of Adonai can be harmed by this, since ein 'od milvado - there is no power other than that of the Living God, who is Almighty and blessed forever.




Witness



(ay-DOHT) n. (sing. eidah). "Testimonials" (from the root 'ed, witness). Mitzvot that commemorate or represent something -- e.g., the commandments to put on tefillin, wear tzitzit, eat matzah on Passover, blow a shofar, etc. Since they commemorate or symbolically represent something, the eidot occupy a sort of middle ground between the rationally understandable mishpatim and the supra-rational chukkim. Note that a testimony is eidut in Hebrew.




Women's Section



(me-kheet-TSAH) n. Mechitzah. A traditional fixture (partition or divider) separating men and women at the synagogue.  Some of these are very decorative, with the words of Eshet Chayil written upon them. The women's section of the synagogue is called Ezrat Nashim (women's area). According to the Talmud (Sukkah 51b, 52a), many Orthodox rabbis believe that the women's section was biblically ordained.






Word (the)



(had-dah-VAHR) n. The Word (of Adonai) (John 1:1, 14). A title for Yeshua the Mashiach. See also the entry for logos.






Worship



(ah-voh-DAT ha-LAYV) n. Avodat ha-lev. The work of the heart; worship; service to God.

<< Return

Hebrew for Christians
Copyright © John J. Parsons
All rights reserved.