Y
Yad [picture]
Hebrew A pointer used when reading the Torah Scroll

Yada
Hebrew 1. To know; 2. To perceive

Yadayim
Hebrew 1. Defilement of the hands and their purification; 2. A tractate of of Tohorot

Yahadut
Hebrew 1. Judaism; 2. The body of Jewish religious thought, customs, symbols, rituals, and laws

Yahrtzeit
Yiddish The anniversary of someone’s death

Yalkut Shimoni
Hebrew Compilation of Midrashim on the entire Tanach

Yamim Noraim
Hebrew [lit.] Days of Awe

Yarmulke [picture]
Yiddish Head covering

Yechezkiel
Hebrew 1. Prophet and priest of the Jews; 2. The ninth book of the Nevi’im (Ezekiel)

Yehoshua
Hebrew 1. Leader of the Hebrews after Moshe’s death; 2. The first book of the Nevi’im (Joshua)

Yehudi (Yehudim pl.)
Hebrew Jew

Yehudah
Hebrew 1. Son of Joseph; 2. One of the 12 tribes of Israel; 3. Southern Kingdom

Yeriah
Hebrew Sheet of parchment

Yerida
Hebrew Descending

Yesha
Hebrew Acronym for  “Yehuda Shomron veAza” – Judea, Samaria and Gaza

Yeshayahu
Hebrew 1. Prophet of the Jews; 2. The seventh book of the Nevi’im (Isaiah)

Yeshiva (Yeshivot pl.)
Hebrew Jewish religious school where Torah is studied

Yeshiva Bochur
Hebrew An unmarried young man attending a yeshiva

Yesod
Hebrew Foundation

Yetzer Harah
Hebrew Evil inclination

Yetzer Hatov
Hebrew Good inclination

Yetziat Mitzraim
Hebrew Exodus from Egypt

Yevamos
Hebrew 1. Levirate marriage, prohibitions on marriage, testimony on the death of the husband; 2. A tractate of Nashim

Yid
Yiddish Jew

Yiddishkeit
Yiddish Jewish

Yirmiyahu
Hebrew 1. Prophet of the Jews; 2. The eighth book of the Nevi’im (Jeremiah)

Yisrael
Hebrew 1. Jacob’s holy name; 2. (Nation of) Israel

Yisrael Mumar
Hebrew Apostate Jew

Yizkor
Hebrew [lit. may He remember] Prayer in memory of the dead

Yizkor Rachel
Hebrew A day to commemorate the Jewish matriarch, Rachel’s, death

Yoel
Hebrew 1. Prophet of the Jews; 2. The eleventh book of the Nevi’im (Joel)

Yom
Hebrew 1. Day 2. Time 3. Year

Yom Chamishi
Hebrew Thursday

Yom HaAtzmaut
Hebrew A day of celebration commemorating the day Israel declared its independence

Yom HaDin
Hebrew [lit. day of judgment] Rosh Hashannah

Yom HaShoah
Hebrew A one-day holiday that celebrates the remembrance of the Shoah

Yom HaZikaron
Hebrew A day to remember those who fought for Israeli independence

Yom Kippur
Hebrew [lit. Day of Atonement] The holiest day of the Jewish year

Yom Revii
Hebrew Wednesday

Yom Rishon
Hebrew Sunday

Yom Sheni
Hebrew Monday

Yom Shishi
Hebrew Friday

Yom Shlishi
Hebrew Tuesday

Yom Shabbat
Hebrew Sabbath (Saturday)

Yom Tov (Yomim Tovim pl.)
Hebrew [lit. good day] Jewish holiday

Yom Tov Sheini Shel Goliut
Hebrew [lit. Second Holiday of the Diaspora] Second day of the holidays celebrated outside Israel

Yom Yerushalayim
Hebrew The celebration of the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967

Yoma
Hebrew 1. Sacrifices and the fast on Yom Kippur; 2. A tractate of Moed

Yomer
Hebrew 1. To say 2. To answer 3. To say in one’s heart 4. To think 5. To command 6. To promise 7. To intend new

Yomim Noraim (pl.)
Hebrew High Holy Days (High Holidays)

Yonah
Hebrew 1. Prophet of the Jews; 2. The fourteenth book of the Nevi’im (Jonah)

Yovel
Hebrew Jubilee Year

Yud
Hebrew 1. Tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet; 2. Represents the number ten

Z
Zaken
Hebrew [lit. elder] A person holding a position of honor

Zavah
Hebrew Extended or unusual uterine bleeding

Zavim
Hebrew 1. Secretions which render a person unclean; 2. A tractate of Tohorot

Zayde
Yiddish Grandfather

Zayin
Hebrew 1. Seventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet; 2. Represents the number seven

Zechariah
Hebrew 1. Prophet of the Jews; 2. The twentieth book of the Nevi’im

Zekainim (pl.)
Hebrew Elders

Zemirot
Hebrew Shabbat songs

Zeraim
Hebrew [lit. seeds] The first seder of the Mishnah/Talmud

Zero’a
Hebrew A shankbone of a kosher animal used at the Passover Seder

Zevachim
Hebrew 1. Animal and bird sacrifices in the Temple; 2. A tractate of Kodashim

Zeved HaBat
Hebrew Covenant service for girls according to Sephardi custom

Zichrono/Zichronah Livrachah
Hebrew [lit. of blessed memory] (often abbreviated as z”l)

Zichronot
Hebrew God’s remembrance of the covenant with Israel

Zimun
Hebrew Invitation to join together to praise God

Z’man Cheiruteinu
Hebrew [lit. the season of our liberation] Passover

Z’man Kodesh
Hebrew [lit.] Holy time

Z’man Matan Torateinu
Hebrew [lit. the season of the giving of Torah] Shavuot

Z’man Simchateinu
Hebrew [lit. the season of our rejoicing] Simchat Torah/Shemini Atzeret

Zmanim
Hebrew Times

Zmirot
Hebrew Shabbat songs

Zohar
Hebrew [lit. shining, splendor] Original text of Kabbalah

Z’roa
Hebrew Roasted shankbone