- agora (pl., agorot)
-
An Israeli coin. One hundred agorot equal one new Israeli
shekel--NIS (q.v.).
- aliyah (pl., aliyot)
-
Literally, going up. The immigration of Jews to Eretz Yisrael,
or the Land of Israel. Historians have classified five major
periods of immigration to Israel, as follows: First Aliyah
(1882- 1903); Second Aliyah (1904-14); Third Aliyah (1919-23);
Fourth Aliyah (1924-31); and Fifth Aliyah (1932-39).
- Asefat Hanivharim (Constituent Assembly)
-
The Yishuv's parliamentary body and the Knesset's predecessor.
- Ashkenazim (sing., Ashkenazi)
-
Jews of European origin.
- bar
-
Son of; frequently used in personal names, as Bar-Lev.
- ben
-
Son of; frequently used in personal names, as Ben-Gurion.
- Bund
-
A political labor organization of Jewish workers founded
in Vilna, Lithuania in 1987. The name is an abbreviation in
Yiddish for The General Union of Jewish Workers in Russia,
Lithuania, and Poland. The Bund opposed Zionism and viewed
Yiddish as the only secular Jewish language.
- Conservative Jews
-
Accept the primacy of halakah (q.v.) but have introduced
modifications in liturgy and ritual.
- Diaspora
-
Refers to the Jews living in scattered communities outside
Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel) during and after the Babylonian
Captivity (sixth century B.C.) and, especially, after the
dispersion of the Jews from the region after the destruction
of the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 and the Bar-Kokhba
War in A.D. 132- 35. In modern times the word refers to the
Jews living outside Palestine or present-day Israel. When
the word is applied--usually lowercased--to non-Jews, such
as the Palestinian Arab refugees, the word describes the situation
of the people of one country dispersed into other countries.
- Druze(s)
-
Member of a religious community that constitutes a minority
among Arabic-speaking Palestinians in Israel. Druze beliefs
contain elements of Shia (q.v.) Islam, Christianity,
and paganism.
- fiscal year (FY)
-
Begins April 1 and ends March 31; FY 1988, for example, began
April 1, 1988, and ended March 31, 1989.
- Gaza Strip
-
former Egyptian territory occupied by Israel in the June
1967 War.
- GDP (gross domestic product)
-
A value measure of the flow of domestic goods and services
produced by an economy over a period of time, such as a year.
Only output values of goods for final consumption and intermediate
production are assumed to be included in final prices. GDP
is sometimes aggregated and shown at market prices, meaning
that indirect taxes and subsidies are included; when these
have been eliminated, the result is GDP at factor cost. The
word gross indicates that deductions for depreciation of physical
assets have not been made. See also GNP.
- GNP (gross national product)
-
GDP (q.v.) plus the net income or loss stemming
from transactions with foreign countries. GNP is the broadest
measurement of the output of goods and services by an economy.
It can be calculated at market prices, which include indirect
taxes and subsidies. Because indirect taxes and subsidies
are only transfer payments, GNP is often calculated at factor
cost, removing indirect taxes and subsidies.
- Golan Heights
-
former Syrian territory occupied by Israel in the June 1967
War and formally annexed by Israel in 1981.
- Greater Syria
-
Term used by historians and others to designate the region
that includes approximately the present-day states of Jordan,
Israel, Lebanon, and Syria before those states were formed.
- Green Line
-
name given to the 1949 Armistice lines that constituted the
de facto borders of pre-1967 Israel.
- Haganah
-
Literally, defense. Abbreviation for Irgun HaHaganah, the
Jewish defense organization formed in 1919-20 by volunteers
in early Jewish communities as home guards for protection
against hostile bands. It became the military arm of the Jewish
Agency (q.v.) and went underground during the British
Palestine Mandate period (1922-48) when it was declared illegal.
Along with the Jewish Brigade, which fought with the Allied
forces in World War II, it formed the nucleus of the Israel
Defense Forces (IDF) established in 1948.
- HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim
B'Eretz Yisrael (General Federation of Laborers in the Land
of Israel)
-
Commonly known as Histadrut. Founded in 1920, this national-
level organization was also the nation's largest single employer
after the government. Histadrut performs many economic and
welfare services in addition to trade union activities; leadership
of Histadrut has generally been drawn from the Labor Party
and its predecessors.
- halakah
-
Either those parts of the Talmud that concern legal matters
or an accepted decision in rabbinical law. Sometimes translated
as religious law.
- Hasid (pl., Hasidim)
-
Member of a religious movement, known as Hasidism, founded
in the eighteenth century by Israel Ben-Eliezer Baal Shem
Tov in Eastern Europe. The movement, still active in the 1980s,
stresses the importance of serving God in ecstasy and has
strong mystical elements.
- Irgun
-
An abbreviation for Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization).
Established in 1937 as an underground Jewish extremist organization,
also known as Etzel, derived from the pronounced initials
of its Hebrew name. A more extreme group, known as the Stern
Gang (q.v.), broke away from it in 1939. Both groups
were especially active during and after World War II against
the British authorities in Palestine. Both maintained several
thousand armed men until all Israeli forces were integrated
in June 1948.
- Israeli pound
-
see new Israeli shekel.
- Jewish Agency
-
Representing the World Zionist Organization as its executive
body, the Jewish Agency works in close cooperation with the
government of Israel, encourages and organizes immigration
of Jews into the country, and assists in their social and
economic integration.
- Keren HaYesod
-
Literally, Israel Foundation Fund. The central fiscal institution
of the World Zionist Organization that finances its activities
in Israel.
- kibbutz (pl., kibbutzim)
-
An Israeli collective farm or settlement, cooperatively owned
and operated by its members and organized on a communal basis.
- Knesset
-
Israel's parliament, a unicameral legislature of 120 members
elected by universal suffrage for four-year terms; the Knesset
may, through legislative procedures, call for elections before
the end of the regular term or postpone elections in time
of war.
- Ladino
-
Language based on medieval Castilian but with Hebrew suffixes
and written in Hebrew alphabet; developed and used by Sephardim
(q.v.).
- Law of Return
-
Passed by Knesset in July 1950 stating that "Every Jew has
the right to come to (Israel) as an olah (new immigrant)."
- Lehi
-
Acronym for Lohamei Herut Yisrael, literally, Fighters for
Israel's Freedom, a former resistance and political organization,
created in 1939 and disbanded under pressure in 1948. Commonly
known as the Stern Gang. See also Irgun.
- moshav (pl., moshavim)
-
A cooperative smallholders' settlement of individual farms
in Israel. Individuals own their farms and personal property.
Work is organized collectively, equipment is used cooperatively,
and produce is marketed jointly. There are several variants
including the moshav ovdim, a workers' cooperative
settlement, and the moshav shitufi, a collective
smallholders' settlement that combines the economic features
of a kibbutz (q.v.) with the social features of a
moshav. Farming is done collectively, and profits are shared
equally.
- new Israeli shekel (NIS)
-
In September 1985, the new Israeli shekel (NIS) went into
circulation, replacing the Israeli shekel that had existed
since 1980. (Before 1980 the Israeli currency was called the
Israeli pound or lira.) The NIS is equivalent to 1,000 old
Israeli shekels and is divided into 100 agorot. The requirement
for the NIS stemmed from the very rapid inflation rate of
the preceding years, which also resulted in dramatic devaluation
of the old shekel against foreign currencies; for example,
from 1980 to 1985 the old shekel lost value against the United
States dollar by 25,000 percent. As of August 1986, the NIS
was no longer pegged to the United States dollar but rather
to a trade-weighted basket of foreign currencies: 60 percent
United States dollar, 20 percent West German deutschmark,
10 percent British pound, 5 percent French franc, and 5 percent
Japanese yen. The currency notes in circulation are 5, 10,
50, and 100 NIS. The approximate exchange rate for the new
Israeli shekel and the United States dollar in 1988 was NIS
1.6 = US$1.00.
- Oriental Jews
-
See Sephardim.
- Orthodox Jews
-
Adherents of that branch of Judaism that insists on a rigid
and strict observance of halakah (q.v.) and an emphasis
on national ritual conformity.
- Pale of Settlement
-
Area of twenty-five provinces of czarist Russia within which
Jews were allowed to live, outside of which they could reside
only with specific permission.
- Palmach
-
Abbreviation for Pelugot Mahatz, shock forces. In British
Palestine and until June 1948, it was a commando section of
the Jewish military forces. Organized in 1941 to provide the
Haganah (q.v.) with a mobile force, it consisted
of young men mostly from kibbutzim, who took military training
while working part-time at farming, serving in cooperation
with the British army, without pay or uniforms.
- Reform Jews (sometimes called Progressive
or Liberal Jews)
-
emphasize rationalism and ethical behavior, reject the absolute
authority of halakah, and assert the private religious nature
of Judaism.
- sabra (pl., sabras)
-
From Hebrew word meaning "a prickly pear," but adapted to
mean a native-born Israeli Jew.
- Sephardim (sing., Sephardi; adj.,
Sephardic)
-
Basically Jews whose families were of Spanish or Portuguese
origin, wherever resident; historically, they tended to speak
Ladino (q.v.) or Arabic. The term is often applied
to those Jews who are not Ashkenazim. Since the 1960s, Sephard
have often been called Oriental Jews.
- Shabbat
-
Sabbath, observed from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset.
- Shia (or Shiite, from Shiat Ali, the Party
of Ali)
-
A member of the smaller of the two great divisions of Islam.
The Shias supported the claims of Ali and his line to presumptive
right to the caliphate and leadership of the Muslim community,
and on this issue they divided from the Sunnis (q.v.).
Shias revere Twelve Imams, the last of whom is believed to
be hidden from view.
- Stern Gang
-
See Lehi.
- Sunni (from sunna, meaning orthodox)
-
A member of the larger of the two great divisions of Islam.
The Sunnis supported the traditional method of election to
the caliphate and accepted the Umayyad line. On this issue
they divided from the Shias (q.v.) in the first great
schism within Islam.
- Talmud
-
Literally, teaching. Compendium of discussions on the Mishnah
(the earliest codification of Jewish religious law, largely
complete by 200 A.D.), by generations of scholars and jurists
in many academies over a period of several centuries. The
Jerusalem (or Palestinian) Talmud mainly contains the discussion
of the Palestinian sages. The Babylonian Talmud incorporates
the parallel discussions in the Babylonian academies.
- Torah
-
The first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy; often called the Pentateuch or the
Law of Moses. In a broader sense, the entire body of traditional
religious teaching and study.
- ulpan (pl., ulpanim)
-
center for study, particularly for the study of Hebrew by
adult immigrants to Israel.
- West Bank
-
The area of Palestine west of the Jordan River seized from
Jordan by Israel in the June 1967 War. In 1988 it remained
Israeli- occupied territory and was not recognized by the
United States government as part of Israel. Israelis refer
to this area as Judea and Samaria.
- World Zionist Organization (WZO)
-
Founded in August 1897 at the First Zionist Congress called
by Theodor Herzl at Basel, Switzerland. The movement, named
after Mount Zion in Jerusalem, was designed to establish in
Palestine a national home for Jews scattered throughout the
world. Since 1948 its efforts have been devoted primarily
to promoting unity of the Jewish people and raising funds.
In 1929 it established the Jewish Agency (q.v.).
Until 1960 its formal name was Zionist Organization, but word
World added in new constitution.
- yeshiva (pl., yeshivot)
-
Traditional rabbinical school for the study of Talmud (q.v.).
- Yiddish
-
A language based on medieval Rhineland German used by Jews
in eastern, northern, and central Europe and in areas to which
Jews from these regions migrated. It also contains elements
of Hebrew, Russian, and Polish, and it is commonly written
in Hebrew characters.
- Yishuv
-
The Jewish community in Palestine before statehood. Also
used in referring to the period between 1900 and 1948.