Adonai (ah-doh-NAI): LORD, used as a substitute for the name given to Moses at the burning bush.

Afikomen (ah-fee-KOH-men): On the Passover table is a plate with three matzot (plural for matzah). During the early part of the Seder the middle matzah is removed and broken in two. The larger half is called the Afikomen, and wrapped in a cloth and hidden.

Dayenu (die-AY-noo): “It would have been enough.” Also the title of a song sung during the Seder.

Charoset (khah-ROH-set): A chopped-apple mixture with honey and nuts that reminds one of the mortar made in Egypt.

Hallel (hah-LEL): Psalms 113 to 118, which were chanted in the Temple while the Passover lambs were slain.

Maror (mah-ROHR): The bitter herb (horseradish) representing the bitterness of slavery.

Matzah (MOTT-zah): Bread that has not risen and contains no yeast; Unleavened bread. Plural: Matzot.

Mikveh (MICK-vuh): The ritual of immersion in running water for ceremonial purity. Also, a small pool or basin where this takes place.

Omer (OH-mare): The counting of fifty days (seven weeks) after Passover, leading to the celebration of Shavuot.

Seder (SAY-der): Literally, “order”. The Passover Seder is the order of the Passover meal. There are many different Seder traditions. These are written in a document called a Haggadah (“telling”) that guides the Passover meal participants through the Seder.

Shavuot (shah-vu-OTE): The Feast of Weeks; a wheat-harvest festival that marks the end of the Counting of the Omer.

Sukkah (SOO-kuh): A small structure built as a temporary dwelling for the celebration of Sukkot. Observant Jews sleep in these at night, with a view of the stars, for the duration of the holiday.

Sukkot (soo-KOTE): The eight-day long Feast of Tabernacles; the seventh of God’s appointed times as given in Leviticus 23. Some experts have concluded that Jesus was born during Sukkot.

Torah (TORE-ah): “Law”. The first five books of the Bible. Also known as the “Law of Moses” or the Pentateuch.

Yeshua (yeh-SHOO-ah): Jesus’ Hebrew name; what his relatives and peers would have called him. Literally, “Salvation” or “God Saves.”