Each answer to this post should contain one of the following supplementary materials for Days of Awe - Mi Yodeya?:
Introduction
Glossary
The glossary should contain translations of all non-English terms that some of our readers may not be familiar with. It should also contain basic biographical and/or bibliographical information about all authorities quoted.
For convenience, the as-printed glossary from Purim - Mi Yodeya? is copied below; feel free to copy, paste, and adapt. The Mi Yodeya Glossary may also be helpful.
Please try to keep entries concise, preferably to one printed line, and no more than two. To help gauge line length, note that the entry for "Bigthan and Teresh" took almost exactly one line, and the entry for "Parashas Zachor" took almost exactly two. Please do not try to account for every possible alternative transliteration of each term.
Adar: The twelfth month of the Hebrew calendar. Purim occurs on the 14th of this month.
Achashverosh: An emperor of Persia who was a main character in the book of Esther (see 1:1).
Aruch Hashulchan: A summary of the great code of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch, written by Rabbi Yehiel Mihel Epstein, who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Avos (pirkei): A book of the Talmud, full of morality teachings.
Benjamin: A son of Jacob, in Genesis; also, the tribe descended from him.
Bach: Rabbi Yoel Sirkis (1561–1640); also, his book of Jewish law.
Bava Basra: A section of the Talmud that discusses Jewish monetary law, specifically with regard to property, inheritance, and documentation.
Beit Yosef: Rabbi Yosef Caro (1488–1575); also, one of his books of Jewish law.
Bigthan and Teresh: Minor characters in the book of Esther who plotted to kill Achashverosh.
Chanuka: A rabbinic holiday celebrating the Hasmonean triumph over the religiously repressive Seleucid occupation during the Second Temple Period.
Charvona: A Persian royal advisor from the Purim story.
Chida: Rabbi Hayim Joseph David Azulai. Born in Jerusalem. Died in the early 19th century.
Chametz: Risen dough, forbidden to eat or own on Passover.
David, King: The founder of the messianic line of Judite Kings. A leader, soldier, and psalmist.
Devarim: Deuteronomy, the final book of the Pentateuch.
Eliyahu: Elijah, a prophet in the biblical book of Kings. He didn’t die, and Jewish tradition places him at many later events.
Esther: A book of the Bible; also, one of its main characters, the empress consort of Persia.
Elya Zuta: The second portion of Tanna Dvei Eliyahu, a midrashic work.
Ezekiel: A book in the Jewish Bible, containing prophecies by a prophet of the same name.
Gemara: The Talmud. An analytic and practical analysis of Jewish Oral Tradition, compiled between the 4th and 6th centuries in two different collections from Jerusalem and Babylonia.
Gra: Rabbi Elijah son of Solomon Zalman Kremer, the Vilna Gaon, a leader of European Jewry who lived in the 18th century.
Hagaos Maimonios: A commentary on Maimonides’ code of Jewish law.
Haman: A Persian noble, descended from Amalek. Instigator of the decree against Persian Jewry; the primary antagonist of the Purim story.
Hegai: A Eunuch in Achashverosh’s court, appointed to the king’s concubines. Fond of Esther.
Isaiah: A book in the Jewish Bible, containing prophecies by a prophet of the same name.
Jebusite: Member of one of the seven nations of the land of Canaan (modern-day Israel).
Judges: A book in the Jewish Bible, written by the prophet and judge, Samuel.
Joshua: A book in the Jewish Bible, written by Joshua, the primary disciple of Moses and his successor, who lead the Israelites in their conquest of the Promised Land of Canaan.
Judah: The fourth son of Jacob by Leah. May also refer to the tribe of his descendents.
Kavyachol: “So to speak,” a term added to colloquial descriptions of God that seem to anthropomorphize Him, to clarify that the description in conceptual, not physical or human.
Kol Bo: A compilation of Jewish law of unknown authorship. Speculated to have been published as early as the 15th century.
Ksav Sofer: Rabbi Avraham Shemuel Binyamin Sofer (1815-1872, Bratislava); also, the books he wrote.
Malbim: Meir Leibush son of Yehiel Michel Wisser. Rabbi, gramarian, commentator. Lived in the 19th century.
Matanot leevyonim: A special commandment on Purim to give charity to the poor.
Mishloach Manos A special commandment on Purim to give packages of food to fellow Jews.
Maharil: Jacob son of Moses Levi Moelin. Lived in the 14th and 15th centuries in Germany.
Meam Loez: Commentary on Tanakh, written in Ladino by Rabbi Jacob Culi in 1730.
Megilla: Megillat Esther, the Scroll of Esther. Also, a section of the Talmud that discusses the reading of Megillat Esther, and the rabbinic holiday of Purim.
Midrash: A vast body of Rabbinic teachings that expound upon the Jewish Bible.
Midrash Rabah: A midrashic work on the Pentateuch and the Five Scrolls (Canticles, Ruth, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther).
Mishlei: Proverbs, a book of the Jewish Bible composed by King Solomon, son of King David, and under King Hezekiah of the Judean Kingdom.
Mordechai: A member of the High Courts and a leader of Persian Jewry, Esther’s cousin.
Mordechai, The: Mordechai son of Hillel. A Rabbi in Germany. Lived during the 13th century.
Nitei Gavriel: A collection of books about Jewish Law, written by Rabbi Gavriel Zinner, contemporary, of New York.
Orach Chaim: The section of the Shulchan Aruch code of Jewish law that deals with general laws of Jewish life throughout the calendar year, such as prayers, sabbath, and holidays.
Pesachim: A section of the Talmud that discusses the festival of Passover and its laws.
Pirsumei nissa: Publicizing the miracle.
Parashas Zachor: A portion of the Pentateuch that is read every year on the Sabbath before Purim, and is meant to remind every Jew of the biblical obligation to erase the nation of Amalek.
Purim: Literally, “lots.” A celebration of the Divine Providence surrounding the genocidal decree against Persian Jewry by Haman, and the subsequent salvation that took place.
Raavyah: Eliezer son of Joel the Levite. German rabbi who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Radak: Rabbi David Kimhi, a medieval commentator from southern France who lived in the 12th and 13th centuries.
Rama: Rabbi Moses Isserles. Born in Krakow, Poland. Wrote commentary on Shulchan Aruch that appears within the original text. Lived in the 16th century.
Rashi: Rabbi Solomon Isaacides, a beloved and prolific commentator on the Jewish Bible and the Babylonian Talmud. Lived in the 11th and 12th centuries in Troyes, France.
Rav Hai Gaon: Hai son of Sherira. Head of Pumpedita Academy in modern-day Iraq. Lived in the 10th and 11th centuries.
Shushan Purim: 15th of Adar, a second day of Purim celebrated in historically walled cities.
Talmud: See Gemara.
Tora T’mima: Commentary on the Pentateuch and Five Scrolls by Rabbi Baruch Epstein, a
Lithuanian rabbi who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Vashti: Ahauserus’ first wife, put to death for refusing a royal command.
Yehoshua: See Joshua.
Zephania: A book in the Prophets section of the Jewish Bible, composed by a prophet of the same name.
