Ark of the Covenant - A box containing the ten commandments. Priests carried it in processions and then housed it in the tabernacle.
Canaanites - The people amoung whom the Israelites settled on their return from slavery in Egypt. Canaan comprised the area bordered by the Sea of Galilee, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea.
Baal - A god or gods of Canaan. Baals were landlords, or keepers of the land. Canaanites worshiped them to make crops grow.
Asherah - A goddess of Canaan and a couterpart to the male god, Baal. She was another example of the Mediteranean Mother Goddess.
Essenes - A groups of pious Jews of the First Century who lived in seperate communities and practices ritual washing and other acts for purity. Some scholars think that the inhabitants of the Qumran community, near the dead sea, were Essenes.
Diaspora - A Greek word for the dispersion of Jews. These were the Jews who lived outside the Holy Land.
Aggadah - The non-legal, story aspect of Rabbinic literature. It is distinguished from Halakhah, the legal side of Judaism.
Allegorical Method - Interperting the symbols of an earlier age in the meanings of a later age, Seeking the spiritual as well as the historical meaning of scriptures.
Ashkenazim - A yiddish speaking group of Jews who settled in the central and northern Europe. The term in Hebrew refers to Germany.
Days of Awe - In Judaism, ten days in the fall of the year when Jews observes their New Year and a period of prayer and self-examination, ending with Yom Kippur. Also known as the High Holy Days.
Bar Mitzvah - The ceremony that recognizes a thirteen year-old Jewish boy as a son of the commandment. He is considered adult and responsible for his religious duties.
Bat Mitzvah - In reform and concervative Judaism, the ceremony that recognizes a daughter of the commandment, a Jewish female between twelve and fourteen years of age, she is considered an adult responsible for her religious duties.