alef-bet - (Hebrew) alphabet

shtender - a standing podium where one places one's books in order to stand and study there (Yiddish)

rav - rabbi

rosh yeshiva - head of the school

Sha'arei ha-Kochavim - lit. "Gates of the Stars" (making this, yes, the Stargate Yeshiva)

kippah - head-covering traditionally worn by men

mishna - lit. "repetition," this is tearly rabbinic redaction of oral teachings; Mishnah on wikipedia

gemara - commentary and teachings on mishna; Gemara on wikipedia. Together, mishna + gemara fight crime! make up the Talmud, a.k.a. Oral Torah.

Tur - The Tur is short for Arba'ah Turim, an early work of Jewish legal thinking; the author is also commonly called by the name of his book, rather than by his own name

mincha - afternoon prayer

maariv - evening prayer

to bentsch - to make the blessings after meals (Yiddish)

beis midrash - house of study, study hall

shiur - lesson or class

mussar - ethics or self-refinement; a 19th-entury movement which arose in Orthodox circles, particularly Lithuanian/Litvak ones; Mussar on wikipedia

bar/bat mitzvah - "son/daughter of the commandments," the coming-of-age which happens at age 12 (girls) or 13 (boys)

frum - religious, observant (I think this is Yiddish but I'm not sure!)

illui - genius

halakha - usually translated as "Jewish law," this term comes from the root meaning "to walk," so it can also be read as "the Jewish path" or "the Jewish way of walking"

shacharis - morning prayer (in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, shacharit)

to daven - to pray

chevrusa - study partner; Jewish learning is traditionally done in dyads, not alone (in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, chevruta)

Shulchan Aruch - "The Set Table," a compilation of halakha written in the 16th century which is still considered authoritative; Shulchan Aruch on wikipedia

se'if - section (e.g. section of a text; like a paragraph, more or less)

ad d'lo yada - "until one cannot tell the difference" (Aramaic)

baal teshuvah - lit. "master of repentance," this term connotes someone who has chosen Orthodoxy

Hassidische - this basically means "Hasidic;" in context, a Hassidische yeshiva would be a yeshiva which is more Hasidic in tone or style or outlook. (Yiddish.)

Mitnagdische - in the early years of Hasidism, a group arose which was opposed to Hasidic thinking; they calld themselves Mitnagdim, "Opponents." So mitnagdische is the opposite of hasidische. (Yiddish.)

ashrei - the first word (which means it doubles as the informal title) of a prayer which begins, "Happy are those who dwell in Your house..."

Hasidus - the study of Hasidism and/or Hasidic texts (see Hasidic Judaism on wikipedia). Hasidus is the Ashkenazic pronunciation; in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew the term is Hasidut.

middot - qualities, aspects, attributes

chutz l'aretz - outside the land (of Israel)

rebbetzin - rabbi's wife

Bais Yaacov - a family of Orthodox day schools for girls; Bais Yaakov on wikipedia

Tanya - the common name of the book Likkutei Amarim, a work by the founder of Chabad Hasidism; see Tanya on wikipedia

Me'or Eynayim - "The Light of the Eyes," this is a Hasidic commentary written by Rabbi Menachem Nahum of Chernobyl

sefer - book

niggun - wordless melody

Kadosh Baruch Hu - Holy One, Blessed Be He (a name for God)

atzilus - in the four-worlds schema, this is the world of essence, the highest world

boker tov / boker or - a paired set of morning greetings ("Good morning," "A morning of light!")

beis knesset - house of gathering or assembly; an idiom meaning "synagogue"

tefillin - sometimes called phylacteries; tefillin on wikipedia

retzuot - the leather straps of the tefillin

shadchan - someone who arranges marriages

tallis - prayer shawl (in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, tallit)

laila tov - good night

glatt kosher - extremely kosher

Shabbos - the Sabbath (in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, Shabbat)

mikvah - ritual bath; see mikvah on wikipedia

streiml - tall round fur hat worn by various Hasidic sects (men only) on Shabbat; see a picture of one, plus descriptions of many kinds, here on wikipedia.

zemiros - Shabbat songs (in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, zemirot)

Yiddische - (adj) Yiddish

bris - short for brit milah, the covenantal circumcision of baby boys on the eighth day of life; see brit milah on wikipedia (brit is the Sefardic/Israeli pronunciation)

Pesach - Passover

lernensteiger - a particular melodic mode for chanting texts that one is learning

trop - a melodic mode of cantillation; lernensteiger is one, and there are several forms of trop for chanting sacred texts at different times of year

shomer negiah - "guard (of one's own) touch," someone who is shomer negiah does not touch members of the opposite sex. See shomer negiah on wikipedia.

kittel - a white garment traditionally worn by men on festivals, and for wedding and burial.

chol ha-moed - the intermediate days of a festival such as Pesach or Sukkot, which have lesser ritual status than the first days and last days

Omer - "measures;" counting the Omer is a process of measuring out the days between the festival of Passover and the festival of Shavuot

Hashem - "The Name," a name for God

Hashem Yisbarach - "The Name, May He Be Blessed" (again, Ashkehazic pronunciation; Sefardic would be Yitbarach)

Baruch Hashem - blessed is God (an exclamation)

tzitzis - the fringes on a prayer shawl and/or on the "tallit katan" or arba kanfos, the fringed undergarment worn by men (here, again, tzitzis is the Ashkenazic pronunciation; in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew it would be tzitzit.)

sechel - wisdom

shlichim - "messengers," those sent out into the world to encourage lapsed Jews to become more observant

keiruv - "drawing-near," this term means outreach to other Jews

eruv - a legal term denoting an enclosure of buildings such that they can be considered to be all one property (more or less) in order to permit one to carry materials from one building to another on Shabbat. (It's complicated. Try eruv on wikipedia if you're curious.)

kabbalas Shabbos - "receiving" or "welcoming Shabbat;" the psalms and songs of the Friday evening service

mechitzah - the curtain or separation between where men sit and pray, and where women sit and pray

aron - cupboard; in context here it means the ark in which a Torah scroll is stored

yeshiva bucher - yeshiva student

arba kanfos - the four-cornered fringed garment worn by men beneath their other clothes

schluff - sleep; nap (Yiddish)

moshiach-tzeit - messiah-time (Yiddish) (it's a colloquialism, run with it)

havdalah - "separation," the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat and return to weekday consciousness

kal v'chomer - "if this is true, how much more so that would be true," shorthand for a common line of Talmudic reasoning

bein ha-meitzarim - "between the straits," a term used for the Three Weeks of mourning before Tisha b'Av

Sivan, Tamuz, Av - all months in the lunar calendar

Tisha b'Av - the 9th of the lunar month of Av; a commemoration of many tragic events (see Tisha b'Av on wikipedia)

va'ad - committee of rabbis

pasuk / psukim - verse / verses

Iggeres Ha-Mussar - a classic work of Mussar (ethics / personal refinement) by Israel Salanter

anochiyut - egocentrism

gaavah - pride

yetzer ha-ra - evil or wicked impulse; its partner is the yetzer ha-tov, the good impulse

Chazal - an acronym meaning "Our sages, of blessed memory"

sin'at chinam - senseless hatred

birchot ha-shachar - morning blessings; part of the morning liturgy

psukei d'zimrah - a series of psalms recited in morning prayer

talmid chacham - a wise student

niddah - the laws of "family purity," e.g. laws concerning when a man and wife may and may not be intimate

kashrus - in Sefardic/Israeli Hebrew, kashrut; the laws concerning what is and isn't appropriate to eat

hashkafa - practice

Tu b'Shvat - the 15th of the lunar month of Shvat; the "New Year of the Trees" (Tu BiShvat on wikipedia)

bikkur cholim - caring for the sick

The End