A Rabbinic Glossary

Aggadah: Discourse; the narrative aspects of the Jewish tradition.

Gemara: Commentary on the Mishnah. Mishnah + Gemara = Talmud.

Halakhah: Law; the legal aspects of the Jewish tradition.

Ha-shem: "the Name"; a way to refer to God's unpronounceable name (YHVH).

Kadosh: Holy; separate.

Kavod: Literally, "the glory of God".

Midrash: "the act and process of interpretation" (Holtz). A narrative interpreting or expanding upon Biblical verses ("to search out").

Mishnah: "Recitation": compilation of Oral Law around 200 CE

Mitzvah: Commandment. Also, "good deed." Plural mitzvot. According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613 mitzvot in the Torah.

Oral Law: The tradition that in addition to the written law (Torah) revealed at Sinai, there was also an oral law which has been faithfully transmitted every generation.

Rabbi: Teacher; someone authorized as an interpreter of Torah.

Shekhina: Literally, "divine presence." Later, hypostasized (an abstract concept described as a person) as a female aspect of divinity.

Talmud: "Study": the commentaries upon the Mishnah compiled in Palestine (ca. 450), and Babylonia (ca. 600).

Tannaim: The authorities who appear in the Mishnah and early midrashic collections.

Torah: Teaching. Also, the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Also, by extension, the two torahs, oral and written (Bible and Talmuds).