An encyclopedia of Jewish life

Symbols

Objects that accompany prayer, the festivals and the home – their origin, meaning and use.

An eight-branched lamp with a helper light, the shamash, in which one more light is lit each evening of Hanukkah.

The four species of plants – the etrog citron, a palm branch, myrtle and willow – over which a blessing is recited on Sukkot.

A braided candle with several wicks, over whose flame the blessing over fire is recited at havdalah at the end of Shabbat.

A wine cup over which kiddush and havdalah are recited on Shabbat and festivals.

A small head covering worn by Jewish men (and in some movements also by women) as an expression of reverence for God.

The seven-branched lampstand of the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem; one of the oldest Jewish symbols and the emblem of the State of Israel.

A parchment bearing two passages of the Torah, including the Shema Yisrael, fixed in a case to the doorpost of a Jewish home.

A plate with the symbolic foods for the Passover seder: bitter herbs, charoset, karpas, an egg and a bone.

A handwritten parchment scroll of the Five Books of Moses; the holiest object in the synagogue.

A four-sided spinning top with Hebrew letters, which children play with on Hanukkah for coins or sweets.

A horn (usually a ram's horn) sounded on Rosh Hashanah, at the end of Yom Kippur and during the month of Elul.

A temporary dwelling with a roof of plant material, in which meals are eaten during Sukkot and, as far as possible, people live.

A prayer shawl with tzitzit fringes at its four corners, worn during morning prayer.

Two black leather boxes containing Torah parchments, bound with straps to the arm and head during weekday morning prayer.