Ashkenazi Hebrew in the context of "Kosher"

A mikveh or Mikvah (Hebrew: מִקְוֶה / מקווה, Modern: mīqve, Tiberian: mīqwe, pl. mikva'ot, mikvot, or (Ashkenazic) mikves, lit. 'a collection') is a bath used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity.

In Orthodox Judaism, these regulations are steadfastly adhered to; consequently, the mikveh is central to an Orthodox Jewish community. Conservative Judaism also formally holds to the regulations. The existence of a mikveh is considered so important that, according to halacha, a Jewish community is required to construct a kosher mikveh even before building a synagogue, and must go to the extreme of selling Torah scrolls, or even a synagogue if necessary, to provide funding for its construction.

Torah reading (Hebrew: קריאת התורה, K'riat haTorah, "Reading [of] the Torah"; Ashkenazic pronunciation: Kriyas haTorah) is a Jewish religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) from the Torah ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation (trope), and returning the scroll(s) to the ark.It is also commonly called "laining" (lein is also spelt lain, leyn, layn; from the Yiddish לייענען (leyenen), which means "to read").

Regular public reading of the Torah was introduced by Ezra the Scribe after the return of the Judean exiles from the Babylonian captivity (c. 537 BCE), as described in the Book of Nehemiah. In the modern era, Orthodox Jews practice Torah reading according to a set procedure almost unchanged since the Talmudic era. Since the 19th century CE, Reform and Conservative Judaism have made adaptations to the practice of Torah reading, but the basic pattern of Torah reading has usually remained the same:

Shacharit [ʃaχaˈʁit] (Hebrew: שַחֲרִית šaḥăriṯ), or Shacharis in Ashkenazi Hebrew, is the morning tefillah (prayer) of Judaism, one of the three daily prayers.

Different traditions identify different primary components of Shacharit. Essentially all agree that pesukei dezimra, the Shema Yisrael and its blessings, and the Amidah are major sections. Some identify the preliminary blessings and readings, as a first, distinct section. Others say that Tachanun is a separate section, as well as the concluding blessings. On certain days, there are additional prayers and services added to shacharit, including Mussaf and a Torah reading.

The history of responsa in Judaism (Hebrew: שאלות ותשובות, Sephardic: She'elot Utshuvot, Ashkenazic: Sheilos Utshuvos; usually shortened to שו"ת Shu"t) spans a period of 1,700 years. Rabbinic responsa constitute a special class of Rabbinic literature, differing in form but not necessarily in content from Rabbinic commentaries devoted to the exegesis of the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud, and Halakha (Jewish law). The codes themselves contain the rules for ordinary incidents of life. The responsa literature covers all these topics and more.

The mode, style, and subject matter have changed as a function of the Jewish people's travels and the development of other halakhic literature, particularly the codes. Formulation of responsa, or she'elot ve-t'shuvot (questions and replies), generally involves an individual or group asking Jewish educators, legal decisors, rabbis, or heads of yeshivas about a predicament or topic for which the Halakha is unclear or non-existent and the responding party responding via informal or formal correspondence. Responsa remain important components of the Jewish legal system, being developed based on questions posed today. The development of responsa literature is divided into six periods: Tannaitic, Geonic, first Rabbinic, second Rabbinic, third Rabbinic, and fourth Rabbinic.

The brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה‎, Modern Israeli: [bʁit miˈla], Ashkenazi: [bʁis ˈmilə]; "covenant of circumcision"), or bris (Yiddish: ברית‎, Yiddish: [bʁɪs]), is the ceremony of circumcision in Judaism and Samaritanism during which a newborn male's foreskin is surgically removed. According to the Book of Genesis, God commanded the biblical patriarch Abraham to be circumcised: an act to be followed by his descendants on the eighth day of life symbolizing the covenant between God and the Jewish people. Today, it is generally performed by a mohel on the eighth day after the infant's birth and is followed by a celebratory meal known as a seudat mitzvah.

Brit milah is considered among the most important and central commandments in Judaism, and the rite has played a central role in Jewish history and civilization. The Talmud, when discussing the importance of brit milah, considers it equal to all other mitzvot (commandments). Abraham's descendants who voluntarily fail to undergo brit milah, barring extraordinary circumstances, are believed to suffer Kareth, which, in Jewish theology, the extinction of the soul and denial of a share in the World to Come. The brit is understood by Jews to signify acceptance into the ongoing covenant between God and the Jewish people, which is why gerim undergo a form of brit to finalize conversion.

The Western Wall (Hebrew: הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, romanized: HaKotel HaMa'aravi, lit. 'the western wall'; pronunciation; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: HaKosel HaMa'arovi) is an ancient retaining wall of the built-up hill known to Jews and Christians as the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. Its most famous section, known by the same name, often shortened by Jews to the Kotel or Kosel, is known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Arab world and Islamic world as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ٱلْبُرَاق, romanized: Ḥā'iṭ al-Burāq; ['ħaːʔɪtˤ albʊ'raːq]). In a Jewish religious context, the term Western Wall and its variations is used in the narrow sense, for the section used for Jewish prayer; in its broader sense it refers to the entire 488-metre-long (1,601 ft) retaining wall on the western side of the Temple Mount.

At the prayer section, just over half the wall's total height, including its 17 courses located below street level, dates from the end of the Second Temple period, and is believed to have been begun by Herod the Great. The very large stone blocks of the lower courses are Herodian, the courses of medium-sized stones above them were added during the Umayyad period, while the small stones of the uppermost courses are of more recent date, especially from the Ottoman period.

Tefillin (Hebrew: תְּפִלִּין or תְּפִילִּין; Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: [tfiˈlin]; Modern Israeli Hebrew pronunciation: [tefiˈlin]), or phylacteries, are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are traditionally worn by male adult Jews during Shacharit on weekdays.

In Orthodox and traditional Conservative Jewish (including Masorti) communities, they are worn solely by men; some Reform and Conservative communities allow Jewish adults to don tefillin regardless of gender. In Jewish law (Halakha), women are exempt from most time-dependent positive commandments (including the wearing of tefillin). Unlike other time-dependent positive commandments, most halakhic authorities rule that female Jews need not fulfill this commandment.

Shabbat (UK: /ʃəˈbæt/, US: /ʃəˈbɑːt/, or /ʃəˈbʌt/; Hebrew: שַׁבָּת‎, [ʃa'bat], lit. 'rest' or 'cessation') or the Sabbath (/ˈsæbəθ/), also called Shabbos (UK: /ˈʃæbəs/, US: /ˈʃɑːbəs/) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical stories describing the creation of the heaven and earth in six days and the redemption from slavery and the Exodus from Egypt. Since the Jewish religious calendar counts days from sunset to sunset, Shabbat begins in the evening of what on the civil calendar is Friday.

Shabbat observance entails refraining from work activities, often with great rigor, and engaging in restful activities to honor the day. Judaism's traditional position is that the unbroken seventh-day Shabbat originated among the Jewish people, as their first and most sacred institution. Variations upon Shabbat are widespread in Judaism and, with adaptations, throughout the Abrahamic and many other religions.