aliyah
Edit
Record a Pronunciation

Definitions

  • n. A calling to read from the Torah or perform hagba or gelilah in synagogue.

  • n. Ascent of the soul of a deceased person to a higher level, as is believed to happen on their yartzeit.

  • n. Immigration to Israel.

  • n. (capitalized) One of the major immigrations of Jews to Israel, such as the First and Second Aliyahs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

  • View More

Example Sentences

  • "This experience was a spiritual aliyah for me."

  • "Rachel made aliya last year."

  • "Noach has the first aliyah."

  • "May your mother's neshamah have an aliyah."

  • "Weren't you proud when Daddy had an aliyah?" (Glinert)

  • View More

Record a Sentence

Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Modern Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH עֲלִיָּה aliyá (or עלייה, esp. for 'immigration' sense) > Y עליה alíe

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Israel: Diaspora Jews who feel connected to Israel and have spent time there

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand
      • View More

      Dictionaries

      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
      • Yinglish: A Lexicon of Judeo-English by Aliza Bulow
      • View More

      Alternative Spellings

      alia, alie, aliya, alliyah

Notes

Edit     Something missing from this entry? Inaccurate? Feel free to suggest an edit.

Share this word: