havurah

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Pronunciations

havurah (chah-voo-RAH) listen
havurah (cha-VOO-rah) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A group of friends; usually a social or religious group, sometimes within a synagogue.

  • n. Society.

Example Sentences

  • "My Havurah meets monthly for Shabbat dinner and to socialize. The Havurah meets at Moshe's house this week for Shabbat services."

  • "The Havura began with a group of Jews who were interested in developing an inclusive and egalitarian community with programs and the services to accommodate different approaches to Judaism." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Aramaic
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • MH חבורה k havura

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      havura, chavurah, chavura, khavura, khavurah, chavura, chavurah

Notes

  • "Some havurot offer a creative, free-thinking interpretation of prayers and holiday rituals, while others are strictly traditional. The earliest groups included Hasidic practices, such as group dances, chanting, and meditation, in their worship services. Havurot were originally a counterculture movement of Jews who were not affiliated with a synagogue, although it is now common for synagogues to sponsor havurot for congregants with particular interests, such as equal participation for women or a Zionist perspective. Some havurot get together every Shabbat, others only on holidays or for festive meals." (JPS)

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