kedusha

Alternative Spellings

kedushah, qedusha, k'dusha, Kedushah, Kedusha, kedushe

Definitions

• holiness, sanctity
• a responsive prayer sung/recited by the shaliach tzibbur (prayer leader) and congregation as part of the Amidah in a minyan

Example Sentences

• "That's why this custom of a heykhe kdushe developed in the first place - so that people pressed for time and therefore unable to wait for a full-length chazaras ha-shatz could at least khap arayn the Kedushah with the chazzan before finishing the rest of the Shemoneh Esreh on their own."
• "When you meet one of these great rabbis, you feel an aura of kedusha about them." (Glinert)

Languages of Origin

Textual Hebrew

Etymology

קדושה Heb. kedusha, Yid. kedushe (holiness)

Who Uses This

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

Regions

North America

Dictionaries

The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).