kedusha

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).

Alternative Spellings

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