cheder

Definitions

• Hebrew and religious classes (often on Sundays) for elementary school children.

Example Sentences

• When I was a kid we went to cheder on Sunday morning and two afternoons a week
• Their school's so run down, it's almost like a cheder! (Glinert)

Languages of Origin

• Textual Hebrew
• Yiddish

Etymology

• Yiddish חדר kheyder, from Hebrew חדר cheder room. The Yiddish word refers to a type of elementary school education in Eastern Europe.

Who Uses This

• Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
• Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
• Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

Regions

• Great Britain

Dictionaries

• The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
• 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).
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Alternative Spellings

kheyder, kheder, cheyder, khayder, chayder

Notes

• Another expansion of the cheder today is the Jewish day school (Rosten).