cheder
Pronunciations
Definitions
n. 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.
- 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
- Great Britain
- South Africa
- Australia / New Zealand
- 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).
- View More
Who Uses This
Regions
Dictionaries
Alternative Spellings
kheyder, kheder, cheyder, khayder, chayder
Notes
Another expansion of the cheder today is the Jewish day school (Rosten).
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