tikkun

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Pronunciations

tikkun (TEE-koon) listen

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Definitions

  • n. "A volume containing the Hebrew text of the Chumash...without vowels or accents [trop] [usually side by side with the text with vowels and trop] to help the...reader prepare for the public reading of the Torah" (Steinmetz, Dictionary of Jewish Usage).

  • n. "An improvement or rectification of a penitent soul' (Steinmetz, Dictionary of Jewish Usage).

  • n. A shot of liquor drunk in honor of a yahrzeit (Steinmetz, Dictionary of Jewish Usage).

Example Sentences

  • "As you enter the year leading up to your bat mitzvah, we wanted to give you a tikkun as a gift."

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Heb. תיקון / תִּקּוּן‎ 'rectification, making right, improvement, repair, restoration' (plural תיקונים / תִּקּוּניִם tikkunim) > Yid. תּיקון tikn 'improvement, redress' (plural תּיקונים tikunim)

      • 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)

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa
      • Australia / New Zealand
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      Dictionaries

      • The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).

      Alternative Spellings

      tikun, tikn

Notes

  • Plural tikkunim.

    "It is customary among Hasidim to drink a toast to the soul of a deceased person on his yahrzeit as a tikkun" (Steinmetz, Dictionary of Jewish Usage).

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