ark

"the cabinet at the front of an Ashkenazic synagogue that houses the Torah scroll." (JPS)

BCE

Before the Common Era (used in place of B.C.). Steinmetz: "...recently, a new awareness of the Christian character of these abbreviations have led many Jewish writers and editors to replace them with [C.E. And B.C.E.]"

boychick

"A young boy...equivalent of the American expression 'buddy'" (JPS)

candle lighting

"the custom of lighting candles to welcome the Sabbath" (JPS); the exact time at which holiday and Shabbos candles are supposed to be lit by according to Jewish law.

day school

Jewish grade school, where students learn both Jewish and secular subjects. "The general name given to private Jewish schools" in the United States and Canada (JPS)

glatt

Super-kosher (not only of food), or acceptable to the Haredi community.

Showing consistency of reason (Weiser).

Jew by Choice

A convert to Judaism.

matzoh ball

dumpling made with matzah meal and eggs and generally served in chicken soup

Sephardic

Jews whose ancestors came from the Iberian Peninsula before the Jewish expulsion

shluffy

[to go] to sleep (child-directed speech)

The Chosen People

refers to the jewish people as a whole having a unique relationship with god; (translation of hebrew phrase "am nivchar")

unveiling

the ceremony marking the unveiling of a deceased person's headstone one year after his or her burial