Jewish Terms and their Meanings
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Group |
Description |
Reference |
| La Chayim | A toast meaning "to life". | |
| La'az, Le'azim | Originally meant a foreign language into which a Hebrew text, especially a sacred text, was translated. | |
| Ladino | Judeo-Spanish, the spoken and written Hispanic language of Jews of Spanish origin. | |
| Lag ba-Omer | The 33rd day of the counting of the Omer. | |
| Lashon ha-Ra | "Evil speech"; the prohibition against slandering, slurring, or defaming one's fellow Jews. | |
| Lashon Hara | Literally "evil speech", used to refer to things like slander and gossip; same as Lashon ha-Ra. | |
| Latkes | Potato pancakes | |
| Lavlar | Scribe, another name for "Sofer". | |
| Lehem ha-panim | "Bread of diplay", the showbread. | |
| Lehem oni | "Bread of affliction"; applied to unleavened bread. | |
| Lekah Tov, Midrash Lekah Tov | Late 11th-century Midrash on the Pentateuch and Five Scrolls by Tobias b. Eliezer. The author called it Lekah Tov which means "good doctrine". | |
| Lekesh | Cedar bark | |
| Leket | "Gleanings"; left for the poor. | |
| Levanah | The moon. | |
| Levir | brother of a man who died childless, and who was to marry his brother's widow. Same as "Yavam". | |
| Li-terufah | For Medicine | |
| Likkud | Union | |
| Likkut Azamot | Gathering of the bones. | |
| Lindor Neder | To vow a vow. | |
| Lishkat Ha-Gazith | Hall of Hewn Stones; building in which the Sanhedrin met. | |
| Loveh | A borrower | |
| Lu'ah | The calendar; same as "Ibbur ha-shanah". | |
| Luach, Luchot | Literally "tablet", as in the two tablets Moses broke when he came down from the mountain. Modern meaning is "calendar", as in "a pocket luach" and "a wall luach". Same as Lu'ah. | |
| Lulav | "A shoot", a young branch of a tree. |