Shiur Glossary
A glossary of common words and phrases used in shiurim.
Adam Rishon
אדם הראשוןThe first human being; in Jewish mystical teachings, also a way of describing humanity's shared spiritual root.
Example: The idea of Adam Rishon helps explain how individual souls can be connected.
Pronunciation: ah-DAHM hah-ree-SHOHN (Israeli); AH-dum hah-RISH-on (Ashkenazic)
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Adam Rishon is the Adam of Bereishis. Some Kabbalistic teachings also speak of the souls of humanity as rooted in an original, inclusive spiritual reality. That is a mystical interpretation, not simply another name for the biblical individual.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Listen for this term when Reb Joey discusses the unity of souls, human identity, creation, or what precedes our sense of separation.
Ahavas Hashem
אהבת השםLove of Hashem; love of God expressed through relationship, desire, and divine service.
Example: Ahavas Hashem can grow through contemplation, gratitude, and prayer.
Pronunciation: ah-hah-VAHT hah-SHEM; Ashkenazic: ah-HAH-vas hah-SHEM
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Ahavas Hashem is more than an emotion one waits to feel. In many Chassidic teachings it involves cultivating awareness of Hashem and allowing that awareness to move the heart toward connection. It is often considered alongside yirah, reverence or awe.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Relevant to shiurim about prayer, the heart, spiritual longing, and love that is not dependent on a particular mood.
Ahavas Yisrael
אהבת ישראלLove of fellow Jews; recognizing and caring for the dignity and spiritual worth of another person.
Example: Ahavas Yisrael asks us to see beyond another person's outward struggles.
Pronunciation: ah-hah-VAHT yees-rah-EL; Ashkenazic: ah-HAH-vas yis-RAH-el
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Ahavas Yisrael is rooted in the Torah's obligation to love one's fellow. Chassidus often develops this into an inner practice: looking past surface differences and remembering the deeper bond between Jewish souls. It does not mean ignoring harm or abandoning healthy boundaries.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Listen for it in discussions of compassion, community, judging favorably, and the way we meet another person's pain.
Achdus
אחדותUnity or oneness; the quality of being fundamentally connected rather than ultimately separate.
Example: Achdus does not require every person or experience to look the same.
Pronunciation: akh-DOOT; Ashkenazic: AKH-dus
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Achdus can refer to unity among people, but in Chassidus it also points to the deeper oneness of existence in its divine source. Difference remains real at the level of ordinary experience; the teaching asks what holds differences together.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Especially useful when hearing about multiplicity emerging from the One, divine unity, and the relationship between souls.
Acharis HaYamim
אחרית הימיםThe end of days; a biblical and rabbinic expression for a future era associated with redemption.
Example: The prophets describe changes that will unfold in acharis hayamim.
Pronunciation: ah-khah-REET hah-yah-MEEM; Ashkenazic: akh-a-RIS hah-YAH-mim
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The phrase refers to the latter days or an ultimate future horizon. Different biblical, rabbinic, and mystical sources describe that future in different ways. Its spiritual significance often includes the hope that hidden truth, justice, and divine presence will be more fully recognized.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Listen for it in shiurim about geulah, Mashiach, historical transformation, and the future song.
Ain / Ayin
איןNothingness or 'no-thingness'; in Chassidic and Kabbalistic usage, reality beyond ordinary categories of separate existence.
Example: The transition from ayin to yesh is not simply a change from emptiness to an object.
Pronunciation: AH-yin (often also pronounced EIN, depending on context)
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In everyday Hebrew, ein can mean 'there is not.' In mystical teachings, ayin does not usually mean a meaningless void. It may point to a source that cannot be grasped as one discrete thing among others. It is often paired with yesh, apparent somethingness, and with discussions of creation.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Helpful for teachings on selfhood, bitul, creation, the hidden source, and the limits of language.
Aliyah
עלייהAn ascent; also a call to the Torah during public reading or immigration to the Land of Israel.
Example: He received an aliyah to the Torah on Shabbos morning.
Pronunciation: ah-lee-YAH; Ashkenazic: ah-LEE-yuh
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Aliyah literally means going up. Depending on context, it describes a ritual honor, movement to Israel, or spiritual elevation. Chassidic language also uses ascent metaphorically, including the idea that a difficult descent can prepare a different kind of growth.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Look for the context: a synagogue honor, Israel, spiritual ascent, or the teaching 'yeridah l'tzorech aliyah.'
Alma d'Isgalya
עלמא דאתגליאThe revealed world; the dimension of existence that becomes manifest or perceptible.
Example: Alma d'isgalya describes reality as it appears in revealed form.
Pronunciation: AHL-mah d'it-GAHL-yah (pronunciation varies)
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This Aramaic phrase is commonly contrasted with alma d'iskasya, the concealed world. The pairing helps distinguish what is expressed and visible from what remains inward or hidden. Different texts use the distinction in somewhat different technical ways.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Relevant to shiurim on concealment and revelation, inner and outer worlds, and the way essence appears through expression.
Alma d'Iskasya
עלמא דאתכסיאThe concealed world; the hidden or inward dimension of existence.
Example: What we see in alma d'isgalya may have a deeper source in alma d'iskasya.
Pronunciation: AHL-mah d'it-KAHS-yah (pronunciation varies)
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Often paired with alma d'isgalya, this Aramaic expression points toward what is not directly displayed to ordinary perception. In Chassidus it can become a way to think about the hidden life of the soul and the relation between inward source and outward form.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Listen for it when the shiur turns from what is visible or measurable to a hidden spiritual root.
Amidah
עמידהThe central standing prayer, commonly called Shemoneh Esrei.
Example: During the Amidah, people traditionally stand and pray quietly.
Pronunciation: ah-mee-DAH; Ashkenazic: ah-MEE-duh
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The Amidah consists of blessings addressed to Hashem. Its weekday and Shabbos/festival forms differ. In inner Torah teachings, standing in prayer can also become an image of presence, attention, and the directness of speaking before Hashem.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: A basic term to recognize in shiurim about tefillah, kavannah, personal prayer, and the experience of standing before God.
Asiyah
עשייהAction or making; in Kabbalah, the lowest of the four commonly described spiritual worlds.
Example: Asiyah is associated with the level of action and embodied practice.
Pronunciation: ah-see-YAH; Ashkenazic: ah-SEE-yuh
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The four worlds are commonly named Atzilus, Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. Asiyah is connected with doing and concretely expressed reality. The term should not be confused with the claim that ordinary physical actions are spiritually insignificant; mitzvos are enacted precisely in the realm of action.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Listen for it when the Arizal's four worlds or the movement from inner intention to outward deed are discussed.
Atik Yomin
עתיק יומין'Ancient of Days'; a scriptural expression given technical meanings in Kabbalistic writings.
Example: Atik Yomin appears in discussions of very high spiritual levels.
Pronunciation: ah-TEEK yoh-MEEN; Ashkenazic: AH-tik YOY-min
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The wording originates in Daniel 7. In later Kabbalistic systems, Atik Yomin is also a technical designation within the upper partzufim. It should not be taken as a literal description of Hashem as old or bodily.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Mainly an advanced term appearing in teachings about Keser, partzufim, and levels beyond ordinary intellect.
Atzilus
אצילותEmanation; the highest of the four worlds in a common Kabbalistic framework.
Example: Atzilus is described in language of unusually direct divine unity.
Pronunciation: ah-tsee-LOOT; Ashkenazic: ah-TZEE-lus
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Atzilus is paired with Beriah, Yetzirah, and Asiyah. In many Kabbalistic teachings it describes a mode of emanation in which the divine source is not understood as separate from the emanated attributes. It is technical language, not a physical location.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Useful when hearing about the sefirot, divine unity, worlds, and how spiritual light takes differentiated forms.
Avodah
עבודהService or work; the work of serving Hashem, both outwardly and inwardly.
Example: Davening and working on one's middos are both forms of avodah.
Pronunciation: ah-voh-DAH; Ashkenazic: ah-VOY-duh
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In Torah language, avodah can refer to Temple service, prayer, or the ongoing discipline of spiritual life. Chassidic teachings often stress that inner work—attention, desire, humility, and joy—matters alongside observable action.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Common in almost any shiur about prayer, growth, mitzvos, habit, and living with Hashem.
Atzmus
עצמותEssence; in Chassidus, often a term for divine essence beyond any particular attribute or manifestation.
Example: A teaching may distinguish atzmus from even the highest revealed spiritual light.
Pronunciation: AHTS-moos; Israeli: ahts-MOOT
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Atzmus literally means essence. In Chassidic thought, especially when speaking about Hashem, it can refer to what cannot be reduced to a name, property, or revelation. Teachers may distinguish the essence from the ways it becomes known, while stressing that language cannot fully contain it.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Particularly relevant to Reb Joey's discussions of essence before expression, identity, bitul, and the limits of conceptual thought.
Avodas Hashem
עבודת השםThe service of Hashem; the broad practice of living in relationship with God.
Example: Avodas Hashem includes Torah, mitzvos, prayer, and the work of the heart.
Pronunciation: ah-voh-DAHT hah-SHEM; Ashkenazic: ah-VOY-das hah-SHEM
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This phrase is wider than formal religious performance. It can include how one responds to fear, shame, longing, family, work, and ordinary life. Chassidic teachings frequently ask how the whole self can participate in divine service rather than reserving it for explicitly sacred activities.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: A central umbrella term for Reb Joey's discussions of spiritual development and bringing inward Torah into daily life.
Avodas HaLev
עבודת הלבService of the heart; a traditional description of prayer and its inner emotional work.
Example: Avodas halev asks whether the heart is present when the lips are praying.
Pronunciation: ah-voh-DAHT hah-LEV; Ashkenazic: ah-VOY-das hah-LEV
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Rabbinic teaching identifies prayer with service of the heart. The phrase highlights attention, feeling, desire, and honesty before Hashem. It can include both structured prayer and the more personal language emphasized in Breslov.
In Reb Joey's shiurim: Look for it in shiurim about tefillah, hisbodedus, kavannah, longing, and the difference between words and inward presence.