Entering into the Messianic Jewish community, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the amount of Hebrew transliterations (words translated from a foreign language with a foreign alphabet into their phonetic spelling in the English language) used. There are great resources which are created to help you learn Hebrew, but say you’re not interested in learning a whole new alphabet in addition to everything else that goes along with a new language. What if you just want to know what those transliterated words mean? Here’s help. 
Until I figure out how to use accented characters on my American English keyboard, they will be missing. This list will be a work in progress for some time, though is not intended to become an exhaustive list of every possible transliteration. That said, should you think of one that has not been listed yet, and it is indeed a commonly used word or phrase, please do comment and I will add it to the list. (After which your comment will be deleted for brevity’s sake. I thank you in advance for your addition!)
- brit
- ceremony of male circumcision on its 8th day of life
- Brit Chadasha
- New Testament
- Cohen (cohen hagadol)
- priest (high priest)
- goy
- literally: one without God. A non-jew (gentile)
- halacha
- the manner in which one observes a commandment of God
- Hashem
- The Name (referring to God, but without using his name to protect against using it in vain)
- Mitzvah
- An obligation by commandment of God
- Mitzvot
- plural of Mitzvah
- Rosh Hashannah
- Jewish New Year, Biblical; translated ‘head of the year’
- Shabbat
- Sabbath. A holy day celebrated on Saturday, the seventh day of the week
- Seder
- literally: Order; generally: the prescribed dinner meal and related activities through which Passover is observed
- Shema
- “Hear”; generally referring to a prayer / commandment: Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. [Hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One (or “the Lord alone”)]
- Sukkah
- ‘building’ constructed in observance of Sukkot
- Sukkot
- Feast of Tabernacles, an 8-day holiday the fist day of which it is believed that Jesus was born
- Talmud
- Book of Oral Tradition of Rabbi’s, spelling out halacha
- Todah (Todah LeChem)
- Thanks! (Thanks, everyone!)
- Torah
- literally: Teachings; generally: the first 5 books of the bible; commonly: “the law”
- tzit-tzit
- specially-braided blue and white tassles which hang from the four corners of your clothing, as directed in Numbers 15:38)
- Yeshua
- Hebrew name of Jesus
