A Glossary of Sephardic & Mizrahi Jewish Terms

HeimishMart serves every Jewish community, and that means the whole tapestry of Klal Yisrael — Ashkenazi and Sephardic, Mizrahi and everyone in between. If you have ever stood in a friend’s home or a different kal and heard a word you did not recognize, this glossary is for you. We have gathered the terms that come up most often across Sephardic and Mizrahi life, with the Ashkenazi or Yiddish equivalent listed wherever one exists, so the same idea is easy to find no matter which words you grew up with. It also doubles as a search and synonym resource, so that anyone looking for these items, books, or foods can find them with us. A note before we begin: customs and halacha vary by community and by posek — on anything practical, confirm with your Hacham or rav.

Prayer, Liturgy & Synagogue

Nusach Edot HaMizrach — the Sephardic and Mizrahi prayer rite. Do not confuse it with “Nusach Sefard,” which despite the name is the Hasidic-Ashkenazi rite and is a different thing entirely.
Nusach Aram Soba — the specific liturgical tradition of the Jews of Aleppo, Syria (“Aram Soba” is the old name for Aleppo), rich in piyyut.
Bet knesset / keniss / kal — the synagogue (Ashkenazi “shul”). “Keniss” is common among Syrian and other Mizrahi communities.
Hacham — literally “wise one,” the title for a Sephardic or Mizrahi rabbi (parallel to the Ashkenazi “rav”).
Tefillah — prayer; Sephardim and Mizrahim generally say “praying” or “tefillah” rather than the Yiddish-rooted “davening.”
Pizmonim — sung liturgical hymns, a hallmark of Syrian and other Mizrahi communities, often set to traditional maqam melodies.
Bakkashot — devotional songs and supplications traditionally sung in the early-morning hours before Shacharit, especially on winter Shabbatot.
Selichot — penitential prayers. The widespread Sephardic custom is to recite them through the entire month of Elul, beginning the day after Rosh Chodesh Elul, rather than only the week or so before Rosh Hashana as is common among Ashkenazim (timing varies by community — confirm with your Hacham or rav).

Communities & People

Sephardi — in the strict sense, Jews descended from the communities of Spain and Portugal (Sepharad) and their dispersion around the Mediterranean; often used more broadly for non-Ashkenazi Jews who follow the Sephardic rite.
Mizrahi — “Eastern” Jews whose communities lived in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia; many follow Nusach Edot HaMizrach.
Syrian — from Aleppo (Halab) and Damascus (Sham), with large communities today in Brooklyn and elsewhere. Distinct from the others below.
Persian — Jews of Iran, with major centers in Los Angeles and New York; their own customs, foods, and language.
Bukharian — Jews of Central Asia (Bukhara, Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan), with a large Queens, New York community.
Moroccan — Jews of Morocco and the wider Maghreb, one of the largest North African communities.
Yemenite (Teimani) — Jews of Yemen, known for a famously precise Torah-reading tradition and a distinct pronunciation.
Iraqi — Jews of Babylon (Baghdad, Basra), an ancient community with deep scholarly roots.
Masorti / traditional — in many Sephardic and Mizrahi families, a self-description for those who keep tradition warmly and selectively; note this is a different usage from the “Masorti” movement label.

You can explore many of these communities and the items they look for through our Community Explorer.

Seforim & STaM

Siddur Edot HaMizrach — a prayer book following the Sephardic/Mizrahi rite; the counterpart to an Ashkenazi siddur.
Yalkut Yosef — a leading contemporary halachic work by Hacham Yitzhak Yosef, presenting the rulings of his father, Hacham Ovadia Yosef.
Ben Ish Hai — the classic work of practical halacha and custom by Hacham Yosef Hayim of Baghdad, arranged by the weekly parasha; widely followed in Mizrahi communities.
Kaf HaChaim — an authoritative halachic work by Hacham Yaakov Chaim Sofer, blending halacha with Kabbalistic custom.
Ohr LeTzion — a respected halachic work by Hacham Ben-Tzion Abba Shaul.
Ktav Vellish (Welish) — the traditional Sephardic script for a Sefer Torah, tefillin, and mezuzot, distinct from the Ashkenazi Ktav Beit Yosef and the Ari (Arizal) script favored by Hasidim. Which script is right for your scrolls is a halachic question — verify with a qualified sofer.
STaM — the umbrella term for Sifrei Torah, Tefillin, and Mezuzot; the same across communities, but the accepted script and certain customs differ.

Food & Kitchen

Hamin — the Sephardic overnight Shabbat stew (the name means “hot”); the parallel to Ashkenazi cholent.
Dafina / skhina — the Moroccan version of the same overnight stew (“dafina” means “covered”).
T’bit — the Iraqi Shabbat dish (“of the house”), typically a whole chicken stuffed with seasoned rice, slow-cooked overnight.
Kibbeh / kubbeh — dumplings of bulgur or rice filled with spiced meat; beloved across Syrian, Iraqi, and Kurdish Jewish tables.
Sambusak — a half-moon savory pastry filled with chickpeas, meat, or cheese; common in Syrian and Iraqi homes.
Maamoul — a stuffed shortbread cookie filled with dates or nuts, a holiday staple across the Middle East.
Gondi — Persian dumplings of chickpea flour and ground chicken, served in soup on Shabbat (a Persian cousin to matzo balls).
Plov / osh — the Bukharian rice dish cooked with meat, carrots, and spices (“osh” means rice); a centerpiece of Central Asian Jewish cooking.
Jachnun, kubaneh, malawach — Yemenite doughs: jachnun and kubaneh are slow-baked for Shabbat morning, while malawach is a flaky fried pastry.
Baharat — an all-purpose spice blend (the word simply means “spices” in Arabic); recipes vary by family and region.
Hawaij — a Yemenite spice mix; one version flavors soups, another sweetens coffee.

Lifecycle & Simcha

Henna / hinna — a festive pre-wedding celebration with music, traditional dress, and the application of henna, found across Moroccan, Yemenite, Persian, and other communities.
Swanee — a Syrian custom in which gifts for the bride are sent on beautifully decorated trays with flowers and sugared almonds, then displayed.
Sofreh aghd — the ornate ceremonial cloth and spread laid out at a Persian wedding, arranged with symbolic items for the couple’s blessing.
Bar mitzvah at 13 with tallit — many Sephardic boys begin wearing a tallit from their bar mitzvah, earlier than the common Ashkenazi practice of waiting until marriage (customs vary by community — confirm with your Hacham or rav).

Holidays & Customs

Kitniyot on Pesach — legumes, rice, and corn, which most Sephardic and Mizrahi communities permit on Passover, unlike the prevailing Ashkenazi custom to refrain. Practice varies by community and posek — confirm with your Hacham or rav.
Mimouna — the joyous Moroccan celebration held the night Passover ends, marking the return to chametz with open homes, sweets, and music.
Tu B’Shevat seder — a festive order of fruits, nuts, and blessings for the New Year of the Trees, with deep roots in Sephardic and Kabbalistic tradition.
Simanim — the symbolic foods eaten at the Rosh Hashana table, each with its own blessing (yehi ratzon); Sephardic and Mizrahi tables often feature an elaborate seder of simanim well beyond apples and honey.

Heritage Languages

Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) — the language of Sephardim descended from Spain, carried into the former Ottoman lands; written historically in Hebrew letters.
Haketia — the Judeo-Spanish of northern Morocco, blending old Castilian with Arabic, distinct from Ottoman Ladino.
Judeo-Arabic — the family of Arabic dialects spoken by Jews across North Africa, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, each with its own flavor.
Judeo-Persian — the Jewish varieties of Persian spoken by the Jews of Iran.
Bukhori (Judeo-Tajik) — the Judeo-Persian dialect of the Bukharian Jews of Central Asia.
Juhuri (Judeo-Tat) — the Iranian language of the Mountain Jews of the Caucasus.

This is a starting point, not the last word — every community holds far more than any one list can capture. For deeper dives into customs, kashrut, and what to look for when you shop, see our guides, and use the Community Explorer to find the seforim, foods, and Judaica that fit your own minhag. And as always, on any matter of halacha, the final word belongs to your Hacham or rav.