lex•i•con lex•i•con lĕ’ksĭkŏn n. pl. lex•i•cons or lex•i•ca n. pl. lex•i•cons or lex•i•ca
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A dictionary.
A stock of terms used in a particular profession , subject, or style; a vocabulary: the lexicon of surrealist art.
Linguistics. The morphemes of a language considered as a group.
In a nutshell…There is a delicate balance in communicating to a mixed audience, divergent in language, culture and understanding. Our largest audience is comprised of traditional Christians who respond to a non-Hebraic articulation of ‘‘Christian’’ phrases and words. Unfortunately, many or most of those expressions are either negative in connotation or obscure to Jewish People, who inevitably will receive some of our materials casually.
An imperative of the Messianic Movement has been to heal the breach between ‘‘the Church’’ and ‘‘Israel,’’ and present an authentic, recognizable Messiah to Yeshua’s brethren, the Jewish People, thereby undoing centuries of damage to the message of the Messiah for Israel. The Movement, for over 30 years has worked to communicate to the
Jewish People that Yeshua is not a Gentile foreign god, but He came to Israel as an Israelite and did not overthrow the Father’s Kingdom, Laws and authority.
It’s a fine tightrope that we in Jewish Ministry walk, in our goal of communicating effectively with Christians who may be ‘‘turned off’’ by Hebraic expressions, and yet being aware that our materials inevitably will wind up in
Jewish hands, we need to be careful to remain consistent. Therefore, we don’t want to have two entirely different languages, risking the appearance of insincerity to the Jewish People, and hurting our witness the most important part of our ministry.
Also, as one of the ‘‘prongs’’ of our ministry is teaching the Church how to share Messiah effectively with the Jewish People, we have to be conscious of the fact that we are passively teaching Christians at all

times with our expressions and phraseology.
Therefore, whenever possible, please try to be sensitive in your terminology. I’ve compiled this list to help illustrate my point. It is not exhaustive.
Yeshua (Jesus) – when first used in a document; Yeshua thereafter; not Yeshua-Jesus Good News – rather than
Gospel Good News of the Messiah/Good News of Yeshua – rather than Gospel of Christ Messiah – rather than Christ
(avoid “Christ” entirely if possible) Messiah Yeshua or Messiah Jesus – rather than Christ Jesus Outreach – rather than Crusade (self explanatory!) Came to faith [in Messiah/in Yeshua] – never use “converted!” Come to faith [in
Messiah/in Yeshua] – rather than “get saved” or “come to Christ” Jewish People/Jewish Person – rather than “a Jew” or “the Jews” Jewish Believer/Messianic Jew – rather than Hebrew Christian/Christian Jew Believer in Messiah – when possible, rather than Christian or convert Congregational Meeting/Fellowship – rather than ‘go to church’
Executioner’s Stake – rather than ‘cross’ (This what “cross” is in the original Greek!) Sharing Yeshua – rather than witnessing Extras: Cap: Word of God; Jewish People; Bible, but not biblical; Scripture, but not scriptural
Please keep in mind that the words Christ, Christian, Jesus and Cross are negative or frightening words to most
Jewish People. For nearly 2000 years, Jewish People have been persecuted, tortured and murdered by people calling themselves Christians, under the sign of the cross, by people declaring it is the policy of Christianity and/or the ‘‘Church.’ These words were not a part of the First Century Community of Faith in the Messiah -- they came later as
BTW -
’the faith became ‘gentilized’ and systematically and deliberately removed from its Hebraic foundation.
-the move away from that foundation was not the result of biblical exegesis or revelation from God, but rather anti-Semitism and distortion of the events surrounding the death of Yeshua.
 )
Many Yiddish words have found their way into the American lexicon thanks to the influence of Jewish comedians and scriptwriters in Hollywood!

Bupkes ……sometimes spelled bobkes and pronounced to rhyme with “pup-kiss” ...Literally mean s
“beans” in Russian; usually translated as “nothing,” but it is used to criticize the fact that an amount i s absurdly smaller than expected or deserved. Examples: “I was assigned to work on that project wit h
Mike and he did bupkes!” or “I had to change jobs; the work wasn’t bad, but they paid bupkes.
”
Chutzpah ……….rhymes with “foot spa”, with the throat-clearing “kh” soun d
Nerve, as when the Three Stooges say, “The noive of that guy!!! Why you, I oughta…” It expresses a n extreme level of bold-faced arrogance and presumption. Example: “She asked me to drive her home , and once we were on the road she told to stop at the supermarket so she could pick something up .
What chutzpah!
”
Glitsh …a minor malfunction (yep, that’s the etymology of “glitch!”)
Goy (actually from the Hebrew Goyim goy-eem)…Gentiles, Hebrew – the
Nations
Goyisha …Oy - what those Gentiles ‘do’ and ‘think!’
Kibbitz …..to chat; to offer unwanted advice; to gossip
Kvetch ……to complain or whine; but with an acquired Jewish skill – not garden variety griping

Meshugena ….a crazy person
Nosh …to snack. Also a verb “Nu, stop noshing – it’s almost dinner – oy!”
Nu …..rhymes with “Jew” An all-purpose word that doesn’t really mean anything, like “well,” “so” o r
“wassup?” A friend of mine who worked for a Jewish history museum joked that they answered th e phone “Jew mu, nu?” When someone takes too long to respond in an online chat or trails off in th e middle of a thought, I might type “nu?” (are you still there? are you answering?) If someone say s something that doesn’t seem to make any sense, you might say, “nu?” (what’s that supposed to mean?
)
Oy!........”Oh!” Next to “om,” the most perfect sound in the universe…the perfect expression for an y occasion – when no other word will do! It is what God thinks every time He looks down upo n us…Oy, there they go, blowing it …again !
Shlep ….to drag or haul (an object); to make a tedious journey “Oy, what a shlep!”
Shmooze ……rhymes with “booze” – (but doesn’t necessarily involve liquor) Having a long, friendl y chat. Can be used as a noun, but is usually used as a verb. Examples: “Come to our party! Eat, drink an d shmooze!” or “Our development goy is very good at shmoozing the donors.” (Now, you have to have a
Jewish sense of humor to understand this is a JOKE!
)
Shmutz ……..rhymes with “puts
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Dirt. Refers to a trivial amount of nuisance dirt, not real filth. Example: “You have some shmutz o n your shirt; let’s go shopping and buy a new one.
”
Shpiel ….a lengthy, sometimes instructive talk; also a Purim play is called “a Purim Shpiel” - why? Who knows? Nu?
Shtik ….. routine; an act comic theme; a defining habit or distinguishing feature
Tsimmes …. a fuss, a disturbance. “Don’t make a big tsimmis!”
Also, a kind of special stew with fruits.
Tsuris …like tsimmes, but with more running around and shrieking
– generally means real trouble!

Tuchas … what one sits on; and generally senses the tsuris first -
“Get your tuchas in here!”
Yenta …..meddler, gossiper, meddlesome, busybody, nuisance; can also be a matchmaker