The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (965 page)

(Heb., ‘separation’).
Blessings
in Judaism recited at the end of
Sabbaths
and
Festivals
.

 
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(Heb., ‘member, companion’). Member of a group which observed the Jewish laws of
tithing
and heave-offering. The laws of membership date back at least to the 1st cent. BCE, and differ according to the schools of
Bet Hillel
and Bet Shammai. Later, in the geonic (see
GAON
) period, the term was used to describe important scholars, who were God-fearing but not sufficiently learned to be ordained as
rabbis
.

 
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Haviryajña
(group of sacrifices)
:

see
SACRIFICES
(HINDU).

 
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avurah
or
aburah
.

Mutual benefit society in Judaism. A
avurah is an association devoted to visiting the sick and burying the dead, or it may be simply a society for informal worship and fellowship. In the period during the 1960s and 1970s when there was a massive increase in
new religious movements
, especially in the USA,
avurot were often the equivalent of communes.

 
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