ga'avah -- conceit or arrogance
gabbai -- lit.: attendant; a communal appointee who arranges synagogue services, or collects charity
galut (galus) -- exile, either physical or spiritual
gam zu le'tovah -- this too is for the good
Gaon (pl.: Gaonim) -- “great one” or “genius”; head of a Torah academy in Babylon (6th - 11th centuries)
Gaonim (sing.: Gaon) -- “great ones” or “geniuses”; heads of the Torah academies in Babylon (6th - 11th centuries)
Gehenom -- Jewish purgatory, a place of cleansing from sin
gelilah -- the honor of dressing the Torah scroll, following the completion of a public Torah reading
Gemara -- lit.: learning (Aramaic); another name for the Talmud, which expands upon the Mishnah
gematria -- Jewish numerology; each Hebrew letter has a corresponding numeric value, which reveals numeric significance in entire words or sentences
gemilut chasadim (gemilus) -- acts of kindness
Genesis -- first of the Five Books of Moses
genizah -- a place for depositing papers that contain God’s Name and/or words of Torah; the papers are then buried with honor
get (pl.: gittin) -- document of divorce
gezerah -- lit.: “decree”; Shabbat restriction instituted by the Sages
gezerot (gezeros) -- lit.: “decrees”; Shabbat restrictions instituted by the Sages
gittin (sing.: get) -- documents of divorce
glatt kosher -- glatt literally means “smooth,” referring to the lungs of a chicken which have been deemed free of any lesions; commonly used to refer to any stricter standard of kashrut
golem -- a creature, made through kabbalistic methods, that has a human form but no soul
goy -- lit.: nation; a non-Jewish person; not necessarily derogatory
gozez -- lit.: “shearing”; the forbidden Shabbat activity of removal of something that grows upon a living being
Gra -- The Vilna Gaon - Rabbi Eliyahu bar Shlomo Zalman (1720-1797), author of classic commentary on the Bible, Talmud and Shulchan Aruch
Grace After Meals -- Torah commandment to praise God after eating bread or similar foods
