noun
- a Jewish elementary school, especially one in Eastern Europe, where children learn Hebrew and religious texts
Usage: also spelled cheder or heder; historical/cultural term; Yiddish origin
Examples
- In 19th-century Poland, most Jewish children attended heder to study Torah and Hebrew.
- The heder was the primary institution for Jewish religious education in Eastern European communities.
- He spent his childhood years in the local heder learning sacred texts.
- The heder system produced generations of educated Jewish scholars and community leaders.