kedushah

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew קדושה (k'dushá, “holiness”).

Why this word is great

KEDUSHAH — [Noun] A Jewish liturgical prayer invoking biblical verses of divine praise, or the metaphysical state of holiness as separation from the profane. From Hebrew קדושה (k'dushá, "holiness"), derived from the root k-d-sh ("to be holy, set apart"). Unlike "kodesh" (the static holiness of objects or places in scripture) or "tahara" (the fleeting purity of ritual cleansing), kedushah is the dynamic act of consecration, the drawing of a circle in the air with words. It is the trembling unison of a congregation chanting "kadosh, kadosh, kadosh," the way light through stained glass fractures into sacred geometry, the sudden stillness when the mundane world falls away—holiness not as a quality, but as a verb, an endless becoming.

noun

Any of several prayers involving the recitation of the biblical verses Isaiah 6:3 and Ezekiel 3:12.“Repetition of the tefillah by the Reader, with the addition of Kedushah before the third paragraph, and the Priests' Blessing before the last paragraph, of the tefillah. The Kedushah, "Proclamation of the Holiness of God," is based on the visions of Isa. vi. and of Ezek. iii., with citation of three verses, Isa. vi. 3, Ezek. ii. 12, and Ps. cxlvi. 10, in which the Holiness, Glory, and Kingdom of G”
Holiness, sanctity.“When we sing this melody [Napoleon's March], are we singing a non-Jewish melody? Of course not! We have accepted it and even given it a degree of k'dusha (holiness) by attaching it to a liturgical text.”