cheder

American  

[khey-duhr, khey-der, hey-] / ˈxeɪ dər, ˈxeɪ dər, ˈheɪ- /

noun

Yiddish.

plural

chadarim,

plural

cheders

1. heder.

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cheder British  

/ ˈheɪdə, ˈxɛdɛr /

noun

1. (in Western countries) elementary religious education classes, usually outside normal school hours

2. more traditionally, a full-time elementary religious school

3. informal a place of corrective instruction; prison

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Etymology

Origin of cheder

literally: room

Example Sentences

Kecel had no yeshiva, so Menahem gained an elementary knowledge of Hebrew and Jewish law and ritual at a cheder, a Jewish primary school.

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2022

One of twelve brothers & sisters, he went to school in the one-room village cheder, where the rabbi's goat stumbled about among the drying wash and tumbling babies.

From Time Magazine Archive

This was followed by similar scenes at the houses of my cousins, until finally I was allowed to resume my studies, sometimes at the same cheder, sometimes at some other one.

From The Rise of David Levinsky by Cahan, Abraham

Of the Talmud he knew very little, having preferred to play with his gentile friends to wasting his hours in the cheder.

From Rabbi and Priest A Story by Goldsmith, Milton

When I had gone with her to the cheder nebilin, when I had used my sepet-ram to save life, she had perceived in me feelings and impulses to which all her own nature responded.

From A Strange Manuscript Found in a Copper Cylinder by De Mille, James