> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.kehillahq.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Glossary

> Terms used in KehillaHQ and what they mean here.

Some of these are Hebrew terms, some are ordinary words KehillaHQ uses in a specific way. Where a word means something particular here, that meaning is given.

## Jewish terms

**Adar** is a month in the Hebrew calendar. In a leap year it becomes two months, **Adar I** and **Adar II**, which matters for yahrzeits. See [Leap years and Adar](/yahrzeits/adar).

**Hebrew calendar** is the lunisolar calendar used for Jewish observance. Its dates do not line up with the secular calendar, and the difference is why a Hebrew-date anniversary lands on a different secular date each year.

**Kehilla** means community or congregation.

**Yahrzeit** is the anniversary of a death, observed each year. Literally "year time" in Yiddish.

**Yizkor** is the memorial service held on certain festivals.

## Terms in KehillaHQ

**Commitment** is what a household has agreed to give for a dues year. Distinct from a **contribution**, which is money that actually arrived. See [Commitments](/finances/commitments).

**Contribution** is any recorded payment: dues, a fund donation, cash in an envelope. The whole list is your ledger.

**Dues year** is your congregation's financial year. It is named for the year it **ends** in, so September 2025 to August 2026 is the 2026 dues year. See [How dues years work](/finances/dues-years).

**Fund** is a category a donation is recorded against, such as Building or Kiddush. See [Funds](/finances/funds).

**Household** is the main unit of your directory: a family or a single person. Dues and payments attach here. See [How households and members fit together](/members/households-and-members).

**Inherited tag** is a tag a member shows because their household has it, rather than because it was applied to them. See [Tags](/members/tags).

**Lead time** is how many days before an observance a yahrzeit reminder is sent. The default is seven.

**Member** is a person in your congregation, belonging to one household. Not the same as a **user**.

**Observance** is when your community marks a yahrzeit publicly: the day itself, the Shabbat before, or the Shabbat after. See [When observance falls](/yahrzeits/observance-timing).

**Primary contact** is the member of a household you would contact first. Has to be someone in that household.

**Remembrance calendar** is whether a yahrzeit follows the Hebrew or secular calendar. See [Hebrew and secular dates](/yahrzeits/hebrew-and-secular-dates).

**Role** has two unrelated meanings, which is worth watching for:

* A **user's role** is their permission level: Admin, Clergy, Staff, and so on. See [Roles and permissions](/get-started/roles).
* A **member's role in the household** is a family role: Adult, Child, or Dependent adult. It affects Fair Share dues brackets.

**Sustaining Pledge** is what dues are called under the voluntary model, where households pledge what they can rather than owing a set amount. See [Choosing a dues model](/finances/dues-models).

**Tag** is your own label for grouping households or members, such as Board or Choir.

**To file** is the inbox holding payments that have arrived but not yet been categorised. See [The To file inbox](/finances/to-file).

**User** is someone who signs in to administer KehillaHQ. Not the same as a **member**. Many people are one and not the other.

## Statuses

**Member status** is one of Active, Inactive, Deceased, or Archived. See [Member status](/members/member-status).

**Household status** is Active or Inactive, and is worked out from the members rather than set by you. A household where everyone is deceased is shown as a memorial household.

**Dues status** is Paid, Partial, Unpaid, or Overdue, and is worked out from the commitment, the payments, and the due date. Under the voluntary model, Unpaid appears as **Open** and nothing is ever Overdue.