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Instead of mazal tov, some sefardim use the term mabrouk(sp?). What does that term mean and what is its origin?

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From the word Barak, cognate to Hebrew B-R-Kh. To be blessed. I have to look up the exact construct that it's in to give a more precise answer, but it means, as R.Sebag says, "congratulations." – Seth J Feb 28 at 22:15

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Mabrouk is an informal Arabic word and widely used; it means congratulations. The formal word is Mubarak and it means blessed. Judeo-Spanish - which is spoken by Sephardi - contains Arabic words.

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do you know about any old jewish rabbis commentry on judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/26640/… – Ali Mar 1 at 14:31
Omar, welcome to Mi Yodeya, and thanks very much for contributing this answer! You could make it even more valuable by editing in your source for this information, including if that's something like "I grew up in a Judeo-Spanish-speaking community and have heard this term used routinely." I hope you'll look around and find other posts on Mi Yodeya that you find interesting, including perhaps our 63 other questions on the topic of sephardi-mizrachi-eastern. – Isaac Moses Mar 1 at 15:06
@Ali i will take a look at it. – Omar Mar 1 at 15:17
@IsaacMoses thank you, i will keep this note in mind. – Omar Mar 1 at 15:18
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means congratulations in arabic

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070729183911AADnx5V

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More literally, it means to be blessed (although I confess, at the moment, I'm not totally sure of the construct and need to go look it up). – Seth J Feb 28 at 22:13
as in mevorach? – Dan Mar 1 at 0:25
@dan, possibly. I still haven't had the chance to dig out my college Arabic texts, so I'm not sure if mevorach is equivalent to mubarak or mabruk (or something else). But yes, something along those lines. – Seth J Mar 1 at 3:53

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