Tagged Questions
5
votes
1answer
98 views
What is the Shekhina?
To what are people referring when they talk about the Shekhina? Is it a form of God? A part of God? An attribute of God? Perhaps it is something else entirely?
Also, what is the etymology of the ...
2
votes
2answers
121 views
What is the origin and meaning of mabrouk?
Instead of mazal tov, some sefardim use the term mabrouk(sp?). What does that term mean and what is its origin?
2
votes
1answer
55 views
Understanding the usage of וגומר and וכולו
Why are the terms וגומר and וכולו used instead of just writing out the rest of the sentence? When were these terms first instituted?
3
votes
2answers
86 views
What does the word לאַטקעס (latkes) mean?
לאַטקעס is the Yiddish word used for the potato pancakes commonly eaten on Chanukah. Where does the word לאַטקעס come from originally? What exactly does it mean?
5
votes
2answers
116 views
What does שעטנז (sha'atnez) mean?
.שעטנז.
I'm asking about the literal meaning behind the word, its etymology, etc.
4
votes
2answers
220 views
Etymology of the word “Kvater”
What is the etymology of the word "Kvater"? Kvater is what we call the person that carries the baby boy into a Bris.
2
votes
1answer
218 views
Etymology of the word “Vasikin”
What is the etymology of the word Vasikin? Also is Vasikin Hebrew or Aramaic?
7
votes
2answers
86 views
When did Ben Teshuva become Baal Teshuva?
Rabbeinu Yonah in Bava Basra 39a talks about someone who does Teshuva and calls him a Ben Teshuva. What is the earliest reference in history to the words Baal Teshuva? And why did it change from Ben ...
5
votes
1answer
70 views
Zmirot vs Pizmoniim
How is it that Ashkenaz and Sfardiim have different names for the same exact thing.
Do both Zmira and Pizmon mean the same thing? What are the origination of people calling them either one?
I know ...
4
votes
1answer
332 views
What do the names Pesil, Pesa, and Pesha mean?
What is the meaning and source of the name Pesil or Pesa or Pesha?
4
votes
4answers
158 views
Why do we call praying, Davening?
Why do we call praying Davening? What is the source of this word? Where did this originate?
9
votes
2answers
138 views
Why is the Machzor called a Machzor?
The Siddur we use for Yom Tov is known as a Machzor. What does it mean and where did this originate?
11
votes
2answers
333 views
חס ושלום! (whatever that means)
What on earth does חס ושלום mean literally, or what is its etymology? Why do people use that phrase in particular to "ward off" bad things? (That last part of the question is not asking whether saying ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
What is the origin of “shul”?
What is the origin of the word "shul", meaning "synagogue"? It seems derived from the German "Schule", meaning "school". Moreover, Italian Jews call synagogues "scuola", which also means "school" ...
5
votes
1answer
131 views
דילמא == Dilemma?
Is there documentation to prove that the Aramaic word "דילמא" is a transliteration or derivation of the Greek word "dilemma"?
If so, this fact is informative to G'mara-learning in understanding the ...
3
votes
2answers
107 views
Etymology of “Grager”
What is the Etymology of “Grager”?
Grager is the noisemaker we use on Purim during the Megila when Haman's name is read.
3
votes
3answers
165 views
Etymology of “Krepel”
What is the Etymology of “Krepel”?
Krepel is a 3 cornered stuffed piece of dough that we eat on Purim, Hoshana Rabah, and Erev Yom Kippur.
3
votes
3answers
127 views
Is there a single syntactic class “פעיל” in Biblical Hebrew?
Is there a unique class of Biblical Hebrew words of the form "פעיל"?Is the putative class of Biblical Hebrew words strictly a class of nouns or adjectives?If not, is it strictly divisible into two ...
5
votes
1answer
204 views
Are the Aramaic root ק.ב.ל and the Hebrew root ק.ב.ל related?
When the word מקבילות comes up in parashas T'ruma, Rash"i defines it based on the Aramaic root ק.ב.ל, commonly found in the preposition לקבל (against or opposite) to mean physically across ...
3
votes
2answers
267 views
What's the etymology of the Hassidic term “b'sho'oh” for a chaperoned quasi-date?
I've heard in the Hassidic world, if two families decide that one's young fellow should meet the other's young lady, the couple has a brief, chaperoned, meeting, known as a b'shoh (spelling?), to ...
4
votes
2answers
215 views
