pertaining to the Hebrew language
4
votes
3answers
115 views
Where and when is the earliest attestation of the word “mohel”?
Where is the earliest attestation of the word mohel for one who performs the act associated with a ritual circumcision?
When was it written?
What language is it?
[Inspired by Why is there a ה in ...
2
votes
3answers
114 views
Definition of Baal Nefesh
I have seen "Baal Nefesh" used frequently in various contexts: sometimes as one who is scrupulous in halacha, other times as someone who is a quality person.
What is its simple translation/meaning?
5
votes
2answers
208 views
What's the meaning of “Hashmal” (electricity in modern Hebrew) in the bible? (Ezekiel 1:4)
Ezekiel 1:4:
I saw, and behold, there was a stormy wind coming from the north, a great cloud with flashing fire and a brilliance surrounding it; and from its midst, like the color of the Hashmal ...
10
votes
4answers
305 views
Can anyone help decipher the bottom two lines of this inscription?
I've recently been fortunate to find a photo of the gravestone of one of my ancestors, R' Nosson (ben Meir) Maas, Shochet of Frankfurt-am-Main (d. 1836). The inscription is quite laudatory:
פ"ט
הזקן ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Goy Versus Leum
The Posuk Says (Gen. 25,23):
שְׁנֵי [גיים] גוֹיִם בְּבִטְנֵךְ וּשְׁנֵי לְאֻמִּים מִמֵּעַיִךְ יִפָּרֵדוּ
Translated as: Two nations are in your womb, and two kingdoms will separate from your ...
5
votes
4answers
196 views
What color is Yarok?
Yarok ירוק in modern Hebrew means green. What color does it refer to in Mishnaic Hebrew? I have heard that it refers to yellow and not green because the Mishna in Sukkah (on 34b) discusses a citron ...
1
vote
3answers
197 views
What does R' Feinstein say about eating kosher food in a non-kosher restaurant?
The last paragraph of Igros Moshe O.C. 2:40 discusses when you may order kosher food [such as a banana] in a non-kosher restaurant.
R' Moshe Feinstein begins:
ובדבר אם מותר לאכול ברעסטאראנט ...
8
votes
1answer
122 views
“m'nora” on Chanuka
My kid came home from school one day insisting that the thing we light on Chanuka is not a m'nora but a chanukiya. I replied that that's the word most Israelis use now but that m'nora is a perfectly ...
4
votes
1answer
87 views
What is the correct pronunciation of last letter in the Hebrew alphabet?
I have heard mixed answers as to how to pronounce the letter תּ
Is it taf or tav?
(I'm referring to the halachic pronunciation not the common street way.)
Is there a difference between Ashkenazi or ...
5
votes
4answers
981 views
What does the Bible mean by “those that urinate against the wall” in I Samuel 25:22?
A more precise version of this vague question:
What does the Bible mean by "those that urinate against the wall" in I Samuel 25:22?
There are different translations for the phrase; what is the ...
2
votes
2answers
140 views
Which pasuk in Tanach has the most letters?
I'm attempting to build a database with every pasuk in Tanach, I'm trying to determine the size of the varchar needed for this. Which pasuk is this and how many letters does it have?
6
votes
1answer
70 views
Did Achashveirosh and Haman speak Hebrew?
Tosfos in Megilah (13b, s.v. הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ ) expound the pasuk in Esther (3:11)
וַיֹּאמֶר הַמֶּלֶךְ לְהָמָן, הַכֶּסֶף נָתוּן לָךְ; וְהָעָם, לַעֲשׂוֹת בּוֹ כַּטּוֹב בְּעֵינֶיךָ - And the ...
8
votes
5answers
195 views
Learning Hebrew on my own?
I am trying to learn Hebrew on my own. I currently am not in a position to be attending Hebrew classes, and I tend not to do so well in a classroom environment. I wish to learn biblical Hebrew ...
3
votes
3answers
1k views
Meaning and Difference between baruch and bar'chu
I'm sorry, I don't know a word of Hebrew, and I really want to know what these sentences mean:
Bar'chu et Adonai ham'vorach l'olam vaed
Baruch atah Adonai
If I didn't write them correctly, ...
5
votes
1answer
194 views
What is the difference between adonai and adoni?
I'm sure I've missed something quite obvious here, but I've always been told that adonai is "my Lord", and so I always assumed that it was adon with 'my' stuck to it. But, that would be adoni, with a ...
5
votes
2answers
450 views
Why is the word “tzvi” ambiguous?
The word tsvi (צבי) is traditionally considered to mean "deer". For example, the Hebrew name "Tsvi" has the Yiddish equivalent "Hersh", and "Hirsch" means "deer" in German.
On the other hand, in ...
0
votes
0answers
102 views
Why is Hebrew's word for “widget” so different than most other languages'? [closed]
I've been studying Hebrew for about a whole month now. I've discovered that the word "widget" in English, while translating to "widget" in most other languages, translates to "יישומון" in Hebrew. I ...
13
votes
8answers
385 views
Why is “Shalom Aleichem” always plural?
Why do we say Shalom Alaichem to one person if Alaichem is plural?
Is it saying you and all of the Jews? Is that why it's plural?
3
votes
7answers
383 views
Hebrew Pronunciation of the Conservative Movement
Why does the Conservative Movement pronounce Hebrew in a quasi-Sephardic pronunciation, even though their engagement in Wissenschaft Des Judentums would have led them to embrace the Yemenite ...
-1
votes
1answer
119 views
The vowel making the “i” sound and the vowel making the “ee” sound [closed]
While I have no unicode to show my predicament, I'd like to describe it. I know the vowel for i, such as in the English word "bit", is represented by a dot under the consonant. I know the vowel for ...
6
votes
3answers
237 views
Why the emphasis on Hebrew in Judaism?
Why does Judaism have such an emphasis on Hebrew phrases in their religion and seems reluctant to translate them to English or another language?
6
votes
1answer
104 views
גמר חתימה טובה gender
During the nine and a half days ending with Yom Kipur, we wish each other "גמר חתימה טובה" (an end to the good signing). This seems very strange. Shouldn't it be "גמר חתימה טוב" (a good end to the ...
8
votes
3answers
201 views
“Baruch shekivanti…”
There is a phrase of self-compliment people use when they find that they have independently arrived at the same conclusion as someone great. It begins with the words "ברוך שכיוונתי", translated ...
-1
votes
3answers
121 views
How can I understand the torah text? [closed]
Please tell me how can I read the Torah. I want to learn Hebrew so that I can read Torah perfectly. Please help me out.
3
votes
1answer
66 views
Difference between the words zachor and pakad
What is the difference between the words zachor and pakad?
They are used with what seems like very similar meanings throughout the Rosh HaShanah davening, as well as in the Chumash.
Here are some ...
5
votes
2answers
147 views
What is the meaning of tehom?
Throughout the Tanach, and I've seen it in Midrashim as well, there is a concept of the "Tehom", translated as "Deep Waters". It appears in the creation story in Bereishis, and in the song at Yam Suf. ...
0
votes
2answers
175 views
Pronunciation for אלוהים הוא אלוהים שלי
I got this from translating 'G-d is my G-d' on Google Translate. However I don't know how to pronounce the Hebrew. Can somebody give me the pronunciation on this and is there a Hebrew name that means ...
4
votes
4answers
200 views
6
votes
3answers
179 views
Resources for learning Hebrew from scratch?
I was raised as a Jewish identifying secular child, and it's only in my adolescence/adulthood I've really become at all observant. One of the problems is, of course, I've never had a Hebrew class! ...
3
votes
2answers
206 views
Question about Ashkenazi pronunciation
BS"D
I was at an Ashkenazi beith kneseth this past shabboth and noticed that they didn't distinctly pronounce their Shuruq's and Hholam's and instead substituted them with Hhireq's. I'm not sure if ...
-1
votes
4answers
132 views
Return *his* dress?
After the command to return a lost ox, we find: "You should do likewise for his dress (לשמלתו)."
However, two pesukim later, we see וְלֹא-יִלְבַּשׁ גֶּבֶר שִׂמְלַת אִשָּׁה (and a man shouldn't wear ...
3
votes
0answers
101 views
Pronunciation of “Two”s in Hebrew
Thomas O. Lambdin calls out the words שְנַיִם and שְתַּיִם as exceptions to "shewa as the initial vowel in a word is always vocalized," i.e. it is "shtayim" and "shnayim". That's a secular expert's ...
4
votes
5answers
433 views
Chassidic Rebbes don't use Hebrew Grammar?
I have not witnessed enough test cases to statistically verify anything, but I have heard various Chassidic Rebbes make b'rachos and daven out loud, and without fail, they mispronounce a majority of ...
11
votes
6answers
305 views
2
votes
0answers
93 views
Two-letter shorashim and phonetic shorashim?
I have heard many times in the name of Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch that every Hebrew shoresh (usually defined with three letters) has a more basic root of two letters. I also heard in his name that ...
0
votes
1answer
105 views
Hebrew text for Rambam's letter to Ovadia the Ger online and good Hebrew shiur on it
Does anyone know where I can find the Hebrew text for the Rambam's letter to Ovadia the Ger online, and a good Hebrew language shiur on it?
5
votes
0answers
99 views
Good resource for learning vowel pronunciation
In trying to improve my leyning, I'm trying to get the finer points of vowel pronunciation down.
What is a good resource to learn, e.g., the difference between a patach and chataf-patach or a ...
3
votes
1answer
114 views
Why don't translations of Tehilim 119 translate נשף like the Gemara?
The Gemara on Berachos 3b asserts that נשף can mean either "dawn" or "evening", and cites Tehilim 119:147 as an instance of "evening".
However, every translation I have seen of this verse - the ...
12
votes
2answers
309 views
Where did “shabat shalom” come from?
What is the source for the greeting "שבת שלום"?
Where is it earliest attested in print?
What does it mean?
2
votes
1answer
89 views
Is it “Vay-SHA-vucha” or “Va-YASH-vucha” in Anim Zemiros?
Is it "Vay-SHA-vucha" or "Va-YASH-vucha" in Anim Zemiros? I've heard both, and seen both in different siddurim. Any insight?
2
votes
1answer
130 views
Why werent Rashi letters changed back
What is the basis of the change in Rashi's letters from the standard Hebrew ones?
And if it was something that was dependent on a specific factor then, why weren't they changed back?
8
votes
3answers
132 views
What is the etymology of סמאל?
I've heard that סמאל (Samael, a "bad" angel) is related to the word שמאל (left). Is there any basis for this, and are there any other explanations for his name?
The Hebrew Wikipedia claims that it is ...
3
votes
1answer
67 views
etymology of “Bnei Blial”
The term "בְּנֵי בְלִיָּעַל" appears several times in Shmuel (e.g., 1Sam 2:12). It is usually translated along the lines of "dishonorable people". Where does בְלִיָּעַל come from? Are there other ...
1
vote
0answers
54 views
Words in Sefarim in Modern Hebrew [closed]
Sometimes in the more modern seforim, I see an alternate spelling of סוגיה instead of סוגיא, with a Hei (ה) replacing the Aleph (א). Why is this? Also, is this done with similar words? For example, ...
4
votes
3answers
144 views
The essence of a thing is in its Hebrew name?
Based on this comment here.
According to Kabbalah, how do physical objects derive their life-force from their Hebrew name, if Hebrew doesn't have names for everything?
1
vote
2answers
278 views
What's wrong with 'Hip Hip Hooray'?
When cutting the cake at a Jewish birthday party, or other celebrations when a cheer is called for, 'Hip Hip, Hooray!' is never used but rather the Hebrew 'Heyach!' 'Heydad!'.
It seems to be a great ...
1
vote
2answers
115 views
Why is it called Ayin Hara?
Why is it called Ayin Hara (singular) shouldn't it be Anayim Raos (Plural)?
1
vote
1answer
271 views
What coin is this?
It is a little over an inch diameter, thicker and heavier than any coin would be. The lettering almost seems random....or maybe the middle word is a name?
Can someone help me identify this coin?
...
6
votes
3answers
205 views
Shiluach HaKen: why not “Hatzipor”
If you send away the bird, why is Shiluach HaKen called that, meaning "sending the nest", and not "Shiluach Hatzipor", "sending the bird"? The nest is staying in place!
1
vote
2answers
110 views
Midrash/Medrash
Can anyone explain to me the difference between Midrash and Medrash? Is one of them known to be more correct (i.e. most likely older)?
