pertaining to the Hebrew language
4
votes
2answers
428 views
Hebrew letters Hey-Yud-Dalet after a name
I'd seen some stuff written about a man, with the Hebrew הי"ד (Hey-Yud-quotes-Dalet) after his name. What does that mean?
4
votes
2answers
138 views
Copula insertion in “Jewish American vernacular English”
What explains the unnecessary insertion of copulas before Hebrew and Yiddish participles used in English contexts?
For example, why the common formulation "he is yotze" rather than simply "he yotze"?
...
4
votes
3answers
132 views
Remember the Sabbath day: meaning of “Sabbath”
Is the word "Shabbat" in Scripture, or anywhere really, ever translated as anything but "Sabbath" by Jews? IF so, what?
Based on the Tanakh, that says to "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy," ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
Father the mercy
Lubavitch prayer books include the words אָב הָרַחֲמִים where other prayer books have אַב הָרַחֲמִים (specifically, in the amida of musaf and mincha of Shabas Shuva, and in a prayer said after ...
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
84 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 ...
4
votes
2answers
59 views
'amel' vs. 'osek'
We speak of being עָמֵל בַּתּוֹרָה (e.g., Rashi to B'chukosay 26:3 and :14) and also of being עוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה (e.g., birchos haTora in the morning). What is each (especially as contrasted with the ...
4
votes
2answers
165 views
sameach vs. samach
Nusach S'farad, in the amida ("sh'mone esre") of holidays and Shabas, has "וְשַׂמַּח נַפְשֵׁינוּ בִּישׁוּעָתֶךָ" ("v'samach..."), but in sheva b'rachos it has "שַׂמֵּחַ תְּשַׂמַּח" ("sameach...").
...
4
votes
1answer
648 views
Davka, Mamash, and B'Emet
When speaking in primarily English but using the words Davka, Mamash, or B'Emet:
How do you define them into English?
What is the difference between them?
How do you use each one properly?
4
votes
3answers
95 views
Pronunciation of חשמונאי
A friend today told me that the word חשמונאי traditionally pronounced "Chashmonai" should really be pronounced "Chashmunai" with the vav being read as a shuruk vowel instead of a cholom.
Is this ...
4
votes
2answers
125 views
Translation Issue, Exodus 21
Exodus 21:22 - This verse deals with two men fighting, and injuring a pregnant woman causing her to [miscarry] | [give birth prematurely]. The bracketed terms are in dispute due to different ...
4
votes
1answer
61 views
Parshat Zachor - Do you need to understand or just hear
The responsibility of reading Zachor is in order to remember to wipe out Amalek. Therefore we read it annually.
Does someone who hears the words of Zachor, but does not understand them, still ...
4
votes
2answers
106 views
Why is the Haggadah written in Hebrew?
The Haggadah was written during the Talmudic period, so I would expect it to be written in Aramaic. Especially since the entire purpose of the Haggadah is the telling over of the story of ...
4
votes
3answers
143 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?
4
votes
2answers
113 views
Is Aggadah the same thing as Midrash?
(Inspired by a comment on this question.)
What characteristics define Aggadah and Midrash, and how are they related?
If the distinction is merely that Aggadah is a more general category of "legend" ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
BinyOn or binyAn adai-ad in one of the sheva brochos?
At a chupah today, in the brocho of “asher yotzar es ho’odom betzalmo” a learned Rabbi said the word “binyOn” before “adai-ad” rather than the more usual “binyAn”. “binyOn” is the text in the Baer ...
4
votes
1answer
89 views
why does Ruth 1:8 use עמדי instead of עמי?
Ruth 1:8 says:
ח וַתֹּאמֶר נָעֳמִי, לִשְׁתֵּי כַלֹּתֶיהָ, לֵכְנָה שֹּׁבְנָה, אִשָּׁה לְבֵית אִמָּהּ; יעשה (יַעַשׂ) יְהוָה עִמָּכֶם חֶסֶד, כַּאֲשֶׁר עֲשִׂיתֶם עִם-הַמֵּתִים וְעִמָּדִי.
8 And ...
4
votes
1answer
113 views
What does חיו“ש וכט”ס stand for?
What does this abbreviation stand for? It is part of the greeting section of a letter written in Hebrew from the late 19th century. The phrase in which it appears is:
שפעת חיו"ש וכט"ס לכבוד הרב ...
4
votes
1answer
48 views
Tutorials for learning more about Jewish practice
I wish to learn more about the steps for "Hazara betshova" (Getting stronger) preferably in Hebrew.
I have no knowledge of the Jewish practice at all so a place which assumes no past knowledge will be ...
4
votes
1answer
124 views
Closing abbreviation ושכמ"ה
Every [anonymous] question asked in the responsum Torah Lishmah ends with an address to the answerer and the abbreviation ושכמ"ה (e.g.). The Otzar Rashei Teivos had only one entry for this ...
4
votes
1answer
59 views
Hebrew of the Mishneh Torah
In what type of Hebrew did Rambam write the Mishneh Torah?
I just started to learn Biblical Hebrew and when I have learned basics I will start to read Pentateuch in Hebrew with some help The next ...
4
votes
1answer
272 views
Hebrew Havarah?
Similar to this question
Different parts of Eastern Europe had different dialects.
For example, Ukrainian, Polish and Hungarian Jews pronounce a "Shuruk" as a EE, or a Komatz as an oo (so Boruch ...
4
votes
1answer
88 views
Community/Synagogue Honorifics
I visited the Rare Books section of the JTS in New York in Dec. 2009, to view an old manuscript from Kezmarok, Slovakia. I selected certain pages that I was interested in translating, on behalf of ...
4
votes
1answer
234 views
Why are some Hebrew prepositions always conjugated in plural form?
(inspired by this question)
Certain Hebrew prepositions, such as אל, על, and לפני, are always conjugated in the plural form even with a singular object: thus אליו, עליך, etc.
Others don't: the ...
4
votes
0answers
37 views
Levana or Yareach?
In the entire Tanach the moon is generally called Yareach. There are 3 instances where it is called Levana. One is ישעיהו: כד. כג.
וחפרה הלבנה ובושה החמה. Another one is ישעיהו: ל. כו.
והיה אור הלבנה ...
4
votes
0answers
53 views
How did the Parshiyot get their names [duplicate]
and what are the names' significance?
Thanks
Naomi
Duplicate of:
Where are the rules for naming parshiyot explained?
3
votes
7answers
377 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 ...
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, ...
3
votes
3answers
242 views
Hillel ben Shahar on gravestone
A follow up question to this one about my ancestor's gravestone. The bottom two lines of the inscription have a mysterious (to me) reference to Hillel ben Shahar, and unfortunately are partially cut ...
3
votes
5answers
427 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 ...
3
votes
3answers
195 views
Is there a chart available displaying all Hebrew letters and vowels?
I'm looking for a nice chart that will give me the following things, so I can print it out and keep it handy:
Picture of each letter in traditional "book" font =
Picture of each letter in ...
3
votes
4answers
327 views
Computer Support for Nekudos
Can it hurt to include Nekudos (vowel marks) when typing Hebrew? Do all systems that support Hebrew lettering automatically support Nekudos? If not, do they at least degrade gracefully?
3
votes
1answer
94 views
What's the significance of the dot in “bqr” in Danial vs the omission of the same in Genesis
In researching the phrase "evening and morning" I noticed a very small difference in the Hebrew text between Genesis 1 (e.g. 1:4) and Daniel 8:14, where the latter has a tiny dot in the first letter ...
3
votes
1answer
118 views
How do Jews understand this idiom in Psalm 40:7
Inspired by http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/1294/hebrew-ot-translation-to-greek-nt, I wonder what Jews interpret this idiom, "אָזְנַיִם כָּרִיתָ לִּי," to mean.
The English Standard ...
3
votes
3answers
191 views
What is the source of the word “Rabbi”? [closed]
What is the source of the Hebrew word "Rabbi" - which is commonly applied to a Rav, Rosh Yeshiva, etc.?
3
votes
2answers
201 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
76 views
איש אחד What does the Echad refer to and where else in the Tanch is it found?
In Shmuel Aleph Perek Aleph Elkana is refered to as Ish Echad before his name is given. The Midrash, according to Meam Loez, says that the Echad means Singular or Special. I was wondering where else ...
3
votes
3answers
352 views
3
votes
3answers
126 views
Does anyone know of a public domain recording of Tanakh chapters or verses?
The question title explains it all -- I'm looking for a public domain audio recording of the Tanakh. For example, these people have recorded Genesis:
...
3
votes
3answers
147 views
Are there analogs to “Abba” & “Ima” for in-laws?
I know that “אבא” and “אמא” are originally Aramaic translations of the Hebrew “אבי” and “אמי” which have become adapted to Hebrew, especially in the accusative case. Are there similar forms in ...
3
votes
2answers
38 views
בישול Versus שולק
The Shulchan Aruch and the Gemara use two words that to me seem to mean the same thing: "Cooking". My question is what is the difference between שולק (Sholek) and בישול (Bishul)? Please provide ...
3
votes
1answer
40 views
Shir Urinanim- Whats the diffrence?
In Ma'oz Tzur, it says:
וּמִנּוֹתַר קַנְקַנִּים נַעֲשָׂה נֵס לַשּׁוֹשַׁנִּים
בְּנֵי בִינָה יְמֵי שְׁמוֹנָה קָבְעוּ שִׁיר וּרְנָנִים
What is the Difference between Shirim and Rinanim?
3
votes
1answer
112 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 ...
3
votes
2answers
87 views
Clothing and shame, etymologically speaking
I have been unable to find an etymological connection between the root for shame בשש (especially as it turns into the forms of בושה בושת) and the word for "clothe" לבש. Shame was introduced in ...
3
votes
2answers
397 views
What is the meaning of 'Tishbi' in 'Eliyahu haTishbi'?
I've heard theory that it's a place, but have never heard of a place with a similar name...
3
votes
1answer
63 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
823 views
Wishes to a mourner in addition to “Hamokom Yenachem Eschem”
I have heard some people say in Yiddish after "Hamokom Yenachem Eschem B'Soch Shaar Aveilei Tzion V'Yerushalayim" ("May God comfort you alongside the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem"), "Zulst Mer Nisht ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
“Ramba”m“ or ”The Ramba“m”?
I often hear the Hebrew abbreviation for Maimonides appended to a definite article but don't quite understand why it should be there when the unabbreviated name would (I think) never warrant such an ...
3
votes
2answers
99 views
Learning Hebrew
If I have a decent Hebrew knowledge, but not great, what books (i.e. dictionaries, lexicons, etc.) should I have at hand when I'm learning a sefer, such as the Mishneh Torah?
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 ...
