pertaining to the Hebrew language
10
votes
2answers
1k views
B'siyata D'shmaya or Baruch Hashem
Often, at the top of written work, Jews write either ב"ה, which stands for Baruch Hashem =blessed is the Name i.e., God, or בס"ד, which stands for b'siyata d'shmaya =with Heavenly help.
What is the ...
8
votes
3answers
263 views
All you need is love?
I once had a Hebrew professor state with absolute determination that "Ahavah" (the Hebrew word for "love") does not, in fact, mean love. His proof was twofold:
1. G-d could not have commanded us to ...
4
votes
4answers
197 views
6
votes
1answer
479 views
Different traditions in Hebrew pronunciation
The theme of Hebrew pronunciation is one that facinates me and, as such, I want to get some feedback on some issues I've been thinking about for years. I have already discussed some of these issues ...
8
votes
2answers
189 views
Ashkenazic vs. Sefardic grammar tendencies
I notice that when referring to God in the second person in a possessive form, Sefardim often use the female form where Ashkenazim use the male form.
For example, where Ashkenazim say in kedusha, ...
7
votes
2answers
275 views
מרדכי = Mord'chi?
When learning with Jews of the Syrian community, I noticed that they pronounced מרדכי (the name of the halachic commentary on the g'mara) as "mord'chi", as if the final vowel were a chirik. Why is ...
0
votes
4answers
684 views
Most original form of the Hebrew Bible/Tenach
Not sure if they are the same thing (the Hebrew Bible and the Tenach). I read in this link that "there are many different Jewish translations of the Hebrew Bible". This kind of confuses me because I ...
6
votes
1answer
134 views
Does G-d only hear one language?
I'm a little confused by Rambam Hil. Tefilla 1:4.
Consequently, when someone would pray, he would be limited in his ability to request his needs or to praise the Holy One, blessed be He, in ...
6
votes
2answers
261 views
לשון הקדש: the oldest language?
Rashi to B'reshis 2:23 says that the language Adam spoke was one that Rashi calls לשון הקדש, lashon hakodesh (or l'shon hakodesh), and that contains the words אִשָּׁה and אִישׁ. Keeping to Rashi's ...
5
votes
3answers
907 views
What is the meaning of יוֹם (yowm) in Bereshit?
I've heard conflicting reports of how the creation days , יוֹם (yowm), in Bereshit are interpreted in the Jewish community. How do actual Hebrew scholars define day in Bereshit? six 24 hour periods or ...
8
votes
5answers
192 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 ...
8
votes
1answer
223 views
A Lubavitch custom of reciting zecher and zeicher in “Ashrei”?
My cousin, a Lubavitcher, says both zecher and zeicher (that is, both זֶכֶר with a segol and זֵכֶר with a tzeire) in "Ashrei". I noticed this when I visited him a good few years ago, and assumed it ...
7
votes
5answers
4k views
Nefesh, neshama and ruach as words for “soul”
All three words can mean something like "soul", e.g., neshama in גלגול נשמות, and ruach in וַתְּחִי רוּחַ יַעֲקֹב אֲבִיהֶם (Bereshit 45:27). So, what is the difference?
19
votes
3answers
260 views
Female praying in masculine language
When women daven (pray), even by ourselves, it is convention to daven with male-gendered words ("modeh" vs "moda" as one of many examples). Why is this; are there sources that say we should be doing ...
15
votes
2answers
395 views
Why does the Hebrew alphabet not have letters representing vowels?
(Re-asking this question in a way more suited to SE.)
The Hebrew alphabet is actually an abjad rather than a "true" Western-style alphabet, in that every letter represents a consonant, and vowels, if ...
12
votes
1answer
189 views
Kubutz and shuruk in Polish/Hungarian pronunciation
What is the origin or basis of the Polish and Hungarian prevalence for pronouncing "oo" vowels as "ee"? The variants of other vowels are easier to understand in the context of phonological shifting, ...
11
votes
4answers
452 views
Why “Lach” not “Lecha” in “Modim Anachnu Lach”
Could someone please explain why the "Lach" in Modim Anachnu Lach is not "Lecha"... I guess this is some grammatical point rather than the use of the feminime "you"?
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Where can I get the free Hebrew text of the Siddur or Benching?
Where can I get the text of the siddur/prayer book (or at least benching/grace, mincha/afternoon prayer, and/or ma'ariv/evening prayer) in a free computer friendly format? I'd like to be able to make ...
8
votes
1answer
948 views
Does ב"ה actually stand for Boruch Hashem?
We asked here about writing either ב"ה or בס"ד on the top of a letter. In the question it was assumed that ב"ה stands for Boruch Hashem.
Do we have a source that ב"ה actually stands for Boruch ...
5
votes
4answers
193 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 ...
4
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 ...
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" ...
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?
-1
votes
3answers
1k views
How do you write Isaiah in Hebrew? [closed]
How do you write Isaiah in Hebrew and does it matter if the writing is in a vertical direction. (This is for a tattoo for a childs name on a parent)
24
votes
6answers
911 views
Which alphabet were the original Torah scrolls in?
I've assumed that the Torah scrolls we read today as the same that Moses wrote. I always assumed it's been the same alphabet.
However lately I came across documents explaining the evolution of the ...
11
votes
6answers
301 views
12
votes
2answers
306 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?
7
votes
4answers
872 views
Hard Yeshivish phrases to translate
Does anyone ever have trouble finding good English translations of certain yeshivish phrases, especially when in conversation with someone who would not understand the original?
Post your favorite ...
16
votes
2answers
742 views
14
votes
3answers
316 views
Why aren't Tefillin called Totafot?
They're called Totafot in the Torah, so why do we call them Tefilin?
11
votes
1answer
118 views
First-Temple-Era names of the Hebrew months?
The Chumash refers to the months simply as "the first", "the second", and so on. Today we know them by their Babylonian names (Nisan, Iyar ...) Occasionally the Prophets from the First-Temple Era use ...
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 ...
11
votes
4answers
5k views
10
votes
2answers
139 views
“־הם” versus “־מו”
Usually, the suffix "־הם" is used to mean "them" as an object, as is "להם" or "אליהם". Or it is used to mean "their" in possessive form, as in "כליהם" or "אבותיהם".
But sometimes, the very same usage ...
10
votes
5answers
180 views
Meaning of ודו"ק
It is fairly common to find the abbreviation ודו"ק at the end of a complex explanation of a Torah thought (Maharsha, for example, famously does this very often). Roughly, it means: "I didn't explain ...
9
votes
1answer
107 views
When do we read a vav prefix as “or” rather than “and”?
This answer cites the Ralbag as interpreting a (critical-to-the-question) vav prefix on a verb as "or". I've heard before that a vav prefix is not always "and" and can be "or" or even "but". Is ...
8
votes
2answers
180 views
הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך — or אותו?
There is a popular song some of whose lyrics are "הקדוש ברוך הוא אנחנו אוהבים אותך". Does anyone have a source — besides some recent lyricist — for these words precisely, or a source for any instance ...
8
votes
3answers
159 views
Why is there a ה in “מוהל”?
The Hebrew word for the act performed at a circumcision is "לימול". The root appears to be נ.מ.ל. Following the exceptional rules for roots whose first letter is נ, the causative participle and ...
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 ...
8
votes
3answers
194 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 ...
6
votes
3answers
176 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! ...
6
votes
2answers
243 views
Why can't Ploni Almoni be a real name, in Ruth?
The verse states (Ruth 4:1):
וּבֹעַז עָלָה הַשַּׁעַר, וַיֵּשֶׁב שָׁם, וְהִנֵּה הַגֹּאֵל עֹבֵר אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר-בֹּעַז, וַיֹּאמֶר סוּרָה שְׁבָה-פֹּה פְּלֹנִי אַלְמֹנִי; וַיָּסַר, וַיֵּשֵׁב
Now Boaz ...
6
votes
1answer
1k views
what is “kodesh”?
What does the word קֹדֶשׁ (sometimes קודש), kodesh, mean?
Its form is that of a noun, like אֹכֶל or בֹּקֶר or לֹבֶן. But קדושה is a noun, and (I'm pretty sure) it means "the state/quality of being ...
6
votes
1answer
296 views
מֶה, מָה, מַה - Meh, Mah, Ma - What's the difference?
What causes the difference in vowelization of the Hebrew word for "what"? In some contexts it is מֶה, in others - מָה, and in yet others - מַה. The hypothesis that an acquaintance and I converged on ...
5
votes
0answers
96 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 ...
5
votes
4answers
917 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 ...
5
votes
3answers
434 views
Hebrew for ice - and other “new” words
After reading MB OC 301:17:65 (thanks, YDK!) I am baffled by a nagging question regarding Modern Hebrew and Biblical Hebrew. Eliezer Ben-Yehudah is known to have revitalized Hebrew, in part by taking ...
5
votes
2answers
146 views
Formal Hebrew honorific for one's mother
Many men, when going up for an aliya, tell the gabbai their name as, e.g. "Reuven ben Rav Yaakov", even if "Yaakov," the father, isn't actually a Rabbi." I believe the reason for this practice is to ...
5
votes
3answers
223 views
The Absolute Unity of G-d
As we all who know Hebrew can assert, the sufix "im" in the words usually means plurality. How can HaShem be Elohim or Elokim if He is absolutely One and the Only Lord?
5
votes
2answers
388 views
Pronunciation of משנה הלכות
Are R' Menashe Klein's volumes of responsa pronounced "Mishna Halachos" or "Mishaneh Halachos"? Can someone provide the grammatical explanation please?
