The words tag has no wiki summary.
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All, every: how to interpret these words in the Scriptures?
What is the correct way in interpreting, understanding the words "all", "every" in the Bible? My problem is that I learned maths for years and sometimes it makes me very hard to understand things. ...
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3answers
306 views
What is “chad gadya” really all about?
Why do we sing "chad gadya" at the pesach seder? What is it supposed to be about?
Also, as a side question, is it "d'zabin aba" or "dizvan aba"?
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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.?
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2answers
66 views
ורב להושיע instead of רב להושיע in אתה גבור
Siddur Tefila Yeshara (the Berdichever Siddur) has, in the second blessing of the Shemoneh Esreh, ורב להושיע - "v'rav l'hoshea", "and abundant in deliverance". Literally every other siddur I've ever ...
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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 ...
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3answers
172 views
Why do we call it “candle-lighting” time?
Since it is still permissible to do melacha (work forbidden on shabbat) including lighting shabbat candles until shki'a (sunset), which is 18 minutes (or 40 minutes in Jerusalem) following ...
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2answers
103 views
cities that start with ה־
There are a good number of cities referred to in Y'hoshua, of course, and a sizable percentage (I'm guesstimating about 5%) of them start with ה־ (most famously הָעַי, I think).What ...
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2answers
85 views
Why refer to alcoholic beverages as Yash?
In many Chasidishe and Heimishe Shuls - Vodka, Whiskey and the likes are known as "Yash" which is an acronym for Yayin Saraf - יי״ש. However would it not be more appropiate to call it Yas? Then why do ...
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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 ...
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102 views
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1answer
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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?
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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
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2answers
396 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...
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2answers
151 views
Welcoming someone back after a visit to Israel
Is it proper to say "Welcome back" after someone visits Israel because of the lower level of Kedussah between Israel and Chutz LaEretz?
3
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2answers
60 views
What does the concept of rehovot hanahar mean?
I have seen the phrase Rehovot HaNahar (wideness of the river) used, often in a kabbalistic context, but am not sure what it symbolizes. The phrase can be found in the shabbos song Kel Mistater (the ...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 ...
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2answers
113 views
ה' ימלך לעלם ועד to ימלוך ה' לעולם
In Parshas Beshalach (and Emet Ve-Yatziv/Ve-Emunah) it says ה' ימלך לעלם ועד, but in Sefer Tehilim (and Kedushah) it says ימלוך ה' לעולם. Why the change in language?
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1answer
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Kel (Melech) Chanun V'Rachum — do you say Melech?
Some siddurs have the phrase "Ki Kel Melech Chanun V'Rachum Ata" at the conclusion of Ya'aleh v'Yavo. Some have Melech in parentheses; some don't have it at all. Can anyone tell me something about ...
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1answer
33 views
Why isn't נִצָּבָה redundant?
In Bereshis 37:7 we read:
וְהִנֵּה אֲנַחְנוּ מְאַלְּמִים אֲלֻמִּים בְּתוֹךְ הַשָּׂדֶה וְהִנֵּה קָמָה אֲלֻמָּתִי וְגַם נִצָּבָה - Behold, we were binding sheaves in the midst of the field, and ...
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1answer
64 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 ...
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1answer
59 views
How many times in Na"Kh is the land called Eretz Cna'an?
The other side of the coin of this question (or, if you prefer, this question), might be, how often, or how many times, does the term Eretz Cna'an appear in Na"Kh after the land was given to Benei ...
3
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1answer
124 views
Meaning of Mappik in יה
One more question about mappik
(I don't know what happened to me, but this topic somewhat disturbs me lately :))
What is the meaning of the mappik in the following Hebrew words:
יָהּ
הַלְלוּיָהּ
...
3
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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" ...
3
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2answers
154 views
What is the earliest source that mentions Gematria?
What is the earliest source that mentions Gematria?
3
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2answers
98 views
Why no play on words for apple and honey?
The other simanim eaten on Rosh Hashana contain a play on words with the name of the food and either a wish for a good omen or a wish for bad to befall our enemies. The yehi ratzon for the apple has ...
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Difference between 'rafa' and 'ripa'
The root רפא, "heal", is used in various places in Tanach, sometimes in binyan paal and sometimes in binyan piel. I wonder what the difference is between these. Does any Tanach commentator, or the ...
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0answers
83 views
Source for not referring to Chanuka lights as a “menora”
Following up on this question about the use of the words "menora" or "chanukiya" to refer to Chanuka lights:
I find it interesting that the use of "chanukiya" apparently originated in 1897 through a ...
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4answers
530 views
What's the difference between “Jew”, “Israelite” and “Judaizer”?
What's the difference between "Jew", "Israelite" and "Judaizer"? Can these three terms be used interchangeably? Can only one or only two of these terms be applied to one person?
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2answers
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Why does the term Eretz Yisroel never appear in the Torah?
After anylyzing the term "Eretz Yisroel" I could only find it in 3 instances in Nach. http://mi.yodeya.com/questions/5681/does-the-term-ever-appear-in-tanach
Why does the term Eretz Yisroel never ...
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2answers
96 views
Why is Eretz Yisrael called “Eretz Tzvi”?
Why is Eretz Yisrael called "Eretz Tzvi"? What does this mean exactly? Why? and Where does it say this?
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3answers
141 views
Meaning of the a word in an magen david
I have a magen david with שוי writen inside and I want to know the meaning
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3answers
110 views
difference between תולעים and רמה
In Beshalach 16:20:
וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיּוֹתִרוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִמֶּנּוּ עַד בֹּקֶר וַיָּרֻם תּוֹלָעִים וַיִּבְאַשׁ וַיִּקְצֹף עֲלֵהֶם מֹשֶׁה:
A few Pesukim later in 16:24:
...
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1answer
218 views
Etymology of the word “Vasikin”
What is the etymology of the word Vasikin? Also is Vasikin Hebrew or Aramaic?
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2answers
119 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?
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3answers
106 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?
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2answers
109 views
Why does the book (Megillah) of Esther never use the Hebrew word “armon” for palace?
It talks about the capital and "the king's house", but never uses the Hebrew word for "palace", "armon", as appears in Psalms and elsewhere. (Or does it appear and I missed it?) Why not?
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2answers
59 views
What does the word “Karpas” mean?
That which by the Seder on Pesach we eat "karpas", what does this word actually mean and where does it come from?
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2answers
106 views
Why was Chanah called an “Ishah Kesheirah”?
The Gemoro says that when Chanah was caught by Eli davening and whispering, he asked the Urim Vetumim about her to see if she was ok. The letters ה ר ש כ appeared on the Urim Vetumim.
Eli understood ...
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84 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 ...
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1answer
95 views
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1answer
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Is the term/idea “inviolate” used in the old testament?
I was discussing the idea of privacy with my ethics professor, and he mentioned the concept of "inviolate personality". When it came up he was pretty sure the word inviolate either comes from or is ...
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218 views
What are the Hebrew titles for synagogue functionaries in various communities?
In every Ashkenazic synagogue I've seen, the fellow calling up people to the Bima is called a "gabbai." (Which was originally a Hebrew word for "collector", as in Tzedaka collector; I can see how the ...
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2answers
207 views
Variant vowelizations in Selichot
The repeated paragraph in Selichot that introduces the Thirteen Attributes includes the phrase "increasingly grants pardon to careless sinners and foregiveness to willful ones" (Artscroll Siddur ...
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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?
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1answer
120 views
What does “Maaseh Rav” mean?
I believe many people think the term "Maaseh Rav" means a story of a Rabbi: since we see from the story that a Rabbi acted a certain way, we can bring this as a proof to the halacha. However, I ...
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1answer
145 views
Why “hayom yom rishon”, not “echad”?
Rabbi Menachem Greenblatt (St. Louis, Missouri) mentioned at s'uda sh'lishis (Shabas parashas "Ki Setze" 5772) that the correct name for Sunday is echad b(a?)shabas, as is written in k'suvos and ...
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1answer
55 views
Kindness and truth
The Posuk says (Gen 47:29):
וְעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּדִי חֶסֶד וֶאֱמֶת
Translated as do with me Kindness and truth
Rashi is bothered that Chesed and Emes are two different things so Rashi says:
חסד ...
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1answer
274 views
Issues with Wording, Honorifics, Symbols, Rashei Teivot on Tombstones
In my work on translating tombstones (Ashkenazic - Slovakian or what was once Austro-Hungarian) towns, I occasionally come across phrases or honorifics that are difficult for me to understand. I do ...
