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14
votes
3answers
578 views
Bli Neder Loophole
Who came up with the Bli Neder loophole of:
Bli neder I will help you do X
Or
Bli neder I will etc...
And the list can go on and on.
Who came up with addingBli Neder which basically means ...
7
votes
3answers
272 views
Posek vs. Rabbi?
It seems to me obvious that certain sheilos are best dealt with by only the leading Rabbanim. At the same time colloquially we often say a Rabbi has "paskened" a sheilah when the answer is fairly ...
11
votes
5answers
453 views
Nittle Nacht Meaning
What is Nittle Nacht?
What does the name mean?
What is its significance?
Which Halachic authorities speak about it, and what do they say?
What is the actual date for it?
How is it effected this ...
10
votes
38answers
1k views
words often mispronounced [closed]
What are some words commonly mispronounced? (Not by elision/reduction (like ה׳→אדְני) or assimilation (like תזכרו→תשׂכרו), but rather words that are pronounced wrong ...
8
votes
3answers
265 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 ...
16
votes
3answers
368 views
When blogging/emailing/etc., do I use “God” or “G-d”?
Is there a religious problem with typing out the name: "G-o-d"?
6
votes
3answers
206 views
Double Yud as G-ds Name
What is the significance of the double Yud used as a stand-in for G-d's name?
5
votes
3answers
381 views
חַס וְשָׁלוֹם: why and for what
What is saying חַס וְשָׁלוֹם (chas v'shalom) supposed to accomplish? Does it do so, or is it just a waste of breath?
Based on the answers given to my previous question about this phrase, it seems ...
5
votes
2answers
150 views
What is the meaning of Davar Shebakedusha?
How does something become a Davar Shebakedusha? What is the criteria?
This question was inspired by the discussion over here. People half-standing for אלקינו in zimun
4
votes
1answer
113 views
Why refer to Isaac Luria as the Arizal, and not Arizatzal?
One of the common ways to refer to the R' Isaac Luria is "the Arizal". I understand this to mean, The Ari, zecher L'bracha (may he be mentioned/remembered for blessing).
However, one usually refers ...
2
votes
2answers
149 views
Gedole HaDor: who and how
1)Who do we know to refer to as a "Gadol?"
2)How do we determine who is a "Gadol?"
For example, how did we determine that Rav Elyashiv is a Gadol?
A Gadol HaDor is known as one of the most ...
5
votes
3answers
992 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 ...
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?
4
votes
2answers
164 views
Are there unnecessary words in torah?
I've been taught, often enough that I thought it was universal, that there are no unnecessary words in torah (chumash) — every word is there to teach us something. I've seen plenty of discussions in ...
11
votes
2answers
187 views
What is “emunas chachomim”?
My daughter came home from school with a textbook response for what "emunas chachomim" is. I disagreed strongly with what was written in the book, so I'm not even going to say what they said. ...
11
votes
4answers
467 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"?
7
votes
4answers
434 views
What is the exact definition of Shituf (vis a vis 'Avodah Zarah)?
"Shituf" is the heretical idea of some sort of co-mingling of something with G-d (Has VeShalom). According to many rabbinic opinions, Christianity is Shituf (cf., Is Christianity Avodah Zara?), and ...
6
votes
1answer
132 views
Who are these “aliens” in Isaiah 56?
I was reading through this passage in Isaiah 56:
4 For thus saith the LORD concerning the eunuchs that keep My
sabbaths, and choose the things that please Me, and hold fast by My
covenant. 5 ...
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 ...
4
votes
6answers
81 views
Wording in Torah when Moshe is commanded to appear before pharoh
This shabbos, the parasha, Bo, starts with Moshe being told to "Bo El Paroh", "Come to Pharaoh". I don't understand this wording, should it have said "Lech El Paroh", "go to Pharaoh"? Is there a ...
4
votes
2answers
115 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
3answers
102 views
12
votes
3answers
199 views
the aggadic concept of a finite number of words to speak
Is there any truth to the common claim that each person has a predetermined number of words that he can speak in his life? Source, please.
If so, then how does it work? In particular (with sources or ...
5
votes
6answers
2k views
Online glossary of Talmudic terms
Is there an online glossary anywhere that explains important Talmudic terms, with similar scope to the Practical Talmud Dictionary? I'm more interested in an Aramaic-English resource, but ...
12
votes
2answers
310 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?
3
votes
5answers
764 views
What does Heimishe mean?
Literally it means "homey." My best guess is that it means "midway between Hassidish and Litvak." But given that differences between Hassidim and Litvaks, though they surely exist, are not what they ...
20
votes
2answers
791 views
14
votes
2answers
382 views
What was wrong with the word Talmud?
The Wikipedia article on The Talmud says:
and Pope Pius IV commanded, in 1565, that the Talmud be deprived of its very name. The convention of referring to the work as "Shas" (shishah sidre ...
14
votes
3answers
326 views
Why aren't Tefillin called Totafot?
They're called Totafot in the Torah, so why do we call them Tefilin?
13
votes
2answers
262 views
What does “the Talmud” mean in the Talmud?
The G'mara Bavli says in Shabas 63:
אמר רב כהנא, "כד הוינא בר תמני סרי שנין, והוה גמירנא ליה לכוליה תלמודא, ולא הוה ידענא דאין מקרא יוצא מידי פשוטו..."
Rav Kahana said, "When I was 18 years ...
11
votes
1answer
136 views
Where Rashi uses a Russian word in Nach?
I heard that Rashi uses a Russian word where he deals with the building of the Beis Hamikdash by King Shlomo. I also heard that he uses a Polish word.
Does anyone know where it is?
11
votes
2answers
343 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
2answers
146 views
Does the term “ארץ ישראל” ever appear in Tanach?
Do these words ever appear together as one phrase in Tanach?
11
votes
4answers
6k views
10
votes
1answer
128 views
Best way to translate “קא”
In the Aramaic of the Babylonian Talmud, there is a widely used word "קא", like in the sentence והא קא קרי (in Berahot 13:1).
What is the best way to translate it to Hebrew or English? Or maybe just ...
9
votes
4answers
198 views
Source of saying migdol / magdil in Bentching
I was once told by someone that saying migdol instead of magdil in bentching on Shabbos and yom tov is an error. That a siddur had the source in pesukim in short form on the side and people mistock it ...
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 ...
7
votes
3answers
124 views
K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim: why that order?
When a baby boy has his Bris we wish him "K'shaim Shenichnas L'Bris Kain Yikones L'Torah L'Chupa U'Lmaasim Tovim" - just like you entered the covenant so to should you enter into Torah, marriage, and ...
7
votes
2answers
130 views
What does the aramaic “pon” mean?
Once in a while, Onkelos will throw in the word pon (פּוֹן) that doesn't directly translate from the Hebrew.
Avimelech to Yitzchak: k'z'eir pon shachiv d'm'yached b'ama (Toldos 26:10)
Lavan to ...
7
votes
2answers
174 views
Stress of הושיעה and הצליחה in Hallel
Why is הושיעה Mileel (penultimately stressed) whereas הצליחה is Milra (ultimately stressed) in Psalms 118:25?
6
votes
1answer
100 views
What is “בלי עין הרע”?
After mentioning that someone has been benefited by God in some way — say, with longevity or good looks or wealth — people often add the Hebrew "בלי עין הרע" ("without the evil eye") or ...
6
votes
2answers
130 views
Why switch the reference from “גוי” to “עם” in Tachanun?
Why does the prayer "Shomer Yisra'el" in Tachanun say in two of the verses the word גוי in the first and last phrase, but עם in the middle phrase?
שומר גוי אחד שמור שארית עם אחד ואל יאבד גוי אחד
...
6
votes
2answers
255 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
2answers
620 views
The meaning of Tzadik
I am having difficulty in understand the meaning of Tzadik. Maimonides says "One whose merit surpasses his iniquity is a tzadik". I have trouble in understanding this sentence. Can someone explain the ...
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 ...
5
votes
1answer
95 views
How can you see words?
Has anyone else noticed the seeming incongruity in Lekh Lekha, Gen 15:1...that Avram is "seeing" the words? The verse states:
אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, הָיָה דְבַר-יְהוָה אֶל-אַבְרָם, ...
5
votes
1answer
93 views
What is “חצות האמצעי”?
While researching an answer to this question I stumbled across the term "חצות האמצעי".
What does it mean? Does it refer to halachic midday, i.e. halfway between netz hachama and shkias hachama, or ...
5
votes
3answers
104 views
The Tur's word counts for Shemoneh Esreh
I have often seen the Tur cited as giving exact word counts for each blessing of the Shemoneh Esreh. The arguments I have seen for being careful to adhere to the word counts include that this would ...
5
votes
3answers
174 views
Charvona? How many Charvona's were there?
In the Megila twice the name Charvona is mentioned. However there is a difference - Once it is spelled with an Aleph at the end and once it is spelled with an Hai at the end? Were there two Charvona's ...
5
votes
3answers
224 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?
