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In Talmud Keritot 6a, read in the siddur, it states,

קילופה שלשה וקנמון תשעה בורית כרשינה תשעה קבין יין קפריסין סאין תלתא קבין תלתא

Why is the Hebrew שלשה used for "three" (hin) in counting קילופה, cinnamon,but the Aramaic תלתא used for the wine? Is there any significance?

Thanks for any help on that.

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    וקנמון בורית כרשינה קילופה are all hebrew an קבין יין קפריסין סאין קבין are all aramaic so the numbers are just matching the nouns. Why do the nouns change though...
    – Double AA ♦
    Jul 30, 2021 at 17:36
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    @DoubleAA Are those really Aramaic, and not just Mishnaic Hebrew? (real Aramaic for Hebrew יין is חמר.)
    – magicker72
    Jul 30, 2021 at 20:17
  • Kafrisin is, according to some, the name of a place. Perhaps Cyprus. Maybe they used the local language since it came from there
    – Chatzkel
    Jul 30, 2021 at 20:38
  • also, its replacement: חמר חיוריין עתיק
    – Loewian
    Aug 1, 2021 at 5:19

1 Answer 1

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Schottenstein on the gemara, footnote 50 in the Hebrew edition, write:

"התנא שינה כאן מלשון הקודש שפתח בה, ואמר "תלתא" בארמית, לפי שכך שמע מרבו, וחייב אדם לומר בלשון רבו (1סידור יעב"ץ עמוד לו.)."

Translation: "The tanna moved from the Holy Language he opened with, and said "telata" in Aramaic, because that's how he heard from his rabbi, and a man has to repeat in the manner his rabbi said it (Siddur Yaavatz pg. 36a)."

I suppose this means that either the tanna heard the first portion of what he said from a different rabbi, or it's the same rabbi who happened to teach one portion in Hebrew and one in Aramaic (less likely).

1 Evidently Schottenstein used a different edition (or it's a mistake).

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  • Follow-up: Why did his master teach it this way?
    – Kazi bácsi
    Aug 1, 2021 at 8:09
  • @Kazibácsi It doesn't say, but I would venture a guess that as not all of the tannaim lived in Eretz Yisrael, likewise not all were Hebrew-purists, especially if you take the position that Aramaic is also a holy language.
    – Harel13
    Aug 1, 2021 at 8:11
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    BTW, it's on page 'קס"ט ב in the original (fourth row from bottom), and of course after the amidah, not as in that kludgy edition.
    – Kazi bácsi
    Aug 1, 2021 at 9:23

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