Questions tagged [acronyms]
An acronym (Hebrew: ראשי תיבות, rashei teivot) is a shortened form of a phrase, usually consisting of the first letters of each word.
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Abbreviations before/after names
What are the more common abbreviations one might see printed before or after a person's name, and what do they mean? Please include honorifics (R'=Rabbi) as well as memorial - or prayerful - suffixes ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 Hashem?...
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Meforshim Nick"names
It has become common practice to refer to most meforshim by acronyms of their name (eg Rashi, Rosh, etc.). When and why did this practice start, and is it proper?
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Why are wedding invitation abbreviated b'rachos different for males and females?
Many wedding invitations written in Hebrew that I've seen have the abbreviations נ"י - after the groom's name - and תחי' - after the bride's name. (Example) Sometimes they are slight alterations ...
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Is there a website that has a list of Roshei Teivot in text format?
I'm looking for a resource that has a list of Roshei Tevviot in text format. Where can I find this?
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What's the significance of בי״ה שמ״ו סימן, espcially on Dt. 31:28?
In most sifre Tora (Torah scrolls), 240 columns of text each start with the letter vav (ו), and five do not. The first of those five exceptional columns, of course, is the first column of the Torah, ...
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Changing "shlit"a"s to "za"l"s?
The name of living Torah scholar mentioned or quoted in another's book is often followed by an abbreviation of blessing such as שליט"א or נר"ו. The name of a past scholar, no longer living, is ...
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When did "Zal" give way to "Zatzal"?
Inspired by this answer and it's comments.
Early on, it was standard to refer to great Rabbis who had passed away with the appellation "Zal" - "zichrono/ah livracha "May his/her/their memory be a ...
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Academic abbreviations
Academic texts typically use acronyms to refer to books in Tana"ch, Talmud, and rabbinic literature. I am presently working on editing the citations given within a translation to bring them more in ...
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Can anyone explain the meaning of this amulet / inscription?
Right before my grandfather went away to fight in WWII, a rabbi in Munkács (מונקאטש) gave him a small cloth container that had a piece of parchment in it, as a kind of amulet. The piece of paper has ...
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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?
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How do you find or understand acronyms?
I've heard that the acronym in a sefer usually appears in the sefer in its full form somewhere before the acronym does, and in many cases I find this, but sometimes I do not, and cannot figure out the ...
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Is there a feminine equivalent of Zt"l? [duplicate]
Inspired by this question, I am wondering:
Is zt"l -- זצ“ל, zatzal = zecher tzadik livracha "May the memory of this tzaddik be a blessing" -- ever used for tzadkaniyot, righteous females? Or else is ...
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The difference between Chazal and Razal
I have heard it said before that Chazal (חז"ל = חכמינו זכרונם לברכה; "our sages of blessed memory") refers to sages of the Mishna and Gemara, while Razal (רז"ל = רבנים/נו זכרונם לברכה; "our/the ...
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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 ...
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What does the abbreviation ז׳׳ק mean after a person's name
I'm editing a translation of a yizkor book. It contains a full-page essay/tribute to a rabbi. The closing line of the essay has the author's name, followed by ז׳׳ק and I'm unsure how it should be ...
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Mnemonic of Rebbi Yehuda
The Haggadah tells us that Rebbi Yehuda came up with a mnemonic for remembering the Ten Plagues: Dtzach Adash B'Achav
Why was the mnemonic necessary? It doesn't seem to me to be that difficult to ...
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Origin and meaning of the honorific Shlita [duplicate]
It seems to me that for a long time, the word Shlita was popularly associated with the Lubavitcher Rebbe. And in those days when I was first encountering the term and asking about it, I was told that ...
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Who are the מאמ"ר and the כה"ח?
I found a reference to turning the body when waving the lulav. The text reads
ויש נוהגים גם להפנות את הגוף לארבע רוחות (מאמ"ר יג; כה"ח צו).
What, please, is the meaning of the abbreviations used ...
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What does צו״צ stand for?
After sh'mone esre (amida) of mincha on most Shabasos, we say three p'sukim, the first of which starts with the word "צדקתך". I've seen this three-pasuk paragraph referred to in Hebrew-language ...
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Meaning of abbreviation tblch"t / tblch"a
What do these abbreviations stand for? I have seen them beside the names of righteous females. Does it mean that she should have long life? What is the equivalent for males?
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What do the letters of Teshuvah stand for?
I found online that Teshuvah stands for:
תמים תהיה עם ה' אלקיך
שויתי ה' לנגדי תמיד
ואהבת לרעך כמוך
בכל דרכיך דעהו
הצנע לכת עם אלוהיך
Is there any source for this?
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Acronym of Iyar
I read the following on page 141, in The Wisdom In The Hebrew Months:
The first letters of the last three words of this verse, אני י-ה-ו-ה רפאך, I am Hashem, your Healer, are an acronym for Iyar.
Is ...
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What are the abreviations on tefillin cases?
I have seen two common abbreviations written on tefillin cases (I'm referring to the, most commonly red, cases that you put the tefillin into when you have completed wearing them):
תובב"א and פעיה"ק
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What did "נ ג ה ש" stand for before the Hanukkah miracle?
A well known reason we play dreidel on Hanukkah is this: Before the miracle of Hanukkah, when those who controlled the land severely restricted Torah study, Jewish children would gather to study Torah ...
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