All Questions
38 questions
3
votes
0
answers
79
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Question about Binyanim – Hebrew linguistics [closed]
I've looked into lots of linguistic works and found discussion of the 7 Binyanim (verb patterns) in much of modern Hebrew linguistics and even going back before. Obviously verbs in Tanakh (and all of ...
1
vote
0
answers
129
views
If we know for certain that certain types of Hebrew pronunciation aren't correct to the biblical standard, why still use them? [duplicate]
This question may be controversial but it isn't meant as an insult to any specific community. In fact, it kind of targets everyone if the hypothesis is correct. It speaks to the reality of the exile ...
- 1,413
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How does a Jewish community recognize a Jewish person they hadn't seen ever before?
Let's say there is a Jewish community where everybody knows each other, for example in a city. Let's say a new Jewish person arrives and manifests their will to get integrated with them. Nobody knows ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
295
views
Did Judaism have a more ancient name before it became Judaism?
Judaism comes from Judah. Specifically, it comes from the Kingdom of Judah.
The names we get from Torah are typically for the people and not for the faith. We were called Hebrews and then we were ...
- 1,413
6
votes
1
answer
608
views
What is the history behind ascribing a heading to each of the Psalms?
For exmple, in my English book of Psalms, the 59th Psalm (attributed to David) informs us that it is a miktam and then gives a heading:
When Saul had sent men to watch David's house in order to kill ...
- 555
3
votes
0
answers
42
views
Was the Jewish month of Tammuz named after the pagan god Tammuz of the Babylonian? [duplicate]
According to Wikipedia: "The name of the month was adopted from the Assyrian and Babylonian month Araḫ Dumuzu, named in honour of the Mesopotamian deity Dumuzid"
If so what's the implication ...
maverick
1
vote
2
answers
87
views
Does the Midrash show any examples of adjectives attached to Rabbi when addressing a Rabbi?
Are there any historic examples, such as in the Midrash, that show someone addressing a Rabbi with an adjective such as
רַבִּי הַטּוֹב?
- 342
3
votes
6
answers
2k
views
What does שליט"א stand for?
I thought that שליט"א came from the Aramaic word שליט (Ruler). But a Rabbi I told this to, pointed out that שליט"א is always written as with " , in the Middle so each the letters must ...
- 487
1
vote
1
answer
163
views
Translation (or searchable version) of *Sefer Elim* of Rabbi Joseph Solomon Delmedigo
Does there exist any translation of the Sefer Elim of Rabbi Joseph Solomon Delmedigo into a European language? If not, does there at least exist a text-version of the original Hebrew version (all I ...
- 113
1
vote
0
answers
250
views
Hebrew names and English names [closed]
I have just visited my great grandfather's grave and discovered his Hebrew name was Yehuda Leib, yet in England he was known as Louis Goodman. Is there a connection between the names? He moved to ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
226
views
How do the Rabbis rationalize Hebrew as being a divine language given from Hashem when we also believe Aramaic to be a sister language?
This is one of those issues that has always bugged me.
Hebrew and Aramaic are both languages found within the Torah/Tanakh. If Hebrew is a divine language and given to us from Hashem as his word, why ...
user15672
2
votes
0
answers
115
views
Was Kaddish ever said in Hebrew?
The Kaddish that we say is in Aramaic. However the Talmud (Brachos 3a) quotes an excerpt from Kaddish in Hebrew:
בשעה שישראל נכנסין לבתי כנסיות ולבתי מדרשות ועונין יהא שמיה* הגדול מבורך
(*The ...
- 652
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Ma'ariv vs. Arvit - when did these terms first appear?
I have seen two terms used to refer to the evening prayer Ma'ariv and Arvit. If I recall correctly, Arvit seems to be the more common Talmudic term esp. in Talmud Brachot. Ma'ariv is used near the ...
- 71.5k
7
votes
3
answers
647
views
How is there Torah about Hebrew letters if the letters are not original?
Occasionally I hear Torah that relates to the iconography of Hebrew letters, like the significance around the fact that the yud is a small point, and how the hey has two openings, allowing repentants ...
- 383
2
votes
0
answers
49
views
Is nechoshet copper, brass or bronze [duplicate]
In the bible the word נחושת means what?
I saw a few translations: copper, brass, bronze.
What is the definition of the word
- 7,614
6
votes
0
answers
342
views
Use of speaking "Baruch HaShem" in 1492 Spain
I am writing a play that takes place during the Spanish Inquisition. A Rabbi is walking home from the King's court and his belongings are tossed to the ground by hooligans. A young Spanish girl picks ...
- 61
6
votes
2
answers
223
views
The word 'Halakhah'
When and under what circumstances did the word "halakhah" (also spelled "halacha", "halachah" or, in Hebrew, הלכה) come to mean Jewish law?
- 7,532
7
votes
3
answers
622
views
What was the language used in Torah study by Jews in Israel in 16th century
Did the Jewish inhabitants of Safed and Jerusalem (contemporaries of Rav Yosef Karo and the Ari) speak Hebrew when they learned Torah or did they speak Arabic, Ladino or some other language?
I saw a ...
- 7,620
3
votes
1
answer
361
views
Altering the Spelling out the Hebrew Year
In 1983-1984, the Hebrew year was 5744. Normally, the year would have been spelled out in Hebrew letters תשמ״ד, but according to my rabbi then, Rabbi Phillip Rabinowitz, zt'l, as pronounced the word ...
- 16.3k
9
votes
1
answer
788
views
Rav Yonason Eibeschitz's puzzle
There is a story that the Jews were oppressed and there were harsh decrees and Rav Yonason Eibschitz was challenged by the governor to write "am yisroel chai l'olmei ad" for every Jew who ...
- 42.7k
4
votes
0
answers
359
views
origin of chassidish havarah(pronunciation) [duplicate]
When did people start using the chassidish havarah? If making that change was deliberate, who instituted it?
I remember seeing some where that it was started to oppose the maskilim who where medakdek ...
- 42.7k
4
votes
3
answers
361
views
What is the meaning of this painting?
I am in possession of this mysterious painting with Hebrew characters, but I do not know what words mean. I suspect that they may provide a clue to what is being represented in each of the painted ...
- 143
4
votes
4
answers
508
views
How could different pronunciations arise when we are obligated to pronounce the Shema precisely?
If one does not pronounce the Shema correctly, one has not fulfilled their obligation (שולחן ערוך או"ח סימן סב). If so, then how could different pronunciations of the Hebrew words arise? Shouldn't at ...
- 7,371
17
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Is Hebrew the mother of all languages spoken today in the world?
I often wonder what language Adam, Seth, Noah and Abraham (may peace and blessings be upon them) used to speak. What was their native tongue? Was it classical Hebrew? If yes, then would it be right to ...
- 911
18
votes
3
answers
895
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 ...
- 136k
4
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Hebrew Havarah?
Similar to this question
Different parts of Eastern Europe had different dialects.
For example, Ukrainian, Polish and Hungarian Jews pronounce a "Shuruk" as a EE, or a Komatz as an oo (so Boruch ...
- 40.8k
7
votes
1
answer
463
views
How and when did the word "Kollel" come to mean "an institution for paying scholars to study Torah"?
How and when did the word "Kollel" come to mean "an institution for paying scholars to study Torah"?
If I'm not mistaken, the Hebrew word "kollel" means "includes."
But today we've all heard of the ...
- 136k
13
votes
1
answer
713
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, ...
- 7,371
6
votes
1
answer
171
views
Community/Synagogue Honorifics
I visited the Rare Books section of the JTS in New York in Dec. 2009, to view an old manuscript from Kezmarok, Slovakia. I selected certain pages that I was interested in translating, on behalf of ...
- 1,427
12
votes
3
answers
1k
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 ...
- 73.9k
2
votes
2
answers
277
views
Why is "Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch" spelled that way? [closed]
In the title Merkos L'inyonei Chinuch, why is the word מרכז transliterated with an 's' in place of a 'ז' rather than a 'z'?
- 24k
14
votes
3
answers
718
views
Disparity between male and female pronunciation of Cholam
In many Yeshivish communities in the US, the male segment of the population vocalizes the cholam as "oi," while their female counterparts vocalize it as a long "o". How did this come about? Does the ...
- 21.2k
15
votes
3
answers
768
views
Why is Hebrew Called "Jewish" in the Bible?
We see that in most of the Bible, the Jews are called "בני ישראל/Israelites"; only in later books are they called "יהודים/Jews" (e.g. Esther 2:5, Zechariah 8:23), after the loss of the 10 tribes. ...
- 2,863
12
votes
2
answers
306
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 ...
- 73.9k
5
votes
7
answers
1k
views
Hebrew Pronunciation of the Conservative Movement
Why does the Conservative Movement pronounce Hebrew in a quasi-Sephardic pronunciation, even though their engagement in Wissenschaft Des Judentums would have led them to embrace the Yemenite ...
- 3,389
2
votes
2
answers
100
views
Research Project on How the Revival of the Hebrew Language Led to Jewish Nationalism [closed]
Can someone help me with finding sources (ie, things to read) about my research topic of "How the Revival of the Hebrew Language Led to Jewish Nationalism"
- 3,389
2
votes
2
answers
254
views
What is the Morph-Phonological Split in Hebrew that makes it so Unique? [closed]
Can some one explain this to me?
In a mixed language par excellence, large and monolithic blocks of material are
imported wholesale from each of the ancestral languages. Thus, while the verbal ...
- 3,389
9
votes
4
answers
2k
views
"Veadar" as the name of the extra month in leap years?
In older books and other publications that describe the Jewish calendar, it's quite common to see the extra leap month referred to as "Veadar." (One example is here.)
But I have yet to hear that ...
- 91.1k