6
The plain meaning of Cushi refers to someone of the Cushite Nation, and indeed there's a midrash that suggests that Moshe first married a Cushite princess before marrying Tzippora. With that said, "Cushi" was sometimes interpreted to refer to someone who stood out in their actions. There are a few examples I'm aware of:
King Shaul:
"The ...
5
Miskudeshes means betrothed, literally consecrated or set aside / made holy. It could occur via intercourse (see Mesechta Kiddushin, "Kesef, Shtar, Biah") but practically never does.
It's usually via the two other means. Document (shtar), and value-exchange ("kessef") as via intercourse it's lewd and thus carries a makkos penalty.
2
As @PloniAlmoni noted, the usage of Mitkadeshet by the Rambam and in most other sources refers to the betrothal-marriage process. However, in the bible the root קדש (KDSh) could also refer to prostitution or depravity. For example, Beresheet 38:21:
וַיִּשְׁאַ֞ל אֶת־אַנְשֵׁ֤י מְקֹמָהּ֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר אַיֵּ֧ה הַקְּדֵשָׁ֛ה הִ֥וא בָעֵינַ֖יִם עַל־הַדָּ֑רֶךְ ...
2
As many of the commentators here already pointed out, gematria plays significant role in various aspects of Jewish thought, especially in kabbalah and hasidism. Of course the idea of interpreting letters as numbers can be found in many cultures (say, Pier Bezukhov in Leo Tolstoy's "War and Piece" uses gematria to find out his own future). It is ...
1
As others have answered the word Cushite could be used to refer to people who aren't necessarily black. But in my opinion the amount of mental gymnastics the commentators use to justify such a non literal reading isn't usually helpful. Cushite's most common and straightforward meaning is blackness. So much so that it allows Jeremiah to make the following ...
1
The term Cushi can be used in both the physical and metaphorical sense. For example, The Cushite Woman explains:
Tzipporah, the wife of Moses, is referred to as a Cushite. Why is she
described as a Cushite when she actually was a Midianite?
The Cushites historically were a dark-skinned people. A dark-skinned
woman is a rare visage in the Torah; thus, the ...
1
As a general rule, unless specified otherwise, d'vash will mean fruit honey,
particularly date honey (see shiva'as haminim where d'vash is reffering to dates),
and also fig honey (a few examples are found in the gemara with stories relating
to figs' honey).
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
