Category Archives: Language Arts
Hebrew Word of the Day
In ancienter Hebrew (e.g. Biblical), the pronunciation would have been tiqwah, but all dialects of Modern Hebrew (and Liturgical/worship Hebrew too) treat the letter waw like a German w (v sound).
The shoresh (root) of this word is קוה, which means “wait, look for, hope.” TWOT says,
“This root means to wait or to look for with eager expectation…. Waiting with steadfast endurance is a great expression of faith. It means enduring patiently in confident hope that G-d will decisively act for the salvation of His people (Gen. 49:18). Waiting involves the very essence of a person’s being, his soul (nephesh; Ps 130:5). Those who wait in true faith are renewed in strength so that they can continue to serve the L-rd while looking for His saving work (Isa. 40:31). There will come a time when all that G-d has promised will be realized and fulfilled (Isa. 49:23; Ps 37:9). In the meantime the Believer survives by means of his integrity and uprightness as he trusts in G-d’s grace and power (ps. 25:21).”
The National Anthem of Israel is titled HaTikvah (The Hope) and was written over 60 years before Israel was restored as a political “state” (a nation/people with a defined land possession). The author of the song was Naftali Hertz Imber.
There is an identical shoresh (also spelled קוה) which means “collect, gather” and is the root of the word miqweh/mikveh (immersion pool). Be careful not to confuse the two shoreshim (roots) or try to make them into a single shoresh.
Hebrew Word of the Day
Kippah (כִּפָּה or כִּיפָּה) is from the root כפף, which means “to bend,” as in:
סוֹמֵ֣ךְ יְ֭הוָה לְכָל־הַנֹּפְלִ֑ים וְ֝זוֹקֵ֗ף לְכָל־הַכְּפוּפִֽים׃
“HaShem upholds all who are fallen and He raises up all who are bent.” (Psalms 145:14; v. 13 in Hebrew)
The alternative (Yiddish) name for the Jewish skullcap or kippah comes from Aramaic — yarmulke (יאַרמולקע) — and is a compound word combining yarma (fear/awe) and mulka (king): “awe of the King.” This reflects Talmud Babli tractate Shabbat 156b, which reads,
“Cover your head in order that the awe of heaven may be upon you.”
Biblical references for the command to cover the head in G-d’s presence (i.e. in times of prayer, including worship, meals, and in some interpretations any activities of the day) include the following:
- The Torah command for Aharon and his sons to wear head coverings in the Tabernacle (Exodus 28:4, 36-43; 29:6; 39:30-31; Leviticus 8:9, 13; 21:10).
- 2 Samuel 15:30 & Psalms 140:7 in re: King David wearing a head covering
- Ezekiel 44:18
- Zechariah 3:5
The democratization of the Priesthood from just the Cohenim to all Israel (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9; Revelation 1:6) would extend this requirement upon all Believers.
Other related words:
- kaf “palm / hollow of the hand/foot,” the letter kaf (sofit), “(table)spoon”
- kappit “teaspoon”
- kappah “palm branch”
- kfafot “gloves”
Recommended reading for older students: C. Welker, “Let’s Talk about Men’s Head Coverings,” The Refiner’s Fire (online: http://www.therefinersfire.org/kippa.htm).
Hebrew Word of the Day
The word כֵּן is an interesting one in that it has a different meaning (somewhat) in the Bible than it does in Modern Hebrew. You might know it as the Modern Hebrew word for “yes,” but when it appears in the Tanakh, the meaning is “thus” or “so” (as in “it is so”) as an adverb or “right, honest” as an adjective.
For more advanced students, Balashon (tr. “in the tongue/language”) has a very good article covering both of these meanings and how they likely connect.
Hebrew Word of the Day
Hebrew Word of the Day
“Prayer is not a list of requests. It is an introspective process, a clarifying, refining process of discovering what one is, what he should be, and how to achieve the transformation. Indeed, the commandment to pray is expressed by the Torah as a service of the heart, not of the mouth (Talmud, Tractate Taanis 2a)…. Prayer is uniquely a human function, because it blends man’s intelligence and imagination with his ability to put concepts into words. The faculty of intelligent speech, more than any other, sets man apart from animals.”
Excerpted from Rabbi Nasson Scherman, “Prayer: A Timeless Need,” The Complete Artscroll Siddur (Brooklyn, N.Y.: Mesorah Publications, 1990; orig. 1984).
Hebrew Word of the Day
The Hebrew word teshuvah comes from the hollow shoresh (root) שוב, which has a tandem (2-part) meaning:
- to turn away from sin, pagan ways, and/or worldliness, and
- to simultaneously turn to/toward HaShem and His ways.
This involves not just remorse over a committed sin, but also a commitment to never return to it, opting for Torah living instead.
Hebrew Word of the Day
Rabbi Daniel Lapin teaches that the root of the Hebrew word for faith (emunah) is a picture of the glue-making process: taking an animal (aleph) hide and soaking it in water (mem) to make a glue (nun = peg), so faith, like glue-making, involves a sacrifice — the sacrifice of whatever in us is pagan.
What does that look like? In Temple-less Judaism, it is constructed on the “Three Ts” — teshuvah (repentance), tefillah (prayer), and tzedeqah (righteousness, i.e. ministry to others). Judaism would agree with Ya’aqov (James) in his “faith without works is dead” teaching. These three Ts are the fruit that genuine faith produces.
Hebrew Word of the Day
The Bible has nothing good to say of the person who behaves like a brute (beast). We first encounter the word בַּעַר in Psalm 49:11 (English 49:10), but it is Psalm 73:23 (22) which unpacks its meaning — “So brutish was I, and ignorant; I was as a beast before you.”
A brute is someone who would strike a cripple down or would treat a brother like a slave outside of Israel is treated. A brute is considered a person who is human in form but a beast in behavior.
Hillel said of the brutish person: “The brute will not fear sin. The ignoramus will not be saintly…. In the place where there are no human beings, try to be one.” (Pirqei Avoth 2:5). Rashi defines a brute as “one bereft of any qualities,” and Maimonides echoes this, insisting that a brute is devoid of wisdom and ethical qualities.
Hebrew Word of the Day
There are surprisingly few occurrences of the word זַיִת in the Hebrew Bible — only 38. The word can refer both to the fruit and to the whole tree.
Yiddishkeit 101™ 