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Category: Masorah, Grammar & Hebrew Language

The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai

The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai

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The Identity and Meaning of Chashmonai [1] By Mitchell  First (MFirstatty@aol.com)         The name Chashmonai appears many times in the Babylonian Talmud, but usually the references are vague. The references are either to beit Chashmonai, malkhut Chashmonai, malkhut beit Chashmonai, malkhei beit Chashmonai, or beit dino shel Chashmonai.[2]  One time (at Megillah 11a) the reference is to an individual named Chashmonai, but neither his father nor his sons are named.            The term…

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Summary of Jordan Penkower on reading Zekher or Zeikher Amalek

Summary of Jordan Penkower on reading Zekher or Zeikher Amalek

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Summary of Jordan Penkower on reading Zekher or Zeikher Amalek This post originally appeared here. It is a summary of Prof. Jordan Penkower’s Minhag u-Mesorah: ‘Z-kh-r Amalek’ be-hamesh o be-shesh nekudot by his student Yosef Peretz. It appears here with permission, with some additions by the Seforim Blog editor. It is common practice in most Ashkenazi congregations to read the words z-kh-r Amalek, in Deut. 25:19, twice: once with a tzere under the zayin (zeikher) and once with a segol…

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Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 1

Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 1

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Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 1 By Marc B. Shapiro It is now time to announce the names of those who were able to answer the quiz questions I posed. The only two people to answer both questions correctly were Alex Heppenheimer and Yonason Rosman. I fortunately had two CDs so both of them received the prize. Question no. 1 was: The word for turkey is תרנגול הדו. There is a dagesh in the dalet. Why? Bring…

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The Meaning of the Name “Maccabee”

The Meaning of the Name “Maccabee”

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The Meaning of the Name “Maccabee”[1] Mitchell First      In a previous post at the Seforim blog, Dan Rabinowitz dealt with the topic of the origin of the name “Maccabee,” and made many interesting points,[2] although he did not adequately address the issues. My intention in this essay is to offer a more thorough discussion. The name מכבי/מקבי is not found in classical Tannaitic or Amoraic literature.[3] But this is not surprising. The name was originally an additional name…

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Eliyahu Bachur in Isny

Eliyahu Bachur in Isny

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ELIYAHU BACHUR (1469 – 1549) IN ISNY  by: Dan Yardeni Dan Yardeni, an engineer by profession (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, 1963), is entrepreneur specializing in cutting edge materials and materials production processes. As sideline,  he researches problems in the history of Hebrew books printing and printers. He also contributes articles to the Culture and Literature sections of Haaretz and other Israeli newspapers. This is his first post at the Seforim blog. A little street in Tel Aviv commemorates…

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אדם דואג על אבוד דמיו / ואינו דואג על אִבוד ימיו

אדם דואג על אבוד דמיו / ואינו דואג על אִבוד ימיו

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In the prior post, Yitzhak discussed a phrase and its origins. We now present, a chapter from R. S. Askenazi unpublished works, related to the same topic. As mentioned before we are working on printing his writings. At this point three volumes are completely ready to print (with a few more on the way). While they still require financial assistance to see the light of day we are very close, only 5K is necessary. With the help of many people,…

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