Volume 55 Number 12
Produced: Wed Jun 27 5:15:28 EDT 2007
Subjects Discussed In This Issue:
Agunot/Mesurevet Get
[Gilad J. Gevaryahu]
Bible Atlas recommendation
[Daniel Cohn]
Copacetic/ Hakol betsedek
[Joseph Ginzberg]
Curious English Word: Tharf (2)
[Robert Israel, Richard Schultz]
Hair Covering & Modesty
[Joel Rich]
Rabbi Brovender Online & Podcasts
[Jeffrey Saks]
Web designer for small Shul
[Avi Feldblum]
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From: <Gevaryahu@...> (Gilad J. Gevaryahu)
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 09:45:09 EDT
Subject: Agunot/Mesurevet Get
Danny Geretz (MJv55n11) corrected himself, from his initial post which
stated:
> "Agunah" is a general term used to describe women stuck in a marriage,
> either due to disappearance of the husband, or due to the refusal of
> the husband to give a get, or possibly in an affiliated case of
> yibum/chalitzah (levirate marriage) where the younger brother is not
> yet of age (or mentally incapacitated.)
to a revised version:
<Although *today*, "agunah" is a general term, the term was classically
<used specifically to refer to a woman whose husband had disappeared.
I believe that the first definition was correct, and it was all along a
general definition of "anchored" woman. (and later (agun) for men as
well!) Ogen (the root of agunah) in Hebrew is an anchore in English, to
fathom an maritime vesel that cannot move, stuck. But it was used most
of the time to a disappearing husband.
In the book of Ruth Naomi is telling her widowed daughter-in-laws that
she is too old to have more children, and that they (her
daughter-in-laws) should not anchor themselves to future sons by Naomi,
sons who could be a potential yabamim. The word used here "te'agenah"
(Ruth 1:13), the very same root as agunah.
Gilad J. Gevaryahu
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From: Daniel Cohn <4danielcohn@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:29:43 +0300
Subject: Bible Atlas recommendation
Can someone please recommend a Bible Atlas? Advice on where to buy (in
Israel) will also be welcome.
Thanks!
Daniel Cohn
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From: Joseph Ginzberg <jgbiz120@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 15:25:14 -0400
Subject: Copacetic/ Hakol betsedek
>From "The Word: The dictionary that reveals the Hebrew source of English"
(Shapolsky, 1989)
Copacetic- Roots: Copacetic means, "all is well" in slang. The dictionary of
American Slang suggests Hakol Beseder or Hakol Betzedek.
It doesn't comment on why the Orthodox Jews spell it with an "S".
Yossi Ginzberg
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From: Robert Israel <israel@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 10:11:06 -0700
Subject: Re: Curious English Word: Tharf
Immanuel Burton <iburton@...> wrote:
> While looking up a word in the Oxford English Dictionary, I came
> across the word "tharf". Two definitions were given:
> 1. To be under a necessity or obligation (to do something).
> 2. Of bread, etc.: Not prepared with leaven, unleavened.
> The word is listed as obsolete, and not all editions of the Oxford
> English Dictionary list it. However, this is a curious pair of
> meanings, as the Hebrew word mem-tzadi-vav-taf spells either
> "mitzvot", which are obligations to do things, or "matzot", which is
> unleavened bread. I wonder how this English word came about to be.
In both senses, the word is very old, from Old English and before. In
sense 1 it's cognate to Yiddish and German "darf", and in sense 2 it's
cognate to German "derb". Sense 1 goes way back to the sources of the
Germanic languages, while for sense 2 the OED says "Pre-Teut. etymology
unknown." It's interesting that some of the Old English sources OED
gives for sense 2 are Biblical quotations (e.g. Shemot xii. 39). Maybe
the connection is that this is a kind of bread that you wouldn't eat
unless you had to...
Robert Israel <israel@...>
Department of Mathematics http://www.math.ubc.ca/~israel
University of British Columbia Vancouver, BC, Canada
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From: Richard Schultz <schultr@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 17:39:08 +0300
Subject: Curious English Word: Tharf
Just as the two meanings of mem-tzadi-vav-taf are two different words
from two different stems, the two meanings of "tharf" are (at least
according to the OED) completely different and etymologically unrelated
words. "Tharf" in the first sense is cognate with the German verb
"duerfen" (to be allowed to), while "tharf" in the second sense is
cognate with the German word "derb" (coarse, unrefined).
Richard Schultz
<schultr@...>
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From: Joel Rich <JRich@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 08:48:32 -0400
Subject: Hair Covering & Modesty
>From Y Medad:
> As I am not a Rabbi, well, a diplomaed one, please, if you have any
> questions, consult your local Orthodox Rabbi but two observations:-
>
> a) Jewish women had nose rings.
>
> b) Jewish women seemingly had to cover not only their hair but their
> ears as well (only on Shabbat?)
>
> Interesting.
What is a non-diplomaed Rabbi?
Are you implying that the orthodox community is affected by outside
sociological change?????????????
The next thing you know you'll be saying that the Rambam suggests not
letting Batya out of the house on a regular basis!!! Oops, never mind.
KT
Joel Rich
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From: Jeffrey Saks <atid@...>
Date: Tue, 26 Jun 2007 22:22:53 +0200
Subject: Rabbi Brovender Online & Podcasts
Rabbi Brovender Weekly Parsha Shiur
Now online or in Podcast!
ATID and Kehillat Shir Hadash are pleased to invite lovers of Torah to a
weekly Parsha Shiur in English with Rabbi Chaim Brovender -- either in
person, or now downloadable online.
Thursday evenings from 8:00 - 9:00 PM at Shir Hadash, 4 Chayl Nashim
Street, Jerusalem (click here for map; bus routes 13 or 24), followed by
Maariv. Starting this week the shiurim will be broadcast online. Visit
http://www.atid.org/shiur to sign up for Podcasts or to download the
audio files (will be uploaded on Thursdays around 5:00 PM New
York-time).
To receive the sources in advance, send a blank email to:
<rcb-shiur-subscribe@...>
For more details contact ATID at 02-567-1719 or <atid@...>
Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, ATID / Rabbi Ian Pear, Shir Hadash
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From: Avi Feldblum <feldblum@...>
Date: Wed, 27 Jun 2007 05:06:58 -0400
Subject: Web designer for small Shul
Hello All,
I belong to a relatively small shul that is looking to upgrade its web
site. We have put together a specification document of what we want the
content to be, we are fairly open on the graphic side of things. We are
looking for someone who would be willing to do this for the shul at a
reasonable rate. If anyone on the list either may be interested, or
knows someone who might be interested, please contact me.
Thanks in advance,
Avi Feldblum
<feldblum@...>
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End of Volume 55 Issue 12
