153-446: Tzitzit ( Hebrew : צִיצִית ṣīṣīṯ , [tsiˈtsit] ; plural צִיצִיּוֹת ṣīṣiyyōṯ , Ashkenazi : tzitzis ; and Samaritan : ࠑࠉࠑࠉࠕ ṣeṣet ) are specially knotted ritual fringes , or tassels , worn in antiquity by Israelites and today by observant Jews and Samaritans . Tzitzit are usually attached to the four corners of the tallit gadol (prayer shawl), usually referred to simply as
306-987: A tallit or tallis ; and tallit katan (everyday undershirt). Through synecdoche , a tallit katan may be referred to as tzitzit . The word may derive from the Hebrew root נ-צ-ה [n-ts-h]. Tzitzit shares this root with the Hebrew for 'lock of hair'. For example, in the Book of Ezekiel an angel grabs the prophet "by the tzitzit of [his] head;" he could be said to be "dragged by his hair." A popular etymological interpretation of tzitzit derives from another word which shares this root. Nitzah ( נִצָּה 'budding flower') may once have referred to floral ornamentation on clothing. One can hear distinct similarities with contemporaneous Akkadian clothing vocabulary: sisiktu ('thread', 'edge', 'loom') or tsitstsatu (a floral ornamentation). This hypothesis
459-531: A "symbolic extension of the owner himself". He also notes that the Torah requires tekhelet , normally a royal and priestly color, to be used by all Jews: The tzitzit are the epitome of the democratic thrust within Judaism, which equalizes not by leveling but by elevating. All of Israel is enjoined to become a nation of priests... tzitzit is not restricted to Israel's leaders, be they kings, rabbis or scholars. It
612-674: A Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew added 6421 words to (Modern) Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israeli is 17,000 (cf. 14,762 in Even-Shoshan 1970 [...]). With the inclusion of foreign and technical terms [...], the total number of Israeli words, including words of biblical, rabbinic and medieval descent, is more than 60,000. In Israel, Modern Hebrew is currently taught in institutions called Ulpanim (singular: Ulpan). There are government-owned, as well as private, Ulpanim offering online courses and face-to-face programs. Modern Hebrew
765-583: A century ago, was fluent enough in this idiom to be able to follow the Mishna Berurah without any trouble." Hebrew has been revived several times as a literary language, most significantly by the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement of early and mid-19th-century Germany. In the early 19th century, a form of spoken Hebrew had emerged in the markets of Jerusalem between Jews of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate for commercial purposes. This Hebrew dialect
918-600: A corollary Hebrew ceased to function as a spoken language around the same time. Moshe Zvi Segal , Joseph Klausner and Ben Yehuda are notable exceptions to this view. During the latter half of the 20th century, accumulating archaeological evidence and especially linguistic analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls has disproven that view. The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in 1946–1948 near Qumran revealed ancient Jewish texts overwhelmingly in Hebrew, not Aramaic. The Qumran scrolls indicate that Hebrew texts were readily understandable to
1071-562: A distinct style of philosophical Hebrew. This is used in the translations made by the Ibn Tibbon family. (Original Jewish philosophical works were usually written in Arabic. ) Another important influence was Maimonides , who developed a simple style based on Mishnaic Hebrew for use in his law code, the Mishneh Torah . Subsequent rabbinic literature is written in a blend between this style and
1224-594: A feminine singular noun. In the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh ), this noun is used to refer to one or many tassels, but later scholars used the feminine plural tzitziyot . In English-language academic texts on Judaica the term is sometimes translated as show-fringes . The Septuagint translation is tassels (Greek plural Ancient Greek : κράσπεδα kraspeda , from singular Ancient Greek : κράσπεδον kraspedon ). The Five Books of Moses mention ritual fringes in two places: Hashem said to Moses as follows: Speak to
1377-579: A gradually accepted movement. It was not, however, until the 1904–1914 Second Aliyah that Hebrew had caught real momentum in Ottoman Palestine with the more highly organized enterprises set forth by the new group of immigrants. When the British Mandate of Palestine recognized Hebrew as one of the country's three official languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew, in 1922), its new formal status contributed to its diffusion. A constructed modern language with
1530-463: A literary language down through the Byzantine period from the 4th century CE. The exact roles of Aramaic and Hebrew remain hotly debated. A trilingual scenario has been proposed for the land of Israel. Hebrew functioned as the local mother tongue with powerful ties to Israel's history, origins and golden age and as the language of Israel's religion; Aramaic functioned as the international language with
1683-611: A major in the Israel Defense Forces , said the Shema before jumping on a live grenade and dying to save his fellow soldiers. Reformulations of the Shema appear in later Jewish Scripture, Second Temple literature, and New Testament texts. In these texts, sometimes new features are added to the Shema (e.g. 2 Kings 19:19; Zech. 14:9), in others, it is abbreviated to “God is One” (Philo, Spec. 1.30), “one God” (Josephus, C. Ap. 2.193), or “God alone” (2 Maccabees 7:37). The following
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#17328479820371836-722: A modern version of the ancient language was led by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda . Modern Hebrew ( Ivrit ) became the main language of the Yishuv in Palestine , and subsequently the official language of the State of Israel . Estimates of worldwide usage include five million speakers in 1998, and over nine million people in 2013. After Israel, the United States has the largest Hebrew-speaking population, with approximately 220,000 fluent speakers (see Israeli Americans and Jewish Americans ). Modern Hebrew
1989-535: A set of dialects evolving out of Late Biblical Hebrew and into Mishnaic Hebrew, thus including elements from both but remaining distinct from either. By the start of the Byzantine Period in the 4th century CE, Classical Hebrew ceased as a regularly spoken language, roughly a century after the publication of the Mishnah, apparently declining since the aftermath of the catastrophic Bar Kokhba revolt around 135 CE. In
2142-488: A specific liturgy requirement. Conservative Judaism generally regards Jewish women as being obligated to recite the Shema at the same times as men. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism do not regard gender-related traditional Jewish ritual requirements as necessary in modern circumstances, including obligations for men, but not women, to pray specific prayers at specific times. Instead, both genders may fulfill all requirements. The blessings preceding and following
2295-652: A spoken language, it continued to be used as a lingua franca among scholars and Jews traveling in foreign countries. After the 2nd century CE when the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba revolt , they adapted to the societies in which they found themselves, yet letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry and laws continued to be written mostly in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms. After
2448-420: A truly Semitic vocabulary and written appearance, although often European in phonology , was to take its place among the current languages of the nations. While many saw his work as fanciful or even blasphemous (because Hebrew was the holy language of the Torah and therefore some thought that it should not be used to discuss everyday matters), many soon understood the need for a common language amongst Jews of
2601-549: A vernacular in Judea until it was displaced by Aramaic, probably in the 3rd century CE. Certain Sadducee , Pharisee , Scribe , Hermit, Zealot and Priest classes maintained an insistence on Hebrew, and all Jews maintained their identity with Hebrew songs and simple quotations from Hebrew texts. While there is no doubt that at a certain point, Hebrew was displaced as the everyday spoken language of most Jews, and that its chief successor in
2754-460: A whole list of sections from Psalms , Vidui , and other prayers. Altogether this is known as the K'riat Shema she-al ha-mitah or Krias Shema Al Hamita ( Hebrew : קריאת שמע על המטה, Bedtime Shema). According to Arizal , reading this prayer with great concentration is also effective in cleansing one from sin. This is discussed in the Tanya . According to Rashi one fulfils his biblical obligation of
2907-762: Is "In the name of the LORD God of Israel, at my right be Michael, and at my left be Gabriel, and before me Uriel, and behind me Raphael, and on my head the Presence of the LORD". Although close variants are known from the geonic period, this exact prayer first appeared in Machzor Vitry , before finding its way into the Zohar and modern prayerbooks. The exhortation by the Kohen in calling Israel to arms against an enemy (which does not apply when
3060-550: Is "for God's sake" rather than motivated by external movements such as feminism. When the Satmar Rebbe 's wife died, she was found to be wearing tzitzit (a tallit kattan ) under her clothes. Women in Conservative Judaism have revived the wearing of the tallit since the 1970s, usually using colors and fabrics distinct from the traditional garment worn by men. The Rabbinical Assembly has since formally approved
3213-513: Is 613, traditionally the number of commandments in the Torah. This reflects the concept that donning a garment with tzitzyot reminds its wearer of all Torah commandments, as specified in Numbers 15:39. (Rashi knots are worn by the majority of Ashkenazic Eastern European Jews.) Nachmanides disagrees with Rashi, pointing out that the Biblical spelling of the word tzitzit ( ציצת ) has
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#17328479820373366-511: Is 8198, of which some 2000 are hapax legomena (the number of Biblical Hebrew roots, on which many of these words are based, is 2099). The number of attested Rabbinic Hebrew words is less than 20,000, of which (i) 7879 are Rabbinic par excellence, i.e. they did not appear in the Old Testament (the number of new Rabbinic Hebrew roots is 805); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have
3519-515: Is a Jewish prayer (known as the Shema ) that serves as a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services . Its first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism : "Hear, O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH is one" ( Hebrew : שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד׃ ), found in Deuteronomy 6:4 . The first part can be translated as either "The L ORD our God" or "The L ORD
3672-477: Is believed to be based on the Semitic root ʕ-b-r ( ע־ב־ר ), meaning "beyond", "other side", "across"; interpretations of the term "Hebrew" generally render its meaning as roughly "from the other side [of the river/desert]"—i.e., an exonym for the inhabitants of the land of Israel and Judah , perhaps from the perspective of Mesopotamia , Phoenicia or Transjordan (with the river referred to being perhaps
3825-419: Is commonly referred to as tzitzit .The tallit is typically worn over the shirt/ clothes, like a cloak, whereas the tallit katan (or arba kanfot) is smaller and worn underneath the clothing. It is a simplistic garment with a front and back fold, creating four corners to which the tzitzit are fastened. The blue thread mentioned in the Torah, tekhelet , is omitted by most Rabbinic Jews due to controversy over
3978-591: Is customary that each of the four strands is made of eight fine threads, known as kaful shemoneh ). The four strands are passed through a hole (or according to some: two holes) 1-2 inches (25 to 50 mm) away from the corner of the cloth. There are numerous customs as to how to tie the tassels. The Talmud explains that the Bible requires an upper knot ( kesher elyon ) and one wrapping of three winds ( hulya ). The Talmud enjoined that between seven and thirteen hulyot be tied, and that "one must start and end with
4131-578: Is derived from Old French Ebrau , via Latin from the Ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος ( hebraîos ) and Aramaic 'ibrāy , all ultimately derived from Biblical Hebrew Ivri ( עברי ), one of several names for the Israelite ( Jewish and Samaritan ) people ( Hebrews ). It is traditionally understood to be an adjective based on the name of Abraham 's ancestor, Eber , mentioned in Genesis 10:21 . The name
4284-602: Is derived from the name of the alphabet used , in contrast to Ivrit , meaning the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet . Hebrew ceased to be a regular spoken language sometime between 200 and 400 CE, as it declined in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba revolt , which was carried out against the Roman Empire by the Jews of Judaea . Aramaic and, to a lesser extent, Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among societal elites and immigrants. Hebrew survived into
4437-479: Is done repeatedly so as to make a total of five double knots separated by four sections of winding, with a total length of at least four inches, leaving free-hanging ends that are twice that long This tying procedure is used for each of the garment's four corners; if it has more than four corners, the four that are farthest apart are used. In Ashkenazi custom, the four sections of winding number 7-8-11-13 winds, respectively. The total number of winds comes to 39, which
4590-563: Is fighting to stop businesses from using only English signs to market their services. In 2012, a Knesset bill for the preservation of the Hebrew language was proposed, which includes the stipulation that all signage in Israel must first and foremost be in Hebrew, as with all speeches by Israeli officials abroad. The bill's author, MK Akram Hasson , stated that the bill was proposed as a response to Hebrew "losing its prestige" and children incorporating more English words into their vocabulary. Hebrew
4743-527: Is included in daily prayer as the final paragraph of the Shema . Here, tzitzit also remind Jews that they are no longer slaves. The Talmud equates observance of tzitzit with that of all the mitzvot . Maimonides includes it as a major commandment along with circumcision and the Passover offering . The tallit and tallit katan are four-cornered garments worn by practicing Jews which incorporate tzitzit . The tallit katan garment itself
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4896-405: Is known as Emet Vayatziv . During Maariv , there are two blessings before the Shema and two after. The two before are HaMaariv Aravim and Ahavat Olam . The two after are Emet V'Emunah and Hashkiveinu . Some communities add Baruch Hashem L'Olam on weekdays. Overall, the three blessings in the morning and four in the evening which accompany the Shema sum to seven, in accordance with
5049-411: Is no text on this object. In July 2008, Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa that he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating from around 3,000 years ago. Hebrew University archaeologist Amihai Mazar said that the inscription was "proto-Canaanite" but cautioned that "[t]he differentiation between the scripts, and between
5202-580: Is not, itself, a part of the cited biblical verses. The third section of the Shema ends with Numbers 15:41, but traditional Jews end the recitation of the Shema by reciting the first word of the following blessing, Emet , or "Truth" without interruption. In Orthodox Judaism , women are not required to daily recite the Shema (as a command from the Torah), as with other time-bound requirements which might impinge on their traditional familial obligations, although they are obligated to pray at least once daily without
5355-555: Is one of several languages for which the constitution of South Africa calls to be respected in their use for religious purposes. Also, Hebrew is an official national minority language in Poland , since 6 January 2005. Hamas has made Hebrew a compulsory language taught in schools in the Gaza Strip. Shema Yisrael Shema Yisrael ( Shema Israel or Sh'ma Yisrael ; Hebrew : שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl , "Hear, O Israel")
5508-454: Is our God", and the second part as either "the L ORD is one" or as "the one L ORD " (in the sense of "the L ORD alone"), since Hebrew does not normally use a copula in the present tense, so translators must decide by inference whether one is appropriate in English. The word used for "the L ORD " is the tetragrammaton YHWH. Observant Jews consider the Shema to be the most important part of
5661-494: Is rabbinic, while the Rema ruled that it is Biblical. The Torah forbids shatnez ("intertying" wool and linen together). However, unlike other forms of kil'ayim (combinations of various phenomena like planting different types of seed or ploughing with different animals), there is an exception to the rule: shatnez was not only allowed but required in the priestly garments, which combined dyed-wool and linen threads. According to
5814-488: Is rare for women to wear a tallit katan . Karaite Jews maintain that the tzitziyot must be braided and have the appearance of chains, rather than being knotted as are the tzitziyot of Rabbinic Judaism. Karaites tzitziyot have blue-violet threads ( tekhelet ) in them. In contrast to rabbinic Jews, Karaites believe that the tekhelet source can be any dye, except those produced from impure (a definition mostly overlapping "un- kosher ") species, such as
5967-469: Is recited aloud). In Reform Judaism, it is recited aloud, but in a quieter voice than the rest of the prayer. It was originally a liturgical response in use in the Temple when the name of God was pronounced and took the form of Baruch shem k’vod l’olam , "Blessed be his glorious name forever" (Psalm 72:19). However, in time the words malchuto ("His kingdom") and va’ed ("for ever and ever") were added. Malchuto
6120-399: Is said to resemble God's holy throne – thus reminding all of the divine mission to fulfill His commandments. (Nachmanides knots are worn by the majority of Sephardic Jews and Teimani Jews) Modern Biblical scholar Jacob Milgrom notes than in ancient Middle Eastern societies, the corner of the garment was often elaborately decorated to "ma[k]e an important social statement", functioning as
6273-404: Is supported by the fact that the custom of making fringes from extending the threads of embroidery was common in the ancient Near East as the means of strengthening the fabric. The further analyses of the antique iconography suggest that apart from this pragmatic purpose the tassels could also decorate the cloth and as such be a marker of the social status: the more elaborate and elegant the fringes,
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6426-408: Is supposed to be a dark shade of blue, while wool that was discovered in archaeological excavations and was found to have been colored with Murex dye is violet. When tekhelet is used, there are varying opinions in rabbinic literature as to how many of the strands are to be dyed: one of eight ( Rambam ), two of eight ( Raavad ), four of eight ( Tosafot ). While the white threads are to be made of
6579-559: Is that through the recitation or proclamation of the Shema one is a living witness testifying to the truth of its message. Modern Kabbalistic schools , namely that of the Ari , teach that when one recites the last letter of the word eḥad ( אחד ), meaning "one", he is to intend that he is ready to "die into God". The first, pivotal words of the Shema are: שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד׃ Šəmaʿ Yīsrāʾēl YHWH ʾĕlōhēnū YHWH ʾeḥād : Rabbinic Judaism teaches that
6732-728: Is the official language of the State of Israel, while pre-revival forms of Hebrew are used for prayer or study in Jewish and Samaritan communities around the world today; the latter group utilizes the Samaritan dialect as their liturgical tongue. As a non- first language , it is studied mostly by non-Israeli Jews and students in Israel, by archaeologists and linguists specializing in the Middle East and its civilizations , and by theologians in Christian seminaries . The modern English word "Hebrew"
6885-826: Is the famous Moabite Stone , written in the Moabite dialect; the Siloam inscription , found near Jerusalem , is an early example of Hebrew. Less ancient samples of Archaic Hebrew include the ostraca found near Lachish , which describe events preceding the final capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity of 586 BCE. In its widest sense, Biblical Hebrew refers to the spoken language of ancient Israel flourishing between c. 1000 BCE and c. 400 CE . It comprises several evolving and overlapping dialects. The phases of Classical Hebrew are often named after important literary works associated with them. Sometimes
7038-405: Is the primary official language of the State of Israel. As of 2013 , there are about 9 million Hebrew speakers worldwide, of whom 7 million speak it fluently. Currently, 90% of Israeli Jews are proficient in Hebrew, and 70% are highly proficient. Some 60% of Israeli Arabs are also proficient in Hebrew, and 30% report having a higher proficiency in Hebrew than in Arabic. In total, about 53% of
7191-456: Is the same number of winds if one were to tie according to the Talmud's instruction of 13 hulyot of 3 winds each. Furthermore, the number 39 is found to be significant in that it is the gematria (numerical equivalent) of the words: "The Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4). Others, especially Sephardi Jews , use 10-5-6-5 as the number of windings, a combination that represents directly the spelling of
7344-581: Is the uniform of all Israel... Tekhelet ( תכלת ) is a color dye which the Hebrew Bible commands the Jews to use for one, two, or four of the eight half-strings hanging down (as interpreted in Rabbinic Judaism), or a number of cords ranging from one up to the same number of threads as the non- tekhelet threads (according to opinions in Karaite Judaism). At some point following the destruction of
7497-509: Is to say the portion of " Vehaya Im Shamoa " and those who say one should also recite the third portion of Shema. According to various customs, which are founded on the Arizal , the prayer also includes the confession prayer in order to confess and clean the sins of the past day. There are some customs which include Psalm 91 , 51 , and, 121 . Additionally there are those that add the prayer of Ana b'Koach and Psalm 67 . Another common addition
7650-481: Is used to pronounce the Hebrew Bible; however, properly it should be distinguished from the historical Biblical Hebrew of the 6th century BCE, whose original pronunciation must be reconstructed. Tiberian Hebrew incorporates the scholarship of the Masoretes (from masoret meaning "tradition"), who added vowel points and grammar points to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting
7803-630: The Chayei Adam in Hebrew, as opposed to Yiddish , as a guide to Halacha for the " average 17-year-old" (Ibid. Introduction 1). Similarly, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan 's purpose in writing the Mishnah Berurah was to "produce a work that could be studied daily so that Jews might know the proper procedures to follow minute by minute". The work was nevertheless written in Talmudic Hebrew and Aramaic, since, "the ordinary Jew [of Eastern Europe] of
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#17328479820377956-524: The gedîlîm is a dynamic translation of an unusual term. Hebrew language Hebrew ( Hebrew alphabet : עִבְרִית , ʿĪvrīt , pronounced [ ʔivˈʁit ] or [ ʕivˈrit ] ; Samaritan script : ࠏࠨࠁࠬࠓࠪࠉࠕ ʿÎbrit ) is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family . A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages , it
8109-412: The tzitzit are the 22 "buttons" on the right lapel of the gown, and the corresponding loops on its left lapel. The tzitziyot are always in the same color as the gown, which is usually white. Another version of Samaritan tzitzit is the simple fringes on the sides of the very large white tallit worn by the priests when carrying a Torah scroll . Similarly to most Orthodox rabbinic Jews,
8262-458: The Deuteronomic Code . They are believed to date to around the late 8th century BCE and late 7th century BCE, respectively, some time after the practice became part of regular ritual. The custom however, clearly predates these codes, and was not limited to Israel. Images of the custom have been found on several ancient Near East inscriptions in contexts suggesting that it was practiced across
8415-457: The Euphrates , Jordan or Litani ; or maybe the northern Arabian Desert between Babylonia and Canaan ). Compare the word Habiru or cognate Assyrian ebru , of identical meaning. One of the earliest references to the language's name as " Ivrit " is found in the prologue to the Book of Sirach , from the 2nd century BCE. The Hebrew Bible does not use the term "Hebrew" in reference to
8568-557: The Gospel of Matthew . (See the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis or Language of Jesus for more details on Hebrew and Aramaic in the gospels.) The term "Mishnaic Hebrew" generally refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud , excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects organize into Mishnaic Hebrew (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which
8721-655: The Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE) and the emergence of the Hasmonean kingdom , the Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). The nationalist significance of Hebrew manifested in various ways throughout this period. Michael Owen Wise notes that "Beginning with the time of the Hasmonean revolt [...] Hebrew came to the fore in an expression akin to modern nationalism. A form of classical Hebrew
8874-525: The Second Aliyah , it replaced a score of languages spoken by Jews at that time. Those languages were Jewish dialects of local languages, including Judaeo-Spanish (also called "Judezmo" and "Ladino"), Yiddish , Judeo-Arabic and Bukhori (Tajiki), or local languages spoken in the Jewish diaspora such as Russian , Persian and Arabic . The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along
9027-591: The Second Temple , the knowledge and tradition about the correct method of the dye was lost for Rabbinic Judaism in Israel and since then, most rabbinic diaspora Jews and Israeli Jews as well have worn plain white tzitziyot without any dyes. Tekhelet, which appears 48 times in the Tanakh – translated by the Septuagint as iakinthinos ( Greek : ὑακίνθινος , blue) – is a specific blue-violet dye produced, according to
9180-563: The Shema are traditionally credited to the members of the Great Assembly . They were first instituted in the liturgy of the Temple in Jerusalem . According to the Talmud, the reading of the Shema morning and evening fulfills the commandment "You shall meditate therein day and night". As soon as a child begins to speak, his father is directed to teach him the verse "Moses commanded us a law, even
9333-498: The Shema is read in silence. Many Sephardim recite the whole of the Shema aloud, except the Baruch Shem , as well as the verse "And God will be angry at you" which many recite silently. Reform Jews also recite the whole of the first paragraph of the Shema aloud. During Shacharit , two blessings are recited before the Shema and one after the Shema . There is a question in Jewish law as to whether these blessings are on
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#17328479820379486-466: The Shema relates to the kingship of God. The first verse, "Hear, O Israel: the L ORD our God is One L ORD ", has always been regarded as the confession of belief in the One God. Due to the ambiguity of the possible ways to translate the Hebrew passage, there are several possible renderings: Many commentaries have been written about the subtle differences between the translations. There is an emphasis on
9639-400: The Shema , or surrounding the Shema . The conclusion that has been drawn is that they are surrounding the Shema , because the structure is similar to that of blessings of the Torah , and there is doubt as to whether such blessings would actually enhance the Shema . The two blessings that are recited before the Shema are Yotzer ohr and Ahava Rabbah/Ahavat Olam . The blessing after
9792-520: The Targum Yonatan Ben Uziel view a garment with tzitzit as a "male garment", and thus forbidden to women as cross-dressing. Some other sources mention concern for shaatnez or carrying on shabbat . The vast majority of contemporary Orthodox authorities forbid the donning of a tallit by women, although Moshe Feinstein , Joseph Soloveitchik , and Eliezer Melamed approve women wearing tzitzit in private, if their motivation
9945-403: The Temple in Jerusalem is not standing) also includes Shema Yisrael . According to the Talmud, Rabbi Akiva patiently endured while his flesh was being torn with iron combs, and died reciting the Shema . He pronounced the last word of the sentence, Eḥad ("one") with his last breath. Since then, it has been traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words . In 2006 Roi Klein ,
10098-527: The Tetragrammaton (whose numerical value is 26). Before tying begins, declaration of intent is recited: L'Shem Mitzvat Tzitzit ('for the sake of the commandment of tzitzit '). Rashi , a prominent Jewish commentator, bases the number of knots on a gematria: the word tzitzit (in its Mishnaic spelling, ציצית ) has the value 600. Each tassel has eight threads (when doubled over) and five sets of knots, totaling 13. The sum of all numbers
10251-418: The Tetragrammaton (י-ה-ו-ה), YHWH, is the ineffable and actual name of God , and as such is not read aloud in the Shema but is traditionally replaced with אדני, Adonai ("L ORD "). For that reason, the Shema is recited aloud as Sh'ma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Eḥad ("Hear, O Israel: the L ORD is our God, the L ORD is One.") The literal word meanings are roughly as follows: This first verse of
10404-455: The literary and liturgical language into everyday spoken language . However, his brand of Hebrew followed norms that had been replaced in Eastern Europe by different grammar and style, in the writings of people like Ahad Ha'am and others. His organizational efforts and involvement with the establishment of schools and the writing of textbooks pushed the vernacularization activity into
10557-408: The medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy , rabbinic literature , intra-Jewish commerce, and Jewish poetic literature . The first dated book printed in Hebrew was published by Abraham Garton in Reggio ( Calabria , Italy) in 1475. With the rise of Zionism in the 19th century, the Hebrew language experienced a full-scale revival as a spoken and literary language. The creation of
10710-483: The prayer service in Judaism, and its twice-daily recitation as a mitzvah (religious commandment). Also, it is traditional for Jews to say the Shema as their last words , and for parents to teach their children to say it before they go to sleep at night. The term Shema is used by extension to refer to the whole part of the daily prayers that commences with Shema Yisrael and comprises Deuteronomy 6:4–9 , 11:13–21 , and Numbers 15:37–41 . These sections of
10863-422: The shema was linked with re-affirming a personal relationship with God's rule. Literally, reciting the shema was stated as "receiving the kingdom of heaven." ["Heaven" is a metaphor for God. The best texts of the Mishnah, Kaufmann and Parma, do not have the addition "yoke" that is found in later printed Mishnahs: "receive the {yoke of the} kingdom of Heaven." The original statement appears to have been "to receive
11016-400: The tzitzit (Numbers 15:37-41) as a reminder that all laws of God are obeyed, as a warning against following evil inclinations and in remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. For the prophets and rabbis, the exodus from Egypt is paradigmatic of Jewish faith that God redeems from all forms of foreign domination. It can be found in the portion Shlach-Lecha in the Book of Numbers . In summary,
11169-523: The (debated) re-discovery of the Ḥillazon in the Murex trunculus mollusk, some have noted that one cannot fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzit without the tekhelet strand. This position, however, has been strongly disputed. Others have disputed whether the coloring that comes from the Murex trunculus is the same as the biblical tekhelet , based on the fact that according to traditional Jewish sources tekhelet
11322-547: The 1980s in the USSR , Hebrew studies reappeared due to people struggling for permission to go to Israel ( refuseniks ). Several of the teachers were imprisoned, e.g. Yosef Begun , Ephraim Kholmyansky , Yevgeny Korostyshevsky and others responsible for a Hebrew learning network connecting many cities of the USSR. Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation. However,
11475-601: The 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Arabic (mainly by Ben-Yehuda) and older Aramaic and Latin. Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of
11628-697: The Aramaized Rabbinic Hebrew of the Talmud. Hebrew persevered through the ages as the main language for written purposes by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses—not only liturgy, but also poetry, philosophy, science and medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts. There have been many deviations from this generalization such as Bar Kokhba 's letters to his lieutenants, which were mostly in Aramaic, and Maimonides' writings, which were mostly in Arabic; but overall, Hebrew did not cease to be used for such purposes. For example,
11781-668: The British Mandate who at the turn of the 20th century were arriving in large numbers from diverse countries and speaking different languages. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. After the establishment of Israel, it became the Academy of the Hebrew Language . The results of Ben-Yehuda's lexicographical work were published in a dictionary ( The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew , Ben-Yehuda Dictionary ). The seeds of Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by
11934-516: The Great conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jewish people to return from captivity. In time, a local version of Aramaic came to be spoken in Israel alongside Hebrew. By the beginning of the Common Era , Aramaic was the primary colloquial language of Samarian , Babylonian and Galileean Jews, and western and intellectual Jews spoke Greek , but a form of so-called Rabbinic Hebrew continued to be used as
12087-588: The Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The Syriac alphabet , precursor to the Arabic alphabet , also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The Aleppo Codex , a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century, likely in Tiberias, and survives into
12240-454: The Israeli population speaks Hebrew as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. In 2013 Hebrew was the native language of 49% of Israelis over the age of 20, with Russian , Arabic , French , English , Yiddish and Ladino being the native tongues of most of the rest. Some 26% of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 12% of Arabs reported speaking Hebrew poorly or not at all. Steps have been taken to keep Hebrew
12393-471: The Middle East was the closely related Aramaic language, then Greek , scholarly opinions on the exact dating of that shift have changed very much. In the first half of the 20th century, most scholars followed Abraham Geiger and Gustaf Dalman in thinking that Aramaic became a spoken language in the land of Israel as early as the beginning of Israel's Hellenistic period in the 4th century BCE, and that as
12546-454: The Near East. While Numbers 15:37–41 uses the Hebrew tzitzit , Deuteronomy 22:12 employs the plural form of gadil , which is an Akkadian loanword for a 'cord' or 'string'. The reason for this lexical change is open to speculation, yet, the scholars are inclined to assume that in the times when Deuteronomy was composed, the meaning of the tzitzit of Numbers 15:37 had been lost and
12699-543: The Samaritans hold that the blue-violet tekhelet thread for their tzitziyot was produced from a specific dye, and claim that the tradition for producing it was lost. Contrary to some rumors, the Samaritans do not use either rabbinic or Karaite tziziyot . According to the modern documentary hypothesis , the reference to tzitzit in Numbers comes from the Priestly Code , while that from Deuteronomy comes from
12852-605: The Talmud, the Gemara , generally comments on the Mishnah and Baraitot in two forms of Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which occasionally appears in the text of the Gemara, particularly in the Jerusalem Talmud and the classical aggadah midrashes . Hebrew was always regarded as the language of Israel's religion, history and national pride, and after it faded as
13005-455: The Talmud, various regional literary dialects of Medieval Hebrew evolved. The most important is Tiberian Hebrew or Masoretic Hebrew, a local dialect of Tiberias in Galilee that became the standard for vocalizing the Hebrew Bible and thus still influences all other regional dialects of Hebrew. This Tiberian Hebrew from the 7th to 10th century CE is sometimes called "Biblical Hebrew" because it
13158-413: The Torah are read in the weekly Torah portions Va'etchanan , Eikev , and Shlach , respectively. The recitation of the Shema in the liturgy consists of three portions: Deuteronomy 6:4–9 , 11:13–21 , and Numbers 15:37–41 . The three portions are mentioned in the Mishnah (Berachot 2:2). The three portions relate to central issues of Jewish belief. In the Mishnah (Berakhot 2:5) the reciting of
13311-480: The ability to speak the language and attempted to promote its use. According to the Jerusalem Talmud , Megillah 1:9: "Rebbi Jonathan from Bet Guvrrin said, four languages are appropriate that the world should use them, and they are these: The Foreign Language (Greek) for song, Latin for war, Syriac for elegies, Hebrew for speech. Some are saying, also Assyrian (Hebrew script) for writing." The later section of
13464-470: The above phases of spoken Classical Hebrew are simplified into "Biblical Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 10th century BCE to 2nd century BCE and extant in certain Dead Sea Scrolls) and "Mishnaic Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE and extant in certain other Dead Sea Scrolls). However, today most Hebrew linguists classify Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew as
13617-502: The average Jew, and that the language had evolved since Biblical times as spoken languages do. Recent scholarship recognizes that reports of Jews speaking in Aramaic indicate a multilingual society, not necessarily the primary language spoken. Alongside Aramaic, Hebrew co-existed within Israel as a spoken language. Most scholars now date the demise of Hebrew as a spoken language to the end of the Roman period , or about 200 CE. It continued on as
13770-535: The beginning of the 20th century, Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population of both Ottoman and British Palestine. At the time, members of the Old Yishuv and a very few Hasidic sects, most notably those under the auspices of Satmar , refused to speak Hebrew and spoke only Yiddish. In the Soviet Union, the use of Hebrew, along with other Jewish cultural and religious activities,
13923-475: The blessing of 'Hamapil' In the Babylonian Talmud the custom of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi is brought that he used to add Psalm 91 and Psalm 3 which are help against the demons . As the generation unfolded additional Psalms, verses and prayers were added. Customs in this matter vary. Even though it is not obligatory to add Psalms it is generally expected to do so. The Rishonim argue whether one
14076-423: The blessing on such "optional" commandments; in general Ashkenazi women make the blessing, and Sephardic women do not. At the same time, other Rishonim, beginning with R' Meir of Rothenburg , hold that women should not wear tzitzit for various reasons. The Rema states that while women are technically allowed to don a tallit , doing so would appear to be an act of arrogance ( yuhara ). The Maharil and
14229-562: The city in whose proximity it was found) is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that, through the Greeks and Etruscans , later became the Latin alphabet of ancient Rome . The Gezer calendar is written without any vowels , and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places in which later Hebrew spelling requires them. Numerous older tablets have been found in
14382-423: The color of the garment". As for the making of knots in between the hulyot , the Talmud is inconclusive, and as such later poskim have interpreted this requirement in various ways. The Talmud described tying assuming the use of tekhelet dye. Following the loss of the source of the dye, various customs of tying were introduced to compensate for the lack of this primary element. The tying method which gained
14535-452: The command to love God with all one's heart, soul, and might ( Deuteronomy 6:5 ). The Talmud emphasizes that you will, at some point, whether you choose to or not, and therefore uses "shall" – future tense – love God. Then verse 7 goes on to remind the community to remember all the commandments and to "teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit down and when you walk, when you lie down and when you rise", to recite
14688-596: The composition of 1 Maccabees in archaizing Hebrew, Hasmonean coinage under John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE), and coins from both the Great Revolt and Bar Kokhba Revolt featuring exclusively Hebrew and Palaeo-Hebrew script inscriptions. This deliberate use of Hebrew and Paleo-Hebrew script in official contexts, despite limited literacy, served as a symbol of Jewish nationalism and political independence. The Christian New Testament contains some Semitic place names and quotes. The language of such Semitic glosses (and in general
14841-439: The content flows from the assertion of the oneness of God's kingship. Thus, in the first portion, there is a command to love God with all one's heart, soul, and might, and to remember and teach these very important words to the children throughout the day. Obeying these commands, says the second portion, will lead to rewards, and disobeying them will lead to punishment. To ensure fulfillment of these key commands, God also commands in
14994-540: The darkness of night, but rather only in daytime. In general, women are not required to perform time-dependent positive commandments, but may perform them if they choose to. Therefore, many Rishonim permitted women to wear tzitzit (including Isaac ibn Ghiyyat , Rashi , Rabbeinu Tam , Baal HaMaor , Rambam , Raaviyah , Rashba , and Ra'ah ). Similarly, the Shulchan Aruch rules that women may wear garments with tzitzit . Opinions differ on whether women may make
15147-563: The dialects of Classical Hebrew that functioned as a living language in the land of Israel. A transitional form of the language occurs in the other works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the completion of the Mishnah. These include the halachic Midrashim ( Sifra , Sifre , Mekhilta etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known as the Tosefta . The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere;
15300-444: The dye-making process. The medieval rabbis debated the source of the tzitzit obligation for garments made from different types of fabric. All agree that garments made from wool or linen (the typical materials of Biblical garments) require tzitzit by Biblical law. However, they debated whether the requirement is Biblical or rabbinic if the garment is made from any other material. The Shulchan Aruch ruled that this obligation
15453-513: The earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native language and often introduced calques from Yiddish and phono-semantic matchings of international words. Despite using Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation as its primary basis, modern Israeli Hebrew has adapted to Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in some respects, mainly the following: The vocabulary of Israeli Hebrew is much larger than that of earlier periods. According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann : The number of attested Biblical Hebrew words
15606-570: The early 6th century BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the ancient Kingdom of Judah , destroying much of Jerusalem and exiling its population far to the east in Babylon . During the Babylonian captivity , many Israelites learned Aramaic, the closely related Semitic language of their captors. Thus, for a significant period, the Jewish elite became influenced by Aramaic. After Cyrus
15759-436: The finding of what he claims to be the oldest known Hebrew inscription, a curse tablet found at Mount Ebal , dated from around 3200 years ago. The presence of the Hebrew name of god , Yahweh, as three letters, Yod-Heh-Vav (YHV), according to the author and his team meant that the tablet is Hebrew and not Canaanite. However, practically all professional archeologists and epigraphers apart from Stripling's team claim that there
15912-703: The first Middle East printing press, in Safed (modern Israel), produced a small number of books in Hebrew in 1577, which were then sold to the nearby Jewish world. This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a mutually intelligible language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could converse in Latin. For example, Rabbi Avraham Danzig wrote
16065-402: The fulfillment of the laws. It also contains punishment for transgression. It also contains a repetition of the contents of the first portion - but this time spoken to the second person plural, whereas the first portion is directed to the individual, this time it is directed to the whole community. The third portion relates to the issue of redemption. Specifically, it contains the law concerning
16218-427: The garment itself is white so that the divergence does not arise. Similarly the threads may be made either of wool or of the same fabric as the garment; again many authorities recommend using a woollen garment so that all views are satisfied. In rabbinic law, tzitzit is considered a "time-dependent positive commandment", as the Torah (Numbers 15:39) mentions "seeing" one's tzitzit , and one could not see them in
16371-450: The gematria of 590 rather than 600, which upends Rashi's proposed gematria. He points out that in the Biblical quote "you shall see it and remember them", the singular form it can refer only to the thread of tekhelet . The tekhelet strand serves this purpose, explains the Talmud, for the blue color of tekhelet resembles the ocean, which in turn resembles the sky, which in turn
16524-406: The generic term for these passages is Baraitot . The dialect of all these works is very similar to Mishnaic Hebrew. About a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew fell into disuse as a spoken language. By the third century CE, sages could no longer identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah. Only a few sages, primarily in the southern regions, retained
16677-431: The higher the position of the owner. In addition to this and given the unique nature of each of the tassels it could also be used as a personal "signet" for sealing documents. This data has led the scholars to assume that the practice itself is of very ancient origins and evolved into Jewish ritual clothing where it was invested with religious meaning. The ending -it is the feminine adjectival suffix, used here to form
16830-487: The holy tongue ' or ' the tongue [of] holiness ' ) since ancient times. The language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Bible , but as Yehudit ( transl. ' Judean ' ) or Səpaṯ Kəna'an ( transl. "the language of Canaan " ). Mishnah Gittin 9:8 refers to the language as Ivrit , meaning Hebrew; however, Mishnah Megillah refers to the language as Ashurit , meaning Assyrian , which
16983-418: The inheritance of the congregation of Jacob", and teach him to read the Shema . The reciting of the first verse of the Shema is called "the acceptance of the yoke of the kingship of God" ( kabalat ol malchut shamayim ). Judah ha-Nasi , who spent all day involved with his studies and teaching, said just the first verse of the Shema in the morning "as he passed his hands over his eyes", which appears to be
17136-690: The kingdom of Heaven".] Additionally, the Talmud points out that subtle references to the Ten Commandments can be found in the three portions. As the Ten Commandments were removed from daily prayer in the Mishnaic period (70–200 CE), the Shema is seen as an opportunity to commemorate the Ten Commandments. There are two larger-print letters in the first sentence ('ayin ע and daleth ד ) which, when combined, spell " עד ". In Hebrew this means "witness". The idea thus conveyed
17289-405: The land of Egypt to be for you a God. I am Hashem your God. You shall make tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. Since the Hebrew word kanaph can mean 'corner' or 'border', the specific place of the attachment of the fringes is unclear. Their exact number is also not specified. Lastly, the passage lacks any instructions on the binding of the fringes, save for
17442-574: The language of the Hebrew people; its later historiography, in the Book of Kings , refers to it as יְהוּדִית Yehudit " Judahite (language)". Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages . Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages. Hebrew was the spoken language in the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE. Epigraphic evidence from this period confirms
17595-458: The language spoken by Jews in scenes from the New Testament) is often referred to as "Hebrew" in the text, although this term is often re-interpreted as referring to Aramaic instead and is rendered accordingly in recent translations. Nonetheless, these glosses can be interpreted as Hebrew as well. It has been argued that Hebrew, rather than Aramaic or Koine Greek, lay behind the composition of
17748-464: The language. The revival of the Hebrew language as a mother tongue was initiated in the late 19th century by the efforts of Ben-Yehuda. He joined the Jewish national movement and in 1881 immigrated to Palestine , then a part of the Ottoman Empire . Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora " shtetl " lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop tools for making
17901-494: The languages themselves in that period, remains unclear", and suggested that calling the text Hebrew might be going too far. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic period , the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon . Classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew , the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar (named after
18054-500: The material of the garment, rabbinic law instructs that the tekhelet -dyed thread must be made of wool. According to several rabbinic sages, blue is the color of God's Glory. Staring at this color aids in meditation, bringing us a glimpse of the "pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity", which is a likeness of the Throne of God. Many items in the Mishkan, the portable sanctuary in
18207-410: The molluscs used by Rabbinic Jews. Instead, Karaites propose that the source of the dye was indigo or woad ( Isatis tinctoria ). Karaites also consider synthetic blue or blue-violet to be acceptable for tekhelet . Contrary to some claims, Karaites do not hang tzitziyot on their walls. In the Samaritan tradition, the tallit is a gown worn over their clothes during most holy days, and
18360-720: The newly declared State of Israel . Hebrew is the most widely spoken language in Israel today. In the Modern Period, from the 19th century onward, the literary Hebrew tradition revived as the spoken language of modern Israel, called variously Israeli Hebrew , Modern Israeli Hebrew , Modern Hebrew , New Hebrew , Israeli Standard Hebrew , Standard Hebrew and so on. Israeli Hebrew exhibits some features of Sephardic Hebrew from its local Jerusalemite tradition but adapts it with numerous neologisms, borrowed terms (often technical) from European languages and adopted terms (often colloquial) from Arabic. The literary and narrative use of Hebrew
18513-476: The obligation to include "a cord of blue" (Heb. ptil tchelet ). The lack of detail on these points suggests that the tying of tzitzit was to a great extent Oral Torah until the third to first century BCE with the codifying of the Talmud . The primary mnemonic purposes of this mitzvah are expressed clearly: wearing tzitzit reminds a daily practitioner to bring God's love into action by practicing all other mitzvot . The paragraph from Numbers
18666-432: The oneness of God and on the sole worship of God by Israel. There are other translations, though most retain one or the other emphases. בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד Bārūḵ šēm kəvōd malḵūtō ləʿōlām vāʾed "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever" The second line is a rabbinic addition and is recited silently during congregational worship (except on Yom Kippur , when it
18819-448: The origin of the custom to cover the eyes with the right hand while reciting the first verse. The first verse of the Shema is recited aloud, simultaneously by the hazzan and the congregation, which responds with the rabbinically instituted Baruch Shem ("Blessed be the Name") in silence before continuing the rest of Shema . Only on Yom Kippur is this response said aloud. The remainder of
18972-528: The other being Aramaic , still spoken today. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew , with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity . For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Lashon Hakodesh ( לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶש , lit. '
19125-630: The present day. It is perhaps the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence. During the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain , important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the grammarians of Classical Arabic . Important Hebrew grammarians were Judah ben David Hayyuj , Jonah ibn Janah , Abraham ibn Ezra and later (in Provence ), David Kimhi . A great deal of poetry
19278-562: The primary language of use, and to prevent large-scale incorporation of English words into the Hebrew vocabulary. The Academy of the Hebrew Language of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem currently invents about 2,000 new Hebrew words each year for modern words by finding an original Hebrew word that captures the meaning, as an alternative to incorporating more English words into Hebrew vocabulary. The Haifa municipality has banned officials from using English words in official documents, and
19431-489: The rabbis, from a creature referred to as a Ḥillazon, other blue dyes being unacceptable. Some explain the black stripes found on many traditional prayer shawls as representing the loss of this dye. While there is no prohibition on wearing blue dye from another source, the rabbis maintain that other kinds of tekhelet do not fulfill the mitzvah of tekhelet , and thus all the strings have been traditionally kept un-dyed (i.e., white) for many centuries. In recent times, with
19584-484: The rabbis, this exemption to shatnez applied only while performing priestly service. Rabbinic Judaism (but not Karaite Judaism or Samaritanism ) makes a further exemption to this law for tzitzit , based on the Torah's juxtaposition of the laws for shaatnez and tzitzit in Deuteronomy 22:11-12. Thus, according to rabbinic Judaism, both laymen and priests were supposed to wear mixtures of wool and linen all
19737-451: The region was Old Aramaic . Hebrew was extinct as a colloquial language by late antiquity , but it continued to be used as a literary language, especially in Spain, as the language of commerce between Jews of different native languages, and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary Medieval Hebrew , until its revival as a spoken language in the late 19th century. In May 2023, Scott Stripling published
19890-431: The region with similar scripts written in other Semitic languages, for example, Proto-Sinaitic . It is believed that the original shapes of the script go back to Egyptian hieroglyphs , though the phonetic values are instead inspired by the acrophonic principle. The common ancestor of Hebrew and Phoenician is called Canaanite , and was the first to use a Semitic alphabet distinct from that of Egyptian. One ancient document
20043-657: The rest of the Middle East; and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire. William Schniedewind argues that after waning in the Persian period, the religious importance of Hebrew grew in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and cites epigraphical evidence that Hebrew survived as a vernacular language – though both its grammar and its writing system had been substantially influenced by Aramaic. According to another summary, Greek
20196-600: The saying Shema in this prayer and not when he recites the Shema in the Maariv prayer, being that it was costumary to pray the Maariv prayer while still day (before the time of the obligation). It says in the Talmud : "Even though one has recited the Shema prayer in the Synagogue , it is obligatory to recite it on his bed" Additionally it says: "One that goes to sleep on his bed says 'Shema Yisrael' until 'Vehaya Im Shamoa' and then says
20349-562: The sons of Israel and say to them [that they must] make for themselves tzitzit upon the corners of the clothes for generations, and on the tzitzit give a string of techelet . And they shall have for themselves tzitzit and they will see them and they will remember all of the commandments of Hashem and they will do them, and they will not stray after their hearts and eyes so that they shall not pursue after them. So that they will remember and adhere to all of my commandments and will remain holy to their God. I am Hashem your God who took you out of
20502-485: The southern villages of Judea." In other words, "in terms of dialect geography, at the time of the tannaim Palestine could be divided into the Aramaic-speaking regions of Galilee and Samaria and a smaller area, Judaea, in which Rabbinic Hebrew was used among the descendants of returning exiles." In addition, it has been surmised that Koine Greek was the primary vehicle of communication in coastal cities and among
20655-468: The spoken language of the Russian Jews, should be treated as their only national language, while Hebrew was to be treated as a foreign language. Hebrew books and periodicals ceased to be published and were seized from the libraries, although liturgical texts were still published until the 1930s. Despite numerous protests, a policy of suppression of the teaching of Hebrew operated from the 1930s on. Later in
20808-462: The third portion a practical reminder, wearing the tzitzit , "that ye may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy unto your God." The second line quoted, "Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever", was originally a congregational response to the declaration of the Oneness of God; it is therefore often printed in small font and recited in an undertone, as recognition that it
20961-415: The time. From this perspective, the shatnez of the layman reflects that of the priest. In practice, the rabbinic sages permitted using wool and linen strings in tandem only when what they hold to be genuine tekhelet is available. The tassel ( tzitzit ) on each corner is made of four strands, which must be made with intent. These strands are then threaded and hang down, appearing to be eight. (It
21114-580: The upper class of Jerusalem , while Aramaic was prevalent in the lower class of Jerusalem, but not in the surrounding countryside. After the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE, Judaeans were forced to disperse. Many relocated to Galilee, so most remaining native speakers of Hebrew at that last stage would have been found in the north. Many scholars have pointed out that Hebrew continued to be used alongside Aramaic during Second Temple times, not only for religious purposes but also for nationalistic reasons, especially during revolts such as
21267-456: The verse in Psalms: "I praise You seven times each day for Your just rules." Before going to sleep, the first paragraph of the Shema is recited. This is not only a commandment directly given in the Bible (in Deuteronomy 6:6–7), but is also alluded to from verses such as "Commune with your own heart upon your bed" ( Psalms 4:4). Some also have the custom to read all three paragraphs, along with
21420-447: The wearing and tying of tzitzit by women. It has become common in Reform and other non-Orthodox streams for girls to receive a tallit at their bat mitzvah, although some do not subsequently wear it on a regular basis. Other women have adopted the tallit later in life, to connect with their communities, embody egalitarian values, or create a personalized connection to Judaism. It
21573-413: The widely accepted view that the earlier layers of biblical literature reflect the language used in these kingdoms. Furthermore, the content of Hebrew inscriptions suggests that the written texts closely mirror the spoken language of that time. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a spoken vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile when the predominant international language in
21726-422: The widest acceptance can be described as follows: The four strands of the tzitzit are passed through a hole near the garment's corner. The two groups of four ends are double-knotted to each other at the edge of the garment near the hole. One of the four strands (known as the shamash ) is made longer than the others. The long end of the shamash is wound around the other seven ends and double-knotted; this
21879-549: The wilderness, such as the Menorah, many of the vessels, and the Ark of the Covenant, were covered with a blue-violet cloth when transported from place to place. The other threads in the tzitzit (all the threads, where tekhelet is not used) are described as "white". This may be interpreted either literally (by Rama ) or as meaning the same colour as the main garment (Rambam). Normally,
22032-461: The words of God when retiring or rising; to bind those words "on thy arm and thy head" (classically Jewish oral tradition interprets as tefillin ), and to "inscribe them on the door-posts of your house and on your gates" (referring to mezuzah ). The passage following the Shema and V'ahavta relates to the issue of reward and punishment . It contains the promise of reward for serving God with all one's heart, soul, and might (Deut 11:13) and for
22185-421: Was a spoken language , and Amoraic Hebrew (also called Late Rabbinic Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew II), which was a literary language . The earlier section of the Talmud is the Mishnah that was published around 200 CE, although many of the stories take place much earlier, and were written in the earlier Mishnaic dialect. The dialect is also found in certain Dead Sea Scrolls. Mishnaic Hebrew is considered to be one of
22338-599: Was introduced by the rabbis during Roman rule as a counter to the claim of divine honors by Roman emperors. Va’ed was introduced at the time of the Second Temple to contrast the view of the minim (heretics) that there is no life after death. The following verses are commonly referred to as the V'ahavta , reflecting the first word of the verse immediately following the Shema , or in Classical Hebrew V'ahav'ta , meaning "and you shall love...". These words contain
22491-497: Was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period ) and Samaritanism . The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival . It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with
22644-487: Was now a more significant written language than Aramaic within Judaea." This nationalist aspect was further emphasized during periods of conflict, as Hannah Cotton observing in her analysis of legal documents during the Jewish revolts against Rome that "Hebrew became the symbol of Jewish nationalism, of the independent Jewish State." The nationalist use of Hebrew is evidenced in several historical documents and artefacts, including
22797-618: Was revived beginning with the Haskalah movement. The first secular periodical in Hebrew, Ha-Me'assef (The Gatherer), was published by maskilim in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad ) from 1783 onwards. In the mid-19th century, publications of several Eastern European Hebrew-language newspapers (e.g. Hamagid , founded in Ełk in 1856) multiplied. Prominent poets were Hayim Nahman Bialik and Shaul Tchernichovsky ; there were also novels written in
22950-527: Was suppressed. Soviet authorities considered the use of Hebrew "reactionary" since it was associated with Zionism, and the teaching of Hebrew at primary and secondary schools was officially banned by the People's Commissariat for Education as early as 1919, as part of an overall agenda aiming to secularize education (the language itself did not cease to be studied at universities for historical and linguistic purposes ). The official ordinance stated that Yiddish, being
23103-540: Was the language of government, Hebrew the language of prayer, study and religious texts, and Aramaic was the language of legal contracts and trade. There was also a geographic pattern: according to Bernard Spolsky , by the beginning of the Common Era, " Judeo-Aramaic was mainly used in Galilee in the north, Greek was concentrated in the former colonies and around governmental centers, and Hebrew monolingualism continued mainly in
23256-408: Was to a certain extent a pidgin . Near the end of that century the Jewish activist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda , owing to the ideology of the national revival ( שיבת ציון , Shivat Tziyon , later Zionism ), began reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Eventually, as a result of the local movement he created, but more significantly as a result of the new groups of immigrants known under the name of
23409-570: Was written, by poets such as Dunash ben Labrat , Solomon ibn Gabirol , Judah ha-Levi , Moses ibn Ezra and Abraham ibn Ezra , in a "purified" Hebrew based on the work of these grammarians, and in Arabic quantitative or strophic meters. This literary Hebrew was later used by Italian Jewish poets. The need to express scientific and philosophical concepts from Classical Greek and Medieval Arabic motivated Medieval Hebrew to borrow terminology and grammar from these other languages, or to coin equivalent terms from existing Hebrew roots, giving rise to
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