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The Kamatz, Segol, and the Israeli Supreme Court
Today two new judges were sworn into the Israeli Supreme Court. One of them, Justice Dafna Erez-Barak, became the Deputy to the Chief Justice. Until today, despite her being a woman, her position would...
View ArticleJewish Beggars in Early 11th c. Palestine
Dr. Ezra Chwat at Giluy Milta B’alma has posted (Heb.) a Genizah fragment that included a recommendation to support a specific poor man. The letter was addressed to the residents of Ramla and was...
View ArticleThe Origins of Shabbat Challah
This past Shabbat my wife asked “Since when have Jews called the bread that we eat on Shabbat ḥallah (חלה)?” I had no idea what was the answer, so during the past few days I did a little searching and...
View ArticleMedieval Manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries
The Jewish Museum will be having an exhibition this Fall and Winter (September 14, 2012 – February 03, 2013), Crossing Borders: Medieval Manuscripts from the Bodleian Libraries. Crossing Borders...
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Hebrew Manuscript Exhibition at Columbia University
Another nice exhibition of Hebrew Manuscripts this Fall in NYC. (hat tip)
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A 13th c. Jewish Bathroom
A few days ago David Assaf of Tel Aviv University reported (Hebrew) on his blog, Oneg Shabbat, about a most interesting archaeological find in the German city of Köln/Cologne. Köln was know to have an...
View ArticleGot Hebrew?
From Haaretz: Tempers are still boiling over a conference about Israel studies that took place this summer, in which speakers were initially asked to lecture in English. Though the organizers of the...
View ArticleThe Origins of Hanukkiyah
A number of years ago I wrote a post about the origins of the word חנוכייה/Hanukkiyah. I just updated it with some new information and two images of early appearances of the word in print. חג אורים...
View ArticleThe Brothers Grimm, Goethe, and Biblical Hebrew
The Academy of the Hebrew Language has been increasing its web presence recently. They have an updated web site, along with a Twitter account, and a Facebook page. Today they posted a link to a post...
View ArticleHebrew in Medieval Europe
In Haaretz there is an article by Ephraim Shoham-Steiner that describes the mounting evidence for the use of Hebrew in the public sphere in Medieval Europe. Shoham-Steiner discussed a number of...
View ArticleProf. Angel Sáenz-Badillos
Prof. Angel Sáenz-Badilloshe, the important scholar of Hebrew and author of A History of the Hebrew Language, has passed away. The following is from H-Judaic: H-Judaic is greatly saddened to learn of...
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Origins of the Phrase Hag Sameah
The Academy of the Hebrew Language has an interesting post about the origins of the phrase חג שמח/Ḥag Sameaḥ. It turns out that this phrase is relatively new, with the first evidence of its use coming...
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Because They Didn’t Change Their Language: Hebrew and Egyptian
There are a number of midrashim that list the ways through which the Israelites were able to preserve their uniqueness and prevent assimilation during their sojourn in Egyptian, eventually bringing...
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Lashon Hakodesh: History, Holiness, and Hebrew
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein was kind enough to send me a copy of his most recent book, Lashon HaKodesh: History, Holiness, & Hebrew. Rabbi Klein has done an admirable job of presenting the...
View ArticleBen-Yehudah Historical Dictionary Online
One of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda’s accomplishments was his Historical Dictionary of the Hebrew Language. While to some extent Ben-Yehuda’s dictionary has been superseded by the newer Historical Dictionary...
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