Thursday, November 21, 2013

Irony

















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15 comments:

  1. Also not, at a time when Michal wasn't an Israeli girl's name, Michel could be spelt Michal.

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  2. lol. Or maybe that was his name? בהר?

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  3. Can someone explain?

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  4. No.

    1. "Michal" for the assumedly reduced "Michel" is to be expected, a simple hypercorrection. How many Jews today think it's really "mikva" and that "mikve" is just an evil Yiddish corruption? Apart from that, the author obviously transfers the name into conventional equivalents - as do you yourself, writing "Abraham", not Avrohom, Afrohm or even Avraham.

    2. The place of the abbreviation sign varies. As a matter of fact, bhh"r and mhh"r are at least as frequent, and what's more, usage changed between the 18th and the 19th centuries, and went more and more to a standardised position between the last two letters, as it is today.

    3. BH"HR is a word all right. 18th-ct sources show that such titles were pronounced ("behárer"), just as "admor", "shlite" etc. are pronounced today.

    4. "Ben Ha(sic)Rav Reb" means "the son of the rabbi Mr Abraham Epstein", not "Rabbi, Rabbi".

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  5. It's not an error.

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  6. Phillip:


    Looking into this a bit further, it could be you are right that it is not an error, given the author's extensive knowledge of Hebrew and rabbinic literature (he was an apostate Jew who spent his formative years in Yeshiva). At the same time, it's quite strange that he would employ such an acronym for a Christian reading audience that has little (if any) knowledge of Hebrew.

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  7. I beg to differ with the pronunciation of "mikvah" as "mikveh". It seems to me that Mikveh is in construct state, and that Mikvah is the standalone form.


    Most of the uses of Mikveh mean Hope, and are construct, as in Mikveh Israel. Similarly, most places where it means Collection, it's again in construct state, Mikveh Mayim. In one place it is used standalone, Is. 22:11 meaning Reservoir, and there it's MIKVAH.

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  8. But what are the (pre-Israeli) non-Ashkenazic traditions?

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  9. What do they matter? If there's a Biblical precedent, it seems that would trump everything else. Lots of "ah" sounds become "eh" in Yiddish, e.g. Shaboss - Shabess, because really it's a schwa, or at least the vowel of an unstressed syllable, when Yiddish shifted the emphasis back a syllable.

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  10. It matters because I gave this as an example for a word commonly pronounced with post-stress /ə/ that was then interpreted as a corrupted /a/. If non-Ashkenazi traditions have /ə/ or /e/ as well, my example fits, whatever the korrekt etymological form is.

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  11. According to Betzlal Naor, Michel BH'RR Abraham Epstein was a Sabbatian.

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  12. Hi, I've been trying to reach you. DId you get my emails?

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  13. Why can't you, every so often. throw your loyal readers a bone . Anything, Please

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  14. Aww, now you're making me feel guilty!

    I will try.

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  15. Hope I did make you feel bad.
    I've been trained to come here every day and what do I get? Nothing.
    It doesn't have to be profound. Anything will do and please do it on a regular basis.
    Much appreciated.
    From a loyal talmid

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