This section will be devoted to Scriptural words and their meaning. We will not only establish the etymological roots of these words, but we will reveal how many English words are actually Hebrew words. Everything and anything you might want to know about the Hebrew language will be discussed and presented in this section.E-mail us if you want to know what a particular word is and we will be happy to post it here for all to read. If you are interested in it, maybe many others are, too.
HAVDALAHHavdalah, marking the end of Shabbat and festivals, corresponds to the 'Kiddush', which proclaims the holiness of Shabbat and festivals. The 'Havdalah', recited over wine, consists of four benedictions: over wine, spices, light, and the distinction between the sacred and the profane, between light and darkness, between Israel and the nations, between the seventh day and the six workdays. This word comes from the Hebrew root badal, which means 'to separate out' or 'to make distinct or different'. The word first appears as the 'separating' of the waters below from the waters above, in B'reshith 1:7. The waning of Shabbat is seen as a period of sadness as the Shabbat is passing away to the beginning of the work week and six days of labor. The Shabbat is, of course, 'distinct' from the other six days, and when 'she' leaves she is treated as a wife leaving the home for a week long journey.
Shalom Alecheim!
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