Jewish Word Archives - Page 6 of 6

31 Oct

2012 November-December, Jewish Word

Jewish Word // Dybbuk

October 28, 2021
By Sala Levin
2 comments

A Ghost from Our Past by Sala Levin Fans of the film-making, Minnesota-bred brothers Joel and Ethan Coen were transported back to the old country in the opening scene of the 2009 film A Serious Man. A couple—clad in full shtetl garb—is visited by a man believed to be dead. The woman declares him a dybbuk, a figure unfamiliar to most 21st-century filmgoers, but one quite at home in the horror movies it predates. The word dybbuk is a Yiddishized adaptation of the Hebrew root davek, meaning to cling or to cleave, and the basis of the contemporary Hebrew word for glue. The term first appears in Genesis, where it’s written that a man will “leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be as one flesh.” Dvekut, in kabbalistic thought,...

28 Jul

2012 July-August, Issues, Jewish Word

Jewish Word | The God Gene

Finding Faith in DNA Why do some people believe in God, while others don’t? Is it a person’s choice, the result of upbringing or simply divine will? Theologians have grappled with this question for centuries, but over the last few years, scientists have jumped into the age-old debate to offer an entirely new explanation: genes. One of the most attention-grabbing efforts to link spirituality and genetics was put forth by geneticist Dean Hamer in his 2004 book, The God Gene: How Faith Is Hardwired into Our Genes. According to Hamer’s hypothesis, spirituality is a “biological mechanism” that is imprinted on our DNA. “We have a genetic predisposition for spiritual belief that is expressed in response to, and shaped by, personal experience and the cultural environment,” writes Hamer, who years earlier claimed to find the genetic basis of male...

31 Mar

2012 May/June, Arts, Issues, Jewish Word, Topics

Jewish Word | The Rabbinic Way of Fiction

July 25, 2019
By Justin Sovine
0 comments

By Sala Levin You may know the story: Abraham, in an effort to convince his father, Terach, that idol worship is wrong, takes a hammer and smashes the idols that his father sells. He leaves the hammer in the hand of the largest idol and tells his father that it destroyed the others in a fight. When Terach says that idols don’t have that kind of power, Abraham asks him why, in that case, he would worship them. The story is so famous that many believe it comes from the Torah. But it doesn’t. It was written by rabbis to illustrate the depth of Abraham’s conviction that idol worship was wrong. It is what’s called midrash. Derived from the Hebrew root daled, resh, shin, or drash, meaning “to seek” or “to inquire,” the word “midrash” appears only twice in...

05 Mar

2012 March-April, Issues, Jewish Word, Religion, Topics

Jewish Word | A Word Fit for a King

By Caitlin Yoshika Kandil Today, “messiah” usually brings to mind a personal savior, the end of time, the Kingdom of Heaven—or Jesus Christ. This grand, contemporary understanding, however, hides the word’s humble origins—and its millennia-long evolution. The word messiah is derived from the Hebrew root mem, shin, chet, meaning to smear, paint or color; to pour oil over the head; or to anoint in a religious service. Throughout the Hebrew Bible, mashiach is used sparingly, typically as a noun or adjective describing a king, priest or prophet who has undergone ritual anointing. In Leviticus, for example, God tells Moses how his people can atone for their sins: “The anointed priest shall bring some of the blood of the bull into the Tent of Meeting.” Similarly, in Chronicles, Solomon stands at an altar before his people and prays: “O Lord...

05 Jan

2012 January-February, Israel, Issues, Jewish Word

Jewish Word | Proud and Prickly with a Soft Heart

July 25, 2019
By Eileen Lavine
1 comment

By Eileen Lavine Muscular. Courageous. Bronzed. The stereotype of the sun-kissed sabra is Ari ben Canaan, as played by actor Paul Newman in the 1960 movie Exodus. The word sabra stems from the name of the prickly pear cactus—tzabar in Hebrew and sabr in Arabic—whose thick thorny skin covers a sweet and succulent soft flesh. An affectionate metaphor, it describes native-born Israelis whose rough and impertinent manners hide their good hearts and sensitive souls. Sabra originated as a slur, according to The Comprehensive Dictionary of Slang, by Ruvik Rosenthal, referring to uncivilized Jews born in Israel. It didn’t pick up its positive spin until journalist Uri Kesari wrote a 1931 essay in the newspaper Do’ar Ha-Yom, entitled “We Are the Leaves of the Sabra!,” in which he appealed to newly arrived immigrants to respect their native-born counterparts. Palestinian-born Jews quickly appropriated sabra as a badge of...