Page 45 - HaMizrachi Tisha B'Av AUS 2021

WHAT’S IN A NAME THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

David Curwin

Vision

and Comfort

he Shabbat before Tisha B’Av is In Yeshayahu 28:15, we find the word ה ֶזֹח in “regretted [ם ֶח ָּנִּי ַו] that He had made man
called Shabbat Chazon, and the a unique context: ה ֶזֹח ּוני ִש ָע לֹוא ְ ׁש־ם ִע ְו. This on earth” (6:6).
ׂ
Shabbat following Tisha B’Av is generally translated as, “we have made
Tis called Shabbat Nachamu. Both a pact with the grave.” However, commen- How did the same root come to mean both
comfort and regret? One theory says that
are named for the opening words of the taries such as Ibn Ezra point out that the ם ֵח ַנ is related to the root ַחֹונ (“to rest”), and
haftarah read that week. Let’s look at those word is connected to the root הזח, and so so one who is comforted is rested from
two words. say it means a “covenant made by (Divine) their anger or sadness. Similarly, regret-
prophecy.” Some scholars point out that ting an action, either a beneficial one like
Chazon prophets were asked for their advice before creating humanity or a punishment, as
treaties were made. Today a ה ֶזֹוח refers to when Moshe asks G-d to “renounce [ם ֵח ָּנ ִה ְו]
The word ןֹוז ָח means “vision,” from the any kind of contract.
root ה ָז ָח – “to see.” Hebrew has a number the plan to punish Your people” (Shemot
32:12), involves putting the plan to rest.
of verbs that express vision, including There is one word in this family that
the most common, ה ָא ָר, as well as ה ָז ָח and moved in the opposite direction – from the Another theory relies on a different ety-
טי ִּ ב ִה. Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim 1:3) pro- secular to the religious. According to some mology for the root. These scholars claim
vides different meanings for each verb. He theories, ן ָּז ַח originally meant “overseer” that ם ֵח ַנ is related to ח ַנ ֶא – “to sigh, moan.”
writes that ה ָא ָר – “to see,” is something that (from ה ָז ָח meaning “to see”). This could be They point out that in Arabic, nahama is
is experienced by people in general, via the overseer of any project or group. But used to refer to the panting breaths of a
sight. The root טי ִּ ב ִה – “to look at,” indicates later it came to mean specifically the one horse. So according to this approach, ם ֵח ַנ
turning and paying attention to something directing or leading the prayer service – i.e. first meant “to grieve, be sorry.” Feeling
in particular. And finally, he says that our the cantor. sorry for oneself or others led to the sense
root, ה ָז ָח – “vision” is often used in a more of “comfort,” while the result of feeling
figurative sense, to express what the heart Nachamu sorry can lead one to “regret” or “repent.”
(or mind) perceives. We see the same phenomenon in English,
ּומ ֲח ַנ means “comfort,” as found in the when saying “I’m sorry” can either express
This distinction is borne out by linguistic regret or an effort to comfort someone.
evidence as well. Beyond the meaning “to opening words of the haftarah:
see,” ה ָז ָח often means “to perceive,” “to י ִּ מ ַע ּומ ֲח ַנ ּומ ֲח ַנ – “Comfort, oh comfort My Whatever the origin of the word, may G-d
predict” or “to prophecy.” In Arabic, the people” (Yeshayahu 40:1). renounce any bad plans He has for us, and
cognate word means “astrologer,” which provide us all with the comfort we need.
also expresses this sense of seeing beyond However, the root ם ֵח ַנ has multiple mean-
what the eye can detect. ings, some seemingly contradictory. For
example, when Noach was born, his father
Several other Hebrew words derive from gave him that name because he prayed
this same root, but much of the supernat- that, “this one will provide us relief [ּונ ֵמ ֲח ַנְי]
ural connotations of the words have been from our work and from the toil of our
replaced with more secular meanings in hands” (Bereishit 5:29). But a few verses David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
Modern Hebrew. later, we see the root again. When G-d saw and the author of the Balashon blog:
For example, a synonym for ןֹוז ָח in Biblical how wicked humanity had become, he balashon.com.
Hebrew is ה ֶז ֲח ַמ. When G-d reveals Himself
to Avraham, he does so in a ה ֶז ֲח ַמ (Bereishit
15:1). In Modern Hebrew, however, a ה ֶז ֲח ַמ
is a drama or play (literally something
watched).
Another set of words that have gone
through a similar transformation regard
a different type of prediction. While we
don’t have prophecy today, we do predict
the weather. So a forecast is a תי ִז ֲח ַּ ת, and a
weather forecaster is a יא ַּז ַח.