Page 46 - HaMizrachi Australia Sukkot 5781
P. 46

WHAT’S IN A WORD?


                                      Names of the Week




                                                         David Curwin

                   T      he holiday of Sukkot has sev-                              ‘May Hashem add (ף ֵסי) another son for
                                                                                                     ֹ
                          eral names. Let’s take a look
                                                                                     me’” (Bereishit 30:23–24).
                          at them:
                                                                                     Chag
                                                                                     In Yechezkel 45:23, Sukkot is not
                   Chag HaSukkot                                                     referred to by name, but simply called
                                                                                     ג ָח ֶה. This name is found frequently in
                   One name of Sukkot, of course, is ג ַח
                   ת ֹו ּ כֻּ סַה. “On the 15th day of this sev-                     rabbinic literature, so any mention
                   enth month there shall be the Feast                               of just “chag” will indicate Sukkot. Of
                   of Booths (Sukkot) to Hashem, [to last]                           course, with the addition of the spe-
                   seven days. […] You shall live in booths                          cific chag it could be referring to any
                   (sukkot) for seven days; all citizens in                          of the three pilgrimage festivals. The
                   Israel shall live in booths, in order that                        notion of pilgrimage is reflected in its
                   future generations may know that I                                root: ג ַג ָח – “to make a pilgrimage, to
                   made the Israelite people live in booths                          celebrate a feast.”
                   when I brought them out of the land                               The root ג ַג ָח can also mean “to dance”
                   of Egypt; I Hashem your G-d” (Vayikra                             and is related to the root גּוח – “to make
                   23:34, 42–43).                   would be the “Festival of Ingathering,”   or move in a circle.” Although today
                                                    since the crops are gathered in from
                   While the word  sukkot in Tanach   the field at harvest time, as is men-  it is an anachronism, the “dialing” of
                   often refers to the holiday, there are   tioned in Vayikra 23:39: “Mark, on the   phones in Hebrew is called גּוּי ִח, and
                   also examples of sukkot referring to   15th day of the seventh month, when   an area code is an גּוּי ִח רֹוז ֵא. From the
                   commonplace booths. Those booths   you have gathered in the yield of your   notion of a “circle of people,” we get
                   were used for shade, either for workers   land.”                  the word גּוח, meaning “club” or “class.”
                   in a field or for livestock. The shade
                   provided by these booths is the root   The root ף ָס ָא means “to gather, to col-  Z’man Simchateinu
                   of the word sukkah. “Sukkah” derives   lect, to assemble.” Other related words   As seen above, Sukkot was the most
                                ְ
                   from the root ך ַכ ָס, “to cover,” which   are ה ָפ ֵס ֲא – “assembly,” ףּו ּ ס ִא – “compila-  prominent of the agricultural holidays.
                   also provides us with the word we use   tion” and ף ֶסֹא – “collection.”   This is due to the end of the harvest
                   to describe the covering of the sukkah:   There is some disagreement over
                    ְ
                   ך ָכ ְס. This same root is the foundation   which other roots may be related to   season, a time of great joy. That feel-
                                                                                     ing is reflected in the name ּונ ֵת ָח ְמ ִׂש ן ַמ ְז,
                   for other words involving covering:  ף ָס ָא, and this debate helps us under-  which appears in our prayers. The root
                       ְ
                   •   ך ָסּומ – In its only occurrence in   stand the original meaning of ף ָס ָא as   ַ ח ֵמ ָׂש is connected to the root ח ַמ ֶצ – “to
                       the Bible (Melachim II 16:18), this   well. Some say it is related to the root   sprout.” A similar case is found in
                       meant a covered portico; today it   ף ָסָי – “to add, increase.” This latter root   English, in which the word “elated”
                       means “a garage”.            is found in words related to increasing,   means both “happy” and “lifted up.”
                       ְ
                   •   ך ָס ָמ – Originally a curtain or   such as ת ֶפ ֶסֹו ּ ת ,ף ָסֹונ ,ף ָסּומ ,ףי ִסֹומ. As one   Another meaning of  ַח ֵמ ָׂש is “to glow”
                                                    collects and gathers, one’s possessions
                       screen; today it often refers to a   increase.                which is why it is often found together
                       computer monitor or the screen                                in with the word for light, as in ה ָרֹוא
                       of a phone.                  Others say ף ָס ָא is related to the root ףֹוס,   ה ָח ְמ ִׂש ְו.
                                                    meaning “to end,” since gathering in
                         ֵ
                   •   ה ָכ ּ ס ַמ – A covering; today it means   items (such as the grains from a har-
                       “mask” (influenced by the English   vest), puts them in a closed, limited
                       word).                       area. This is seen in another meaning
                                                    of ף ָס ָא – “he took away, withdrew.”
                   Chag HaAsif
                                                    Both meanings are found in the name
                   In the Torah, Sukkot is also referred   given to Yosef by Rachel: “She con-
                   to as “Chag HaAsif” (Shemot 23:16 and   ceived and bore a son, and said, ‘G-d   David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
                   34:22). Often translated as the “Harvest   has taken away (ף ַס ָא) my disgrace.’ So   and the author of the Balashon blog,
                   Festival,” a more precise translation   she named him Yosef, which is to say,   balashon.com.


     46  |
   41   42   43   44   45   46   47   48   49   50   51