Page 51 - HaMizrachi Yom HaAtzmaut AUS 2021

WHAT’S IN A WORD THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND

David Curwin

National Symbols

srael has several national symbols. The Talmud (Chullin 63a) says the bird’s
In a previous issue, we discussed the name derives from the phrase תּופ ָּ כ ּודֹוה ֶ ׁש
Iword degel. Now, let’s take a look at – “whose comb seems bent,” referring
the word for some of the other symbols. to its crown. Modern linguists differ as
to the etymology of the word. Some say
HaTikva | Israel’s national anthem it comes from an ancient Egyptian word
(ןֹונ ְ מ ִ ה, cognate with “hymn”) is that meant a type of hat (which would
HaTikvah, written by Naftali Herz refer to its crown). Others have found
Imber in 1878. Tikva means “hope,” possible cognates in languages in India
and the song reflects the Jewish or in Arabic. And some, like Klein, say
people’s hope to return to freedom in the name is imitative of its cry.
the Land of Israel. The root of tikva, English, where “to weigh” something
הוק, means “to hope for, to wait for.” also means “to consider” it, so too does The duchifat might appear in one more
The linguist Ernest Klein says that the verb לֹוק ְ ׁש ִ ל mean “to consider” or Biblical book, although not with that
name. In the book of Iyov, we find an
the original meaning of the root was “to assess.”
probably “to twist, to stretch,” which For the first several decades of the State unusual and unique word – י ִ וכׂ ֶּ ש ַ ל.
developed into “to be stretched, be of Israel, Israel’s currency was the lira “Who put wisdom in the hidden parts?
strained,” and from there to “await – the equivalent of “the pound.” Lira is Who gave understanding to the mind
tensely.” This root is also the source a foreign word (related to “liter”) and [sechvi]?”
of the homonym tikva meaning is (or was) the currency unit in many This phrase is the source of our morn-
“cord,” like the one Rachav used to countries around the Mediterranean,
signify her house in Yericho: “she like Italy, Turkey and Syria. Israel ing blessing – ןי ִ ח ְ ב ַ ה ְ ל הָני ִ ב י ִ ו ְ כ ֶּ ׂש ַ ל ן ַ תָנ ר ֶ ׁש ֲ א
ה ָ לְי ָ ל ןי ֵ בּו םֹוי ןי ֵּ ב.
tied the crimson cord to the window” adopted the Hebrew name “shekel” in
(Yehoshua 2:21). It is also the source 1980. However, due to massive inflation While the translation “mind” (or
of the word kav, meaning “line.” in the early 1980s, a new currency was “heart”) for sechvi is common, another
Even though they look similar, the introduced in 1985 – the “shekel cha- popular translation is “rooster.” The
words tikva and mikveh aren’t related. dash” – the New Israeli Shekel (NIS). rooster, at daybreak, begins to crow,
Mikveh means “a collection of water,” Its abbreviation, ח" ַ ׁש, has entered the signaling the transition from night to
and derives from a different root – also vernacular, and even though the old day.
הוק, but this time meaning “to collect shekel was only around for five years, However, this has some difficulties. It
(water).” It may be cognate with the people still use shach when referring doesn’t actually take much wisdom to
volume unit ב ַ ק, which comes from the to money. see the difference between night and
root בבק – “to hollow out.” day. In light of this, some say the sechvi
Duchifat | In honor of the 60th was a hawk or an eagle. But the scholar
anniversary of Israel, a competition
Shekel | The national coin of Israel Yehuda Feliks suggested that the sechvi
is the shekel. Originally, a shekel was was held to name the national bird was actually the duchifat. The duchifat
a measure of weight, about 10 grams. of Israel, which had not previously was known for its wisdom, and accord-
Coins only began to be used as a been determined. The winner was ing to Jewish tradition even revealed
the duchifat, or “hoopoe” in English.
means of payment in the post-bib- secrets to King Shlomo.
lical period, so all mentions of the It is listed as one of the non-kosher So perhaps it was a good choice for
birds in Vayikra 11:19 and Devarim
shekel in the Bible are referring to an 14:18. Since it was a popular vote, it Israel’s national bird after all!
amount of that weight, usually silver.
can’t be said with certainty why the
The word shekel comes from the root duchifat was chosen, but presumably David Curwin is a writer living in Efrat,
ל ֶ ק ֶ ׁש, which also developed from “to due to its unique appearance, with and the author of the Balashon blog.
weigh” to the sense “to pay.” Just as in an impressive crown on its head. balashon.com • balashon1@gmail.com.

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