Page 53 - HaMizrachi #29 Yom HaAtzmaut 2021 USA

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