לפסוע – part one of the Passover theme of mobilization
לפסוע
The Hebrew word for the Passover holiday is פֶּסַח (PEH-sakh); the word itself means passing over or skipping over, so that G-d skips over the homes of the Israelites on His way to smite the Egyptian firstborn. The Pascal sacrifice is named after this event, this movement by G-d.
Hebrew verbs most typically have a three-letter root, carrying a core meaning. But often, this three-letter root has two letters that represent an even more basic meaning.
Such is the case with the root פ.ס.ח (p.s.h). The first two letters, פ and ס, together represent the even-more-basic meaning of forward movement. Another three-letter root with the same basic two-letter root is פ.ס.ע (p.s.a), such as in the words לִפְסוֹע (leef-SOH-ah) – to pace/step, and פְּסִיעָה (pe-see-AH) – a pace/step.
The word is used in high Hebrew, such as in poetry and sometimes in the news.
Listen to this woman reading the title of her poem, “פסיעה”. Repeat the word… and listen on to see what other words you can catch. (can’t see the video?)
Happy Passover to all!
Ami
Jerusalem > Beit Alpha
