how to say “champion” in Hebrew
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אַלּוּף
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| this week’s video |
The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world introduces the Biblical term for a chief or the head of a tribe: אַלּוּף.
Today this word refers to modern-day chiefs in the military and sports realms, meaning general and champion for example:
דַּרְגַּת “רַב-אַלּוּף” הִיא הַגְּבֹהָה בְּיוֹתֵר בְּצה”ל.
The rank of “major general” is the highest in the IDF.
מַיקֶל פֶלְפְּס הוּא אַלּוּף הָעוֹלָם בִּשְׂחִיָּה.
Michael Phelps is the world champion in swimming.
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| from the Wikipedia article on the letter aleph |
You may have noticed that the root of אלוף is א.ל.פ (a.l.ph), the same as the first letter of the Hebrew language as well as related to the English term, alpha-bet. That’s because the word אָלֶף (aleph) also means ox in very ancient Hebrew… and the ox was the chief among the all-important livestock in the ancient world.
The word for championship is אַלִּיפוּת
.שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים לְכֻלָּם!
Shabbat Shalom, and a pleasant weekend to all!
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