why Hebrew is called Ivrit
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As the Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews (Hebrews) around the world depicts the character of אברהם – Abraham (ahv-rah-HAHM) most prominently, and since this patriarch is referred to in the Torah as אברם העברי (ahv-RAHM hah-eev-REE), now is a good time to hash out the origin of the word for Hebrew – עִבְרִית.
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| hah-sah-FAH hah-eev-REET The Hebrew language |
The Hebrew word for the Hebrew language, עברית, is certainly named after the ethnicity of אברהם. But scholars differ as to the origin of that ethnicity’s name itself.
One popular explanation is that אברהם crossed a river to get to the Promised Land.
But the explanation more likely to be historically-accurate is that אברהם came from the family of עֵבֶר (EH-vehr), a descendant of נֹח – Noah (NOH-ahkh) – whose name appears more prominently than the others in the list of נח‘s progeny. Likewise, the rabbis of the Midrash celebrate עֵבֶר (EH-vehr) as one of נח‘s two descendants before אברהם who remained faithful to G-d. The other descendant is נח‘s son שֵׁם (shem), the father of the Semites.
Today עִבְרִי (eev-REE), Hebrew used as an adjective, refers to people belonging to אברהם the patriarch’s ethnicity.
Some examples:
בֵּית הַנֹּעַר הָעִבְרִי
The Hebrew Youth House (Center)
| אַבְרָהָם טָל
Avraham Tal
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עבודה עברית
Hebrew (Jewish) labor
אַבְרָהָם טָל הוּא זַמָּר יִשְׂרָאֵלִי הַמַּלְחִין שִׁירִים עִבְרִיִּם.
And off the topic of the language…
Shabbat Shalom, and a pleasant weekend to all!
Make this dose of Hebrew yours by using it in a sentence… or a Q&A of your own. You can write your sentence on the wall of our Facebook page, and we’ll correct it for you if it’s got errors.
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