Hebrewspeak: An Insider's Guide to the Way Jews Think (review)

136 SHOFAR Summer 1997 Vol. 15, No.4 Hebrewspeak: An Insider's Guide to the Way Jews Think, by Joseph Lowin. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, 1995. 213 pp. $29.95. Words are not a mere code of interchangeable signs and symbols. Words also have a history and reflect thoughts, feelings, and philosophy. In his book, Lowin maintains that "A language is a mirror ofa people's culture. Look into the language, and you will see reflected therein the image a people has of itself and that it projects to the world." He endorses the view that the study ofHebrew not only opens up a pathway to understanding words, it teaches one to understand the history and values of the Jewish people. Lowin, who is director of Cultural Services at the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, has for more than ten years written a column, "About Hebrew," for Hadassah magazine. The core of the book comes from the Hadassah columns revised and updated. This book does not attempt to serve as a beginner's manual of the Hebrew language. For persons who are versed in Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew, this book provides an interesting journey into the development of words and expressions into modem Hebrew. For persons who are fluent in modem Hebrew, the book offers an opportunity to dig into some of the wealth of historic sources of contemporary words and expressions. It thus supplies one with deeper comprehension of thoughts and concepts of the ancient Jewish people. Hebrewspeak will also be of interest to those who have only a passing knowledge of selected Hebrew words and expressions. Those persons will also have occasion to enrich their understanding of the language and the cultural development of the people. To assist persons who cannot read Hebrew, the, words are transliterated. The book consists of 97 entries of three-letter roots, each of which is a starting point for discussion of words and expressions that stem from that root. The author examines the meaning and background ofthe words and expressions and illustrates their usage with anecdotes and samples from contemporary Israeli life. For example, he takes the root, mem, nun, heh, which he traces to the biblical promise that the people of Israel shall be so numerous that no person shall be able to count (limnot) them. Some of the examples he shows ofthe usage of the root are in the word minyan, the quorum often required for communal prayer; in the Purim mitzvah of mishloah manot, sending of edible gifts; and in Israeli restaurant designation of parts of a meal, such as manah rishonah, ftrst course, manah ikarit, main course, and manah aharonah, dessert. The root also turns up in the expression mi yimneh in the Hanukkah song and in the word for corporate shares, menayot. He further suggests that should an Israeli cab driver neglect to tum on the meter, the passenger's proper reminder is "Sim et hamoneh," (Tum on the meter), since you are in a monit, taxicab. The book contains as well Addenda in which Lowin offers brief treatment of abbreviated expressions that he refers to as "time-savers," such as dash (derishat Book Reviews 137 shalom, best regards), and some basic Arabic and Yiddish terms current in modem Israeli usage. All in all, reading the book is a pleasurable learning experience. Snira L. Klein University of Judaism Covenant of Blood: Circumcision and Gender in Rabbinic Judaism, by Lawrence A. Hoffman. Chicago Studies in the History ofJudaism. Chicago: University ofChicago Press, 1996. 256 pp. $16.95. Lawrence Hoffman is professor of liturgy at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. To many American Jews at the present time, as he makes clear (including himself among them), circumcision has become problematic. While they feel, often strongly, an obligation to practice it, their consciences do not rest easy. Is circumcision meaningful today? Is it cruel? Is it sexist? Is it necessary to the survival of Judaism, the Covenant, and the ultimate redemption of all? Can it be revised with integrity? Should it be scrapped? Over the last twenty years, Hoffman has authored or edited some eleven books. If we consider the evolving character of these, we...