When ideas fail, words come in very handy (Goethe)

Purim (Hebrew: פורים Pûrîm ) is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s (who was a high-ranking political advisor or minister to King Ahasuerus of Persia) plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther (in Hebrew: Megillat Esther). According to the story, Haman cast lots to determine the day upon which to exterminate the Jews. The word for lots in Hebrew is “pur”, hence the name purim (which is the plural form of pur).

Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day following the victory of the Jews over their enemies. In cities that were protected by a surrounding wall at biblical era, including Shushan (Susa) and Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, known as Shushan Purim. This year Purim takes place on March 21st. (and in Jerusalem: on March 22nd.).

Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal; other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.As mentioned above, a festive meal called Seudat Purim is held, often with wine as the prominent beverage; consequently, drunkenness is not uncommon at this meal.

The jovial character of this feast is illustrated in the saying of the Talmud (Megilla 7b) stating that one should drink on Purim until he can no longer distinguish between the phrases, arur Haman (”Cursed is Haman”) and baruch Mordechai (”Blessed is Mordecai”).

In Hebrew these phrases have the same gematria (”numerical value”), and some rabbinical authorities have ruled that one should drink wine until he is unable to calculate these numerical values.

It’s interesting to note, that Madonna (yes, Madonna), who has become a follower of Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah) in recent years, has chosen to take the Hebrew name Esther. Esther plays one of the leading roles in story told in the Book of Esther and she was both smart and beautiful (and wife of the Persian king!).

It is our pleasure to announce that yesterday a new coin was introduced into circulation in Israel, the 2 NIS coin. Unbelievable as it may sound and although this new coin is only one day old, we already have a new blend word for it: “Shnekel“. This is a result of blending the two Hebrew words: “Shney” + “Shekel” (= 2 shekels). You will have to agree that “Shnekel” is shorter, more creative and much more fun….. Welcome, Shnekel, to the Israeli monetary system!

What can be more exciting than turning WORDS into traffic? Check this link for more information:

http://hop.clickbank.net/?idiom/ezarticles

Did you know? That:

Hebrew is written from right to left.

The original Hebrew script developed alongside others in the region during the course of the late second and first millennia BCE; it is closely related to the Phoenician script, which itself probably gave rise to the use of alphabetic writing in Greece (Greek). It is sometimes claimed that around the 10th century BCE, a distinct Hebrew variant, the original “Hebrew script” (”Ktav Ivri”), emerged, which was widely used in the ancient kingdoms of Israel and until they fell in the 8th. and 6th. centuries BCE (taken from: Wikipedia).

There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, amongst which 5 are written differently when they appear at the end of a word (then called “final letters”).

The Hebrew alphabet has no vowels (!!!). When learning Hebrew, in order to acquire the right pronunciation, one is introduced to a system of dots and dashes called nikkud (points). Most of these points (nikkud) indicate vowels. 

Most texts in Hebrew are not written with vowels, as when you know the language vowels are not needed in order to read a text. When a certain text does include nikkud it is called “pointed text” (e.g. children’s books).

Each letter in the Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value. Final letters have the same value as their non-final counterparts. The numerical value of a word is determined by adding up the values of each letter.

Gematria is an entire discipline of Jewish mysticism that is devoted to finding hidden meanings in the numerical values of words. For example, the numerical value of the word “Chai”, meaning life, is 18. This is very significant; therefore you should bear in mind that if you wish to donate to Jewish charities it is common that the donation is made in denominations of 18. (i.e. 18, 36, 180)…

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