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Seize the Word

JL;DR SUMMARY Joseph Lowin explores the versatility of the Hebrew root (ḥet-tet-pe), meaning "to snatch", which appears in various contexts from ancient scriptures to modern slang. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

TalmudHistoryHebrewHebrew RootsHostagesCultureLanguageScriptureSnatching

Places mentioned

Shiloh, Central District, Israel
"The Book of Judges 21:21 uses our root to tell the story of brutal warriors who are told to go out among the daughters of Shiloh (va-hataftem lahem ish ishto), Let each of you seize a wife."
Nahal Oz, Southern District, Israel
"In Tibons case, he rescued his granddaughters, son and daughter-in-law, who were in their Kibbutz Nahal Oz safe room, hiding from Hamas terrorists."
Russian Federation
"European history applies the root to (hatfanim), kidnappers, who, under Russian Czar Nicholas I, would seize Jewish boys to serve in his army."
Germany
"A slang phrase from the 1930s, (hatof ve-ekhol), literally, snatch and eat, refers to the plight of German Jewish professors in exile who, unable to find academic positions in Israel, were reduced to selling hot dogs from a cart."

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Cairo Item ID 42283
Cairo Source ID 44
Retrieved 2025-01-22 05:30:36 UTC
Curated 2025-01-22 08:31:41 UTC