Bar?

Q: What do the words, bar/bat/bas/ben literally mean?

A: Bat and bas are different pronunciations of the same Hebrew word.  They mean “daughter.”  Bar means “son.”  The word bar is synonymous with the modern Hebrew equivalent “ben.” 

Some familiar terms that employ these words are:

Bar Mitzvah- son of a commandment (mitzvah)

Bar daat- knowledgable man

Ben Torah- student of Torah

Ben brit – a child of the covenant (B’nai Brith is the plural form)

Bat/bas mitzvah- Daughter of commandment

Yahrzeit

Q: What are the origins of the yahrzeit?

A: As is contained in the word itself, “yahr” means year and “zeit” means time.  Yahrzeit therefore literally means “time of year.”  More specifically, it indicates the anniversary of the death of one’s parents or immediate relatives.

One theory is that word yahrzeit began to be used around 1400 in Germany.   However the practice to remembering the dead is much older.  For example, for almost 2,000 years Jews have been observing Lag B’Omer as the yahrzeit of a famous rabbi, Shimon Bar Yohai, who died on that date. 

Today we recall our dead by lighting a 24 hour candle, called a yahrzeit lamp, saying Kaddish on the appointed date in synagogue and having the privilege of an aliyah at services to commemorate their life.

Covering Challah

Q: Why do we cover Challot on Friday evening, Shabbat, prior to saying the blessing over it, HaMotsie?

A:  At home and at the synagogue we cover the Shabbat woven bread, Challot, with a dedicated cloth.  Many times it is embroidered or decorated.  And, by the way, the same tradition of covering the matzot for Pesach applies.  In fact, the challah is covered for all the festivals before saying HaMotsie.

There are three reasons for covering the challah.

1.     Shabbat is considered to be a bride in our culture.  Before her wedding,  the bride is covered, veiled, to conceal her beauty and only later on is she revealed.  Similarly, the challot are covered before the beracha and only uncovered at the last moment.

2.     Challah is representative of the bounty of the earth.  Its past originates with the manna that fell from heaven each day as the Israelites made their trek through the wilderness.  As they woke in the morning the Israelites would fine the manna outside their tents covered in a layer of dew.  In the same way, we cover the challot imitating what our ancestors found.

3.     As we precede the blessing of the challah with the blessing for the wine we attempt to not play “favorites.”  The challah is covered to spare it affront as the wine is blessed before it.

Three Steps

Q: Why is the short phrase the precedes the Amida is small print?

A:  The short answer to that it is in small print because it is supposed to be said quietly, to oneself.

Notice that unlike most prayers in the siddur, this one is in the singular, “open my lips….my mouth…”.  In general our prayers are crafted for communal worship (think how often the prayers read, ‘our God’, ‘our fathers’, ‘our prayers’…”

So why does this personal prayer act as a prelude to the Amida?  We always stand for the Amida (in fact, the word Amida means “standing”).  Traditionally, Jews will face the Ark (or east if they are not in a synagogue) and take a few tentative steps toward it.

In days gone by it was the custom that when one appeared before a king one would take three hesitant steps towards him, bow and then state why he had come.  In the same way, as we depict God as a King of Kings, we approach God by taking three steps forward to address Him.

Why then does this line consist of six words?

Think of a synagogue.  There are lots of people, benches, rows, pews and books.  You stand for the Amida.  Can you move forward three steps?  No, there is not enough room.  So with the first three words you step backward and then move forward with the next three, symbolically entering into the Presence of the King.

A Vacation Blessing

Q: What is the proper blessing for a summer vacation?

A: Heavenly Father, look down up me, your humble and obedient tourist servant who is determined to travel Your earth, taking photographs, sending text messages, skyping and helping the local economy by buying souvenirs.  We ask You that our plane take off on time, suffer no mishaps and land when and where our ticket says.  May our luggage not be lost, weigh too much or arrive damaged.

Give us this day Divine guidance in our selection of destination and hotels.  We pray that our sim card works and that we can connect with our loved ones while away.  Lead us to inexpensive restaurants where the food is good, wine is included in the price of the meal and may we eat no trafe foods.  Give us the wisdom to tip correctly in currency that we do not understand.

May the natives appreciate us for who we are and not for what we can contribute to their pockets.

Grant us the strength to visit museums, places of historic interest and palaces.  And if we skip an ancient monument to take a nap after lunch have mercy, for our flesh is weak.

Protect our spouse from bargains they do not need or cannot afford.  Lead them not into temptation for they know not what they do.  Keep our men from looking at foreign women and comparing them to us.  Save them from making fools of themselves in nightclubs.

And when our holiday is over grant us the favor of patient friends who will actually want to hear our stories and look at our pictures so that our lives as tourists will not be in vain. Amen