Hasta la vista! A Spanish term for goodbye, literally translated as "until the next sighting."
Savoir faire. A French term meaning capacity for appropriate action, especially polished in social behavior.
Hebrew languages
Biblical Hebrew — The language of most of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible); known also from a few inscriptions.
Mishnaic Hebrew — The language of the Mishnah, a collection of oral traditions that was compiled around the year 200, and similar writings. Shows considerable influence of Aramaic and Greek.
Modern Hebrew — The language of contemporary Israel, revived in the late 19th century. Eliezer Ben Yehuda was the moving force behind the revival of Hebrew as an everyday spoken language. He contributed words such as “ice cream,” “railroad train,” and “cauliflower.”
Aramaic — A Semitic language, related to Hebrew and Arabic, existing in a variety of forms, both ancient and modern. Parts of the books of Daniel and Ezra are written in Aramaic. Around the time of Jesus, Aramaic was replacing Hebrew as the everyday language of the Land of Israel.
Yiddish — A Germanic language which reached the peak of its development in pre-World War II Eastern Europe. It incorporates considerable elements of Hebrew and Slavic. Most American Jews are descendants of Yiddish-speakers. Many Yiddish words have been incorporated into English, including bagel, chutzpah and klutz.
Source: Rabbi Jacob Adler, University of Arkansas, Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas
Introduction to Jewish Languages
When: 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday
Where: University of Arkansas
Course designations: JWST 3103-001 (11335), WLLC 398V-004 (11992),
WLLC 575V-003 (11991)
Information: fulbright.uark.edu/…, 575-2951
"Most educated Americans know what those mean," said Jacob Adler, a professor of philosophy at the University of Arkansas and rabbi of Temple Shalom of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville. "Those who speak English also know a good number of words and sayings in Latin, French and Spanish -- or at least they know how to look it up."
But what about the Hebrew saying le-fum-tsa 'ara' arga?
"I want the same for Hebrew: If someone runs across a word, they will know how to find out what it means," Adler said.
It means "according to the effort is the reward," he added.
Adler works toward this goal in a class he teaches this fall at the university: Introduction to Jewish Languages, offered through the school's Jewish studies program.
Students will learn the basics of five languages -- Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew, Modern Hebrew, Aramaic and Yiddish, some of which are very similar, Adler promised.
"One also learns how much these things resonate even in everyday life, how much Yiddish there is that has become part of everyday English, or how Hebrew informs our social mores and ideas about society," said Jennifer Hoyer, an associate professor of world languages, literature and culture and director of Jewish studies at the university.
For example, calling someone who speaks Yiddish a schmuck "can get you punched in the nose," Adler said.
"Much Jewish comedy -- including aspects of the popular 'Seinfeld' -- has at least some roots in Yiddish literature and culture," added Marianne Tettlebaum, director of the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, which provided grant money for this class and the UA Jewish studies program.
"We learned a lot of different things," said Hameed Naseem of Adler's class. Naseem is a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community USA, a professor of electrical engineering at the university and a former student of Adler's Jewish studies classes.
"For example, he taught us how to find Hebrew books using Internet resources," Naseem continued. "He also taught us how to exactly reference biblical passages. He taught us to use Hebrew counting and numbering. We learned Aramaic and some Yiddish as well. Jacob is a great teacher. He uses songs and tells stories for us to know more than just the ability to learn to read and comprehend or even to retain what we were learning for a longer period.
"And I don't remember having to write long papers or project reports that I had to do long ago when I took another course."
"The academic goal of the course is to enable students to read Jewish studies texts without stumbling over the Hebrew, Aramaic or Yiddish words they're likely to encounter," Adler continued. "Many such texts contain embedded Jewish words in the Hebrew alphabet."
Adler did note that a student cannot become fluent in any language studying for just this short amount of time. "But you'll learn enough to get you over the hump, so you can learn it on your own.
"The people in the class will not be able to sit down and read the Bible in Hebrew, but if a certain word is the focus of attention in a passage, they can find the meaning of the word. Or at the very least, they can call me up and ask," he said.
Adler saw the need for the course as he was reading an article about the annual convention of Conservative rabbis. "Hebrew words were sprinkled throughout the article, and I realized my students (in other Jewish studies courses) wouldn't understand it if I used it in class."
Adler also noted that familiarity of the languages can enhance meaning of the stories in the Bible.
And English Bible passage often includes a footnote with an alternate Jewish meaning of a word, he said. For example, afikim in the Psalms.
"Translated to English it means 'water course,'" Adler explained. "But actually, it's a dry stream bed that fills again during the rainy season. So it's a place that looks dead but comes alive again with flowers and vegetation. It makes the Psalm more meaningful.
"The King James Version translators did a great job in their time and with their resources," he continued. "But they didn't know about dessert geography, so they tried their best."
Over the years, general usage and scholarly study have changed the Hebrew languages, but some of these are advances in knowledge.
"Someone not articulate in the ancient Bible language would think David slew Goliath two times -- once with a stone and once with a sword," Adler said. "Actually it says he dealt him a fatal blow with a stone, and then finished him off with a sword.
"And that language was rediscovered in the 19th century."
Adler pointed out how today's English, compared to Old English and even Middle English, seem to be different languages. "Have you ever read Chaucer?" he asked, quoting a passage. "Well, Biblical Hebrew has changed much less."
"For better or worse, Jewish studies courses are important because Jews and Judaism play large part in the current history of the world and of the world forever," Adler said. "Israel gets 20 times its weight in news coverage for a nation its size. You must understand the history and culture to understand Israel and other countries in the area."
"An understanding of Judaism is crucial to an understanding of world religions -- as Judaism is the precursor to Christianity, and Islam and is one of the three major Abrahamic religions," Tettlebaum echoed. "An understanding of Jewish cultural is crucial to understanding the Jewish religion and people today, as well as their influence on and role in modern history and civilization."
"These courses that Jacob has taught over the years help bring people of Judeo-Christo-Muslim tradition closer, in my view," Naseem said. "After all, this is our common heritage. We have learned and passed on, over the hundreds of generations, beliefs, habits and lifestyles. We are siblings from the same mother who taught us the same things, but we adapted them according to our personal traits."
Laurinda Joenks can be reached by email at ljoenks@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWALaurinda.
NAN Religion on 07/30/2016