Wednesday, September 05, 2007

The Origin of the Yiddish Word for a Shabbos Siddur: Rummel

My father, z”l, used to call a siddur that only had Shabbos and Yom Tov tefillos, a rummel. I always wondered about the etymology of this word and its primary meaning.

The word is actually an abbreviation with the letters, resh, vav, mem, lamed. In Yiddish the letters stand for: Rabbinish Un Masorishe Literatur viz. Rabbinic And Masoretic (traditional) Literature.

A recent book about Jewish book dealers in 19th century Europe has catalogs from that period with Hebrew sections entitled: Sifrei RUM”L. In Hebrew the same abbreviation in that context stands for Sifrei Rabbonim U’MeLumadim, books for Rabbis And Scholars. (Be’Ha’nu’to Shel Mokher Sefarim, At the Bookseller’s Shop, by Hagit Cohen, Hebrew University Press, 2006, p. 31, n. 27)

Open issue: How did the word rummel get limited to a Shabbos siddur?

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

A Horse Named After the Rambam? What’s Next?

The New York Times reports:
SPORTS / OTHER SPORTS September 3, 2007
Colt Serves as a Reminder of a Philosopher's Reach
By JOE DRAPE
Ahmed Zayat and Earle Mack hope that naming a racehorse after the famous Jewish philosopher Maimonides will spread a message of peace.

See link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/03/sports/othersports/03maimonides.html?ex=1189569600&en=e74cb38296019a3e&ei=5070

The Roles of Hashem and Man: A Child’s Point of View

My son was driving with my 3 and a half year old grandson in the car. They passed some tall buildings as they were riding along.

The conversation went something like this:

Grandson: Abba, did Hashem make the buildings?
Son: No, Hashem made Man and Man made the buildings.

A few days later, they were building with blocks, and my grandson says: Abba, I’ll be Hashem and you can be Man.