[Avodah] dvar tora

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 01:08:31AM +0200, Michael Makovi wrote:
:              And we know that Shifra and Puah are Semitic names, so Rabbi
: Telushkin suggests they are non-Jewish Semites, in a position similar to the
: Jews in Egypt.

We do know they're semitic names? How? Even according to Chazal, who
make them job titles based on Hebrew etymologies, needn't imply the
name is semitic. Moshe's name is blatantly Egyptian. The Muse (son of)
root appears in many Eyptian names praising their gods: Thoth inspired a
number of Phraoahs named Tutmose. And yet Bisyah named Moshe because of
what seems to be a semitic play on the name "min hamayim meshisihu". Kind
of neat: Bisyah called him "son" because she was the one who took him /
had her maid take him out of the water. But back to the point...

Shifra and Pu'ah have consonants that would give them an Egyptian sound.
Perhaps it's like the frequency with which Korean Americans name their
girls "Kim" -- the name happens to be present in both cultures.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is a glorious thing to be indifferent to
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