[Avodah] Leshon haKodesh

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Aug 04, 2010 at 11:00:42PM +0300, Amitai Halevi wrote:
> Where does Rambam say this? I wonder how he gets around Megillah 25b,
> where it is explicitly stated that "qri" renders objectionable terms in
> "ktiv" acceptable for reading in public.

The Rambam says this in the Moreh 3:8. Friedlander's translation (copied from
<http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/gfp/gfp144.htm>):
    I have also a reason and cause for calling our language the holy
    language -- do not think it is exaggeration or error on my part,
    it is perfectly correct -- the Hebrew language has no special name
    for the organ of generation in females or in males, nor for the
    act of generation itself, nor for semen, nor for secretion. The
    Hebrew has no original expressions for these things, and only
    describes them in figurative language and by way of hints, as if
    to indicate thereby that these things should not be mentioned, and
    should therefore have no names; we ought to be silent about them, and
    when we are compelled to mention them, we must manage to employ for
    that purpose some suitable expressions, although these are generally
    used in a different sense. Thus the organ of generation in males is
    called in Hebrew gid, which is a figurative term, reminding of the
    words, "And thy neck is an iron sinew" (gid) (Isa. xlviii. 4). It
    is also called shupka, "pouring out" (Deut. xxiii. 2), on account
    of its function. The female organ is called kobah (Num. xxv. 8),
    from kobah (Deut. xviii. 3), which denotes "stomach"; rechem,
    "womb," is the inner organ in which the fetus develops; tzoah
    (Isa. xxviii. 8), "refuse," is derived from the verb yatza, "he went
    out"; for "urine" the phrase meme raglayim, "the water of the feet"
    (2 Kings. xviii. 17), is used; semen is expressed by shikbat zera',
    "a layer of seed." For the act of generation there is no expression
    whatever in Hebrew: it is described by the following words only:
    ba'al, "he was master"; shakab, "he lay"; laqah, "he took"; gillah
    'ervah, "he uncovered the nakedness." Be not misled by the word
    yishgalennah (Deut. xxviii. 30), to take it as denoting that
    act: this is not the case, for shegal denotes a female ready for
    cohabitation. Comp. "Upon thy right hand did stand the maiden"
    (shegal) "in gold of Ophir" (Ps. xlv. 10). Yishgalennah, according
    to the Kethib, denotes therefore "he will take the female for the
    purpose of cohabitation."

And although M focuses on the lack of sexually explicit terms, his
examples do include urination and defacation. As well as the example
RZS gave, with a slightly different resolution.

Since the Rambam doesn't discuss the gemara in Megillah, I don't have
much of an answer. *Perhaps*, like yishgalennah, the kesiv is overly
descriptive in meaning, even though it's not the direct translation on
a word-by-word basis.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

PS: Sorry for inadvertantly whitening your levitical status. (The only
Halivni I know of is a Hebraization of "Weiss", nothing to do with
bricklaying.)

-- 
Micha Berger             With the "Echad" of the Shema, the Jew crowns
micha at aishdas.org        G-d as King of the entire cosmos and all four
http://www.aishdas.org   corners of the world, but sometimes he forgets
Fax: (270) 514-1507      to include himself.     - Rav Yisrael Salanter