[Mesorah] Chana question

Mon Sep 25 14:07:24 PDT 2006

As an answer to Michael Hamm's question to Chana:

The pasuk is to be read: 
Vatakam Chana, achare ochla [with no mapik!] v'Shilo v'achare shaso,...

The translation offered by Rashi (and by the Radak) is: "Chana rose, after
eating in Shilo and after drinking,...".

But the Targum Yonasan ben Uziel translates it as follows: " Chana rose,
after she ate in Shilo and after she drank...).

I doubt if the Targum really meant to negate Rashi's pshat. Maybe it is just
a way of not translating it literally. According to the Targum "eating" and
"drinking" are both activities referred to Chana herself.

But indeed there are meforashim who would translate it: "Chana rose, after
she ate in Shilo and after drinking,...". I am referring to Tosafot Ketubot
65a (D"H shaso), explaining the gemara's diyuk: shaso v'lo shasas.

The Radak criticizes this way of being medayek the lashon hapasuk. A lengthy
disussion to this subject is to be found in Minchat Shay on our pasuk.

In fact the word "OCHLA" happens to be quite famous, as one of the main
sefarim ever written to the MESORAH is called "Ochla v'ochla". 

"Ochla v'ochla" refers to our pasuk (achare "ochla") as well to the pasuk
(Bereshit 27,19): kum na' shvah "v'ochla" mizedi.

The name of the Sefer is due to the alphabetical order of the word "ochla"
(starting with Aleph). It was quite common at the time to call sefarim by
the first few words of their text. 

In this very old sefer (Rabbi Yonah ben Ganach, who lived about the same
time as Rashi, quotes from it) "Ochla v'ochla" indicates the first of a
series of words appearing in Tanach twice with the same nikud.

Gmar Chatima Tovah to all the Chaverim of Mesorah and to Klal Yisroel!

Berysz Rosenberg

-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
Von: Michael Hamm [mailto:msh210 at math.wustl.edu] 
Gesendet: Montag, 25. September 2006 19:41
An: mesorah at aishdas.org
Betreff: [Mesorah] Chana question

Hi, all; g'mar chasima tova.

When I was reading the haftara on the first day of RH (to myself, not for
the tzibur), there was a word I didn't know how to pronounce.  1Sh'muel
1:9 says:
     Vatakom Chana, achare ochla v'Shilo v'achare shaso,...
     (Chana rose, after eating in Shilo and after drinking,...)
or perhaps:
     Vatakom Chana, achare ach'la v'Shilo v'achare shaso,...
     (Chana rose, after she ate in Shilo and after drinking,...).

The first way has the two verbs -- ochla and shaso -- balanced: they're
then the same part of speech.  on the other hand, that's not proof that
that's the correct way of proouncing it.  Does anyone know (and how do you
know) which is right?

Thanks,

Michael Hamm
AM, Math, Wash. U. St. Louis
msh210 at math.wustl.edu                Fine print:
http://www.math.wustl.edu/~msh210/ ... legal.html

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