[Mesorah] Mishtaleiach

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

Google is your friend. I entered this:

   hitpael "not reflexive"

and got several relevant hits. Varying the exact search will yield even more useful examples. Many of those hits suggest that hispael can lean more towards the generally passive than to the specifically reflexive.

The "mishtaleiach" of our OP is yet another example of this. Rav Teitz's "mistabeir" and "mitkabeil" fit very well too; these are not actions that anything does to itself, they just sort of happen automatically.

Hmmm... In the previous sentence, I was going to write "they just sort of heppen by themselves." When something happens *automatically*, it can also be said to have happened *by itself*. And that is the connection to reflexivity of the hitpael. Hitpael is not merely when the action is done TO oneself, but even when done BY oneself.

Let's consider what might be the number one most ubiquitous use of the hitpael: "Yisgadal v'yiskadash shmeh rabba." His Reputation does not make itself great. But we pray that through other means, His Reputation will *automatically* be enhanced.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Banking
Click here to find the perfect banking opportunity!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/c?cp=w1-cLjfjyJPb_3Rj_hRSqAAAJz2dk2Kvx4pLHAunB5pNqiNdAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAXeAAAAAA=