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<TITLE>RE: [Mesorah] Meaning of m'tim</TITLE>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sorry, my mistake. Mortal in Hebrew is "ben t'muta". </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">"Ben mavet" is one who deserves to die.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">While being mindful of the hazards of folk etymology, I do wonder if the closeness of the shoresh mw"t to "mort" is more than merely coincidental? </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma"><SPAN DIR=RTL>_____________________________________________ </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma"><SPAN DIR=RTL>From: </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"> <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma"><SPAN DIR=RTL>גודיק שלמה</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma"><SPAN DIR=RTL> </SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"> </SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">Sent: </FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">Monday, August 18, 2008 9:12 AM</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">To: </FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">'mesorah@aishdas.org'</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">Cc: </FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">'D&E-H Bannett'</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"><B></B></SPAN><B><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">Subject: </FONT></SPAN></B><SPAN LANG="en-us"> <FONT SIZE=1 FACE="Tahoma">FW: [Mesorah] Meaning of m'tim</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">It later occurred to me that the connection with death might simply be the same connection that exists between mortality (or "mort" in French) and mortal (as in "we mere mortals"). Cf. the expression "ben mavet" in Hebrew.</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="he"></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">-----Original Message-----</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">From: D&E-H Bannett [</FONT></SPAN><A HREF="mailto:dbnet@zahav.net.il"><SPAN LANG="en-us"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">mailto:dbnet@zahav.net.il</FONT></U></SPAN></A><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">] </FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:12 PM</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">To:</FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="he"> <FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial (Hebrew)"><SPAN DIR=RTL>גודיק שלמה</SPAN></FONT></SPAN><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>; mesorah@aishdas.org</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>Subject: Re: [Mesorah] Meaning of m'tim</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>As Rashi said, the word means people. It is obviously connected to m'tei mispar, i.e., a number of people, </SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>meaning a small number. Similarly, m'tei m'at.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>One that always interested me is in Iyov, m'tei sodi or sodo. It means, people who are in on the secret. What interested me is that the word sod also means a closed group of people. B'sodam al tavo nafshi, bik'halam al teichat kvodi. The parallel, sodam = k'halam. See also, sod m'sachakim on Yirmeyahu 15 and Radak and others there.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>The man sitting next to me in shul asked me the same question last Shabbat and, afterwards, I checked in Even Shashan who informed me that mt with various vowels means man in a few Semitic languages and also in Egyptian. No mention of connection with death.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"><SPAN DIR=RTL>David</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
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<P DIR=LTR><SPAN LANG="en-us"><FONT FACE="Arial" SIZE=2 COLOR="#000000"> <<iteam.txt>> </FONT></SPAN></P>
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