Parashat Kedoshim: A Moment of Hebrew
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ShareWhat is the shoresh of the Hebrew word לְהַקִּיף and what other Hebrew words share that shoresh?
Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
רֶגַע שֶׁל עִבְרִית A Moment of Hebrew
(כז) לֹ֣א תַקִּ֔פוּ פְּאַ֖ת רֹאשְׁכֶ֑ם וְלֹ֣א תַשְׁחִ֔ית אֵ֖ת פְּאַ֥ת זְקָנֶֽךָ׃
You shall not round off the side-growth on your head, or destroy the side-growth of your beard.
לְהַקִּיף lehakif (שֹׁרֶשׁ נ.ק.פ)
To go around
הֶקֵּף (hekeif) = Circumference or perimeter
הַקָּפוֹת = Hakafot; dancing in circles with Torah scrolls on Simhat Torah
לִקְנוֹת בְּהַקָּפָה (liknot be-hakafah) = To buy on credit and pay later
מַקָּף (makaf) = A hyphen
Find the Word!
This is the only place in the Torah where this שֹׁרֶשׁ (shoresh, root) appears! But it’s elsewhere in Tanakh. Look at Sefer Yehoshua (chapter 6), when Benei Yisrael are told to march in circles around the city of Yeriho for seven days. Can you find this shoresh in the story? How do the circles work out for Benei Yisrael and Yeriho?
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