Parashat Vayeitzei: A Moment of Hebrew
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ShareLearn about the shoresh ב.כ.ר in this week's parashah.
Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
רֶגַע שֶׁל עִבְרִית A Moment of Hebrew
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָבָ֔ן לֹא־יֵעָשֶׂ֥ה כֵ֖ן בִּמְקוֹמֵ֑נוּ לָתֵ֥ת הַצְּעִירָ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י הַבְּכִירָֽה׃
Lavan said, “It is not the practice in our place to marry off the younger before the older.”
בְּכוֹר/בְּכוֹרָה bekhor/bekhorah (שֹׁרֶשׁ ב.כ.ר)
- Firstborn
לְבַכֵּר (levaker) = To favor or give preference to
בִּכּוּרִים = Bikkurim: first fruits grown in Eretz Yisrael that would be brought to the Beit Ha-Mikdash
בָּכִיר (bakhir) = A senior position
הַצָּגַת בְּכוֹרָה (hatzagat bekhorah) = Premiere, the first showing of a performance or a film
Find the Word!
Check out Devarim 21:15-17. Can you see how this שֹׁרֶשׁ (shoresh, root) is used in two different ways in these pesukim? What does the Torah’s ruling tell us about the status of the firstborn?
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