{"id":61948,"date":"2019-05-15T08:57:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-15T13:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=61948"},"modified":"2019-05-15T13:55:07","modified_gmt":"2019-05-15T18:55:07","slug":"book-review-roots-rituals-by-mitchell-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/book-review-roots-rituals-by-mitchell-first\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Roots & Rituals by Mitchell First"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Roots & Rituals: Insights into Hebrew, Holidays and History<\/strong>
\nMitchell First
\nKodesh Press<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t speak for you but this book was 100% up my alley, focusing as it does on linguistics\/etymology and history\/archaeology, each of which is a subject of interest to me. If any of these \u2013 especially the language aspect \u2013 is of interest to you, then don\u2019t even bother reading the rest of this review. Rather, just open a new browser tab and order yourself the book<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Still here? Fine. Let me tell you something about it, then.<\/p>\n

Mitchell First is a personal-injury attorney and Jewish history scholar with a long-running column in the Jewish Link of New Jersey<\/em>, which is where the articles collected in this book first appeared. Each topic he writes about is like a mini-mystery, with First playing the role of Sherlock Holmes. At first, each case is unsolvable but once First has assembled the clues and vetted the suspects, the solution has been staring us in the face all along. (Okay, when dealing with matters of history and linguistic origin, the answers are not always conclusive but First always provides compelling evidence. Certainly enough for an indictment if not necessarily a conviction.)<\/p>\n

First addresses numerous topics about which people may have wondered, such as the origin and intention of the bracha shelo asani isha<\/em> (that God did not make me a woman) or the centuries-long lifespans of the people in the book of Genesis. Even more interesting, perhaps, is First\u2019s insight into topics that perhaps we should have wondered about but didn\u2019t. Consider the following example:<\/p>\n

In school, you might have been taught that Maccabee means a hammer, suggesting that Judah Maccabee struck like a hammer. Indeed, the word makevet<\/em> means a battle hammer in Hebrew, so this is a pretty solid idea. You might also have learned that Maccabee is an acronym for the phrase Mi Kamocha B\u2019eilim Hashem<\/em> (Who among the mighty is like You, God?); this, too, is a nice idea. But now consider this: makevet<\/em> is spelled with a kuf<\/em> and kamocha<\/em> is spelled with a kaf<\/em>. So how did Judah Maccabee spell his own name? To figure that out, we must turn to the earliest written sources \u2013 which happen to be in Greek! So now we must investigate how the Greeks translitered a kaf<\/em> versus how they transliterated a kuf<\/em>!<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more it that than, and I don\u2019t want to give away any surprises. Suffice it to say that if you enjoy such intellectual twists and turns, this work is replete with them.<\/p>\n

Of course, not everyone will necessarily be interested in such phenomena as Egyptian and Akkadian words that appear in the Torah or hapax legomena<\/em> \u2013 words that only appear once in all of Tanach. But if you\u2019re on the borderline, let me sweeten the deal for you: Roots & Rituals<\/em> is no dry text. Rather, it\u2019s full of First\u2019s trademark wit.<\/p>\n

A perfect example of this can be found in First\u2019s bios. Yes, bios<\/em>, in the plural. As noted, the articles in this book first appeared as part of a newspaper column. Each column was concluded with a brief bio. Normally, a collection such as this would not reprint the author\u2019s bio after each and every article but this one does, for good reason: because each bio is tailored with a joke that ties it into the article you just read.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s not sufficient to pique your curiosity, then let me tantalize you with the fact that First establishes the connection between John Lennon and the plague of arov<\/em>. If the connection is not apparent, that may be because arov<\/em> might not be what you always assumed it was.<\/p>\n

In tracing the origins of words and practices, First does cite non-Jewish sources, such as Jerome, author of the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Bible), but traditional Jewish sources, from the Tosefta and the Targum to the Meiri and Rav Hirsch, still dominate. The only thing that might cause some readers discomfort is the recurring idea that certain letters in the Hebrew alphabet may not be as we have them today. (This is the theme of the article \u201cOriginal Shin<\/em> and Original Sin<\/em>,\u201d though there are other letters whose prehistories are crying out for similar treatment.) Those who were raised on Midrashim that describe the letters of the alef-beis<\/em> as preceding Creation should prepare themselves to recontextualize their thoughts on the matter.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re curious about the nature of Moshe\u2019s speech impediment, or if you want to know why the root of milchama<\/em> (war) is lechem<\/em> (bread), then Roots & Rituals<\/em> is the book for you. It\u2019s serious, scholarly, well-researched and meticulously sourced. But it\u2019s also engaging, witty and never, ever dull.<\/p>\n

\n

Rabbi Jack Abramowitz is Torah Content Editor at the Orthodox Union. He is the author of six books, including\u00a0The Tzniyus Book<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0The Taryag Companion<\/a>. His latest work,\u00a0The God Book<\/a>, is available from\u00a0OU Press<\/a>\u00a0as well as on\u00a0Amazon<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roots & Rituals: Insights into Hebrew, Holidays and History Mitchell First Kodesh Press I can\u2019t speak for you but this book was 100% up my alley, focusing as it does on linguistics\/etymology and history\/archaeology, each of which is a subject of interest to me. If any of these \u2013 especially the language aspect \u2013 is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":60399,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nBook Review: Roots & Rituals by Mitchell First - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/book-review-roots-rituals-by-mitchell-first\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Book Review: Roots & Rituals by Mitchell First - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roots & Rituals: Insights into Hebrew, Holidays and History Mitchell First Kodesh Press I can\u2019t speak for you but this book was 100% up my alley, focusing as it does on linguistics\/etymology and history\/archaeology, each of which is a subject of interest to me. 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