By Mordecai Goldstein, , Everett
I read what Rivy Poupko Kletenik wrote about how “our tradition urges us to innovate in prayer and create a blessing unique to our own experiences” (What’s Your JQ?, Jan. 29). I suppose doing so is a good way to “sing unto the Lord a new song.” I wondered what I might add to our lexicon.
For years I thought about the unique qualities of Hebrew. I read somewhere that perhaps the most important achievement of the state of Israel was the revival of Hebrew. I’ve heard of linguists who argue that ancient Hebrew (proto-Semitic) was the original human language from which all other languages descended.
I know it seems a bit of a stretch, but how else can one explain words from seemingly unrelated languages sounding so similar to Hebrew? For instance, one has to wonder why the Polynesian word “kahuna” sounds like the Hebrew “cohen” (“witch doctor” and “high priest” respectively). The consonants are the same. Likewise, the word “taboo” seems to correspond to the Hebrew “toeba,” with a very similar meaning. How does one explain the similarity between the German word for love, “leib” and the Hebrew word for heart, “lev?” Could pre-Babel Hebrew really be the semantic land bridge?
One linguistics puzzle is particularly daunting: If the connection between the human ear and our sense of balance is a “modern” medical discovery, why does ancient Hebrew have the same root for both words? The words are “ozen” for ear and “izun” for balance. Is there a Hebrew scholar out there who can help me figure out whether one or both of these words are biblical in origin or just modern Hebrew?
By the way, my personal innovation in prayer expresses my gratitude for understanding afforded by the miracle of language (and good grammar), and in particular, I am grateful that I know Hebrew.