Brit-Am Research Sources
# The secret of the LORD is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His Covenant" (Psalm 25:14).
Contents:
1. Important and Very Interesting Article.
"Was Shakespeare a Believing Jew?"
by Yehezkel Laing
2. English Words from Jewish Origins in Recent Times by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller.
3. What are the advantages of the British colonisation?
by Edwyn Nicholson
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1. Important and Very Interesting Article.
"Was Shakespeare a Believing Jew?"
by Yehezkel Laing
https://aish.com/was-shakespeare-a-believing-jew/?src=ac
This article does not really indicate that Shakespeare was a believing Jew.
It does show however that he was familiar with Jewish sources and identified with them.
He may have accessed them via French or Italian versions written by people of Jewish descent and that have since been lost to us.
The Irish author James Joyce referred to Shakespeare as Jew.
The article shows that some way or other Shakespeare was strongly influenced by Jewish sources and he in turn helped create English Literature.
These type of articles help confirm that a king of Symbiosis exists between Joseph and Judah even in our times.
Extracts:
Shakespeare's plays draw upon over 2,000 references to the Bible. While Shakespeare could be expected to know the Bible, the world's most popular book, it is evident from his writing that he was familiar with its Hebrew version and with the Hebrew language in general. He also had knowledge of the Mishnah and the Talmud, including Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, a Mishnaic compilation of ethical teachings and maxims. Quotes from the Oral Torah appear throughout his works in hidden form. Some even claim that his plays contain hints of the Zohar, Judaism's chief mystical text.
Of course, gentiles reading the play would completely miss these inferences, but knowledgeable Jews would catch it.
One of the world's most celebrated authors, James Joyce, even hints at Shakespeare's Judaism in his famous book Ulysses. When John Wyse Nolan reaches for his Shakespeare book he says, 'I'll say there is much kindness in the Jew.'
These commentators claim the plays true message is achieved only by understanding that Antonio, the gentile who owes Shylock the "pound of flesh" for defaulted loan, is actually a former Jew who rejected his people for material gain. There are many hints to this in the play.... With this understanding, the play becomes a fight for Shylock to remain a Jew, while those around him (including his daughter) submit to Christianity.
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2. English Words from Jewish Origins in Recent Times.
(a) English Words with Surprising Jewish Origins
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
Extracts:
https://aish.com/english-words-with-surprising-jewish-origins/?src=ac
A fascinating list of words that you probably didn't know have Jewish linguistic origins.
Here's a fascinating list of words that many of us use every day without knowing their distant Jewish linguistic origins.
Babble likely comes from a famous story in the book of Genesis recounting how people tried to build a tower, called the Tower of Bavel (Babel in English) - that would reach the very heavens to wage war against God. God thwarted their plans and toppled the tower. Back on earth, people found that instead of speaking a common language as before, they all spoke different languages, which sounded like 'babble' to others (Genesis 11:1-8).
Brouhaha sounds a bit like the Hebrew phrase baruch haba, which means 'welcome' in Hebrew. Many linguists believe it was a dismissive word French people used to describe the sound of Jews speaking Hebrew. English speakers adopted this French word in the 1700s.
Kibbitz sounds a bit like the call of the European lapwing bird: peewit. Medieval German speakers called the bird peewit; from there, the name possibly evolved into kibbitz and moved into Yiddish, where it meant (at various times) to chatter, to visit, or to offer advice.
Shmooze has Hebrew origins. Shmu'ot means 'rumors' in Hebrew. Yiddish speakers called idle chat shmu'es; from there, the word evolved into shmuesn, meaning to chat, and entered English as shmooze, meaning to have a nice, cozy conversation.
Cherub - a sweet little innocent child in English, comes from the Hebrew word for sword, cherev. In the Torah, a Cherub (cherev) is a type of angel which guards the entrance to the Garden of Eden with a fiery sword, ensuring that people never return there (Genesis 3:24).
Jubilee comes from the Hebrew yovel, an occurrence once every 50 years when all debts were erased and indentured servants were freed (Leviticus 25:10-11).
Mensch literally means 'man' in Yiddish, just as it does in German, but the Jewish version of this word comes with a twist: reflecting the Jewish view that everyone is capable of being upright, honorable, and making a difference in the world. Calling someone a mensch means referring to them as a positive, good human being.
Ruthless refers to someone acting viciously, but it comes from the name of one of the heroines in the Bible, Ruth. A Moabite princess by birth, Ruth converted to Judaism and lived with her mother in law Naomi in Israel, where she displayed incredible kindness. Ruth's great grandson was King David. 'Ruth' became a byword for kindness; 'ruthless' literally means having a lack of Ruth's quality of empathy and giving.
Cider comes from the Hebrew word for drink, shaker. It was translated into Greek as sikera, and migrated into Latin as sicera. In the Middle Ages, French adopted the word as cidre, and it began to refer exclusively to strong drinks made from fermented fruit, particularly apples.
Iota comes from the Hebrew letter Yud, which is the smallest of the Hebrew letters. Iota was the Ancient Greek form of the Yud, and soon became synonymous with anything tiny.
Jot also derived from the Hebrew letter Yud, and was the Medieval Latin form of translating the letter. As with iota, jot soon became a way to refer to anything very small.
Sabbatical derived from the Hebrew word Shabbat (Sabbath in English), the seventh day each week when we recall God's rest on the seventh day of creation by ceasing to perform ordinary, weekday labor.
Bedlam was originally the nickname of England's first mental asylum. It was formally called the Bethlem Royal Hospital. Like many old hospitals, Bethlem began as a religious order; it was founded in the 13th century as a priory dedicated to St Mary of Bethlehem. And Bethlem was corrupted to bedlam.
Chutzpah is a Hebrew (and later also Yiddish) word that means impudence or gall. It also has a positive connotation of fearlessness and boldness, to stand up for what you believe and go against the flow.
Scapegoat originated in the Torah's description of Yom Kippur. In ancient times, the Cohen Gadol (the High Priest who served in the Temple in Jerusalem) would take two identical goats on Yom Kippur. One goat was sacrificed in the Temple and the other was sent into the wilderness south of Jerusalem to atone for the Jewish people's sins (Leviticus 16:5-18). 'Scape' was an early English form of the word escape: the scapegoat was the goat which 'escaped' being sacrificed. Today, it means one who is blamed for others' sins.
(b) 20 More English Words with Surprising Jewish Origins
https://aish.com/20-more-english-words-with-surprising-jewish-origins/?src=ac
by Dr. Yvette Alt Miller
Extracts:
Alphabet comes from the first two letters of the Greek language, alpha and beta; many linguists believe these letters evolved from the first two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, aleph and bet.
Map derives from the Hebrew word mappa, meaning a fluttering banner (on which drawings including maps might have been drawn). Some linguists also trace the words napkin and apron to this ancient Hebrew word.
Sack comes from the Hebrew word for bag; it likely entered English through ancient Greek, which borrowed this Hebrew word from the Bible.
Glitch likely is derived from the Yiddish word glitshn, meaning 'to slip'. (It's related to the German word gleiten, 'to glide'.) Astronaut John Glenn popularized the term in the 1960s after hearing Yiddish-speaking NASA engineers using it to describe problems.
Rube, meaning an unsophisticated, gullible person, became a popular slur starting in the 1800s in the United States. It's a corruption of the Biblical name Reuben (Reuven in Hebrew). In the Torah, Reuben was the oldest son of the patriarch Jacob and the matriarch Leah. (Jacob was meant to marry Rachel, Leah's sister, but his father-in-law tricked him, and wed Jacob to Leah instead. Jacob wound up marrying both sisters, and Leah felt humiliated that she'd been her husband's second choice. When she gave birth to a boy, she named him Reu - 'see' in Hebrew - Ben - 'a son' in Hebrew. She hoped that by having a child, her husband might begin to love and appreciate her; see Genesis 29:32.)
Sapphire bears a remarkable relationship to the Hebrew word sapir, meaning a brilliant blue stone. Some linguists believe the word directly stems from the Hebrew. The Torah describes a Heavenly throne representing God, with a floor of 'sapphire brickwork which was like the essence of the heaven in purity' (Exodus 24:10).
Sycamore comes from the Hebrew name for a mulberry tree, shikma, which is also a popular girls' name in Israel today.
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3. What are the advantages of the British colonisation?
https://historyofbritainandireland.quora.com/What-are-the-advantages-of-the-British-colonisation
by
Edwyn Nicholson
It depends on the colony.
For example, the British Empire made India a far better place in many ways.
Britain eradicated the murderous Thuggee, increased women's rights in marriage, banned disgusting female infanticide, outlawed horrific widow burning, invested in massive infrastructure projects, increased access to education at home and abroad, developed cities, built hospitals, and introduced the first vaccination programmes.
The Indian population grew by almost 200,000,000 during British rule.
The social reforms were dramatic and began to change the very fabric of Indian society for the better (and for women in particular).
Ultimately, Britain basically created India.
Before British rule, what we now know as India was a patchwork of rival, competing polities.
Britain united them with a unifying language, infrastructure, civil service and system of Parliamentary Democracy.
Britain employed a vast army of Indian administrators to implement British rule in India.
Indian soldiers (sepoys) maintained British rule.
Millions of Indians signed up to create the largest volunteer Army in history to fight for Britain in the world wars.
British rule would have been totally impossible without Indian people helping the British to be there.
Hence, the Indian diaspora in Britain remains significant. Statues of Queen Victoria continue to dot the Indian landscape.
India is an important member of the British Empires successor organisation, the Commonwealth of Nations, headed by the British Monarchy.
India remains a strong friend and ally of Britain.
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