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Monday, October 5th, 2009 07:18 pmWe are now in the middle of Succos, in which we welcome ushpizin, guests—specifically, the spirits of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Solomon—into our succah.
I read a while ago (and unfortunately forgot to note where at the time) that the word ushpizin not only means guest, but is actually cognate to "guest" too!* This, I thought, was cool.
* Well, possibly; if Latin hostis (enemy) has the same root as hospes (guest, friend), which Klein's Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language claims, as does the Collins Concise English Dictionary and the Online Etymology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, however, says hospis is of unknown origin.
I read a while ago (and unfortunately forgot to note where at the time) that the word ushpizin not only means guest, but is actually cognate to "guest" too!* This, I thought, was cool.
* Well, possibly; if Latin hostis (enemy) has the same root as hospes (guest, friend), which Klein's Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language claims, as does the Collins Concise English Dictionary and the Online Etymology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, however, says hospis is of unknown origin.
