Ruach

Eskimos have some 20 words to describe snow in its various conditions. After living in Canadian snow 10 months of the year, I learned to appreciate the descriptive variety.

It made me think that in Israel, we might have a few descriptive words for the wind raging throughout the house, tracking doors and taking pictures off the walls.

I checked the dictionary for "Ruach" - wind in Hebrew. 

Hebrew works differently with words. When it needs to describe a different situation related to the main word, it either adds a meaning to the root itself or it adds a second word and together they describe something else. As in: Bait (house) + Sefer (book) = School. 

"Ruach" standing along has 8 meanings:

- The combination of gasses that we breathe;

- Air movement;

- Soul;

- Feelings;

- Ideology  

- The non-physical base of the world;

- Direction;

- A ghost;

Under these headings, there are 128 combinations of words describing "Ruach"…yes, I counted…there are more words that relate somehow to the root word which I did not count….

All I looked for was a word to describe the wind in my flat….I settled on two:

Ruach Kadim = an eastern, dry, hot wind that blows in spring and autumn, burning crops.

Ruach Pratzim = a wind that blows through a few openings such as an open door and an open window situated opposite each other.

128 descriptions or not, today is hot…

122nd - 123rd Days of Thanks -

Thank you God for the wind that ease some of the heat and for Your Ruach that teaches us Your Word; and thank You God for Hebrew…

Juggling Eye-Glasses,

Orith