Learning the Ropes

By Steven Feldman

April 26, 2007

There’s no better way to learn than to spend time with scholars. At a recent academic conference, I saw two of Israel’s leading archaeologists, Gabriel Barkay and Ronny Reich. I had visited Barkay at his home on Rav Hovel Street in Jerusalem some years back, and I asked him who Rabbi Hovel was (Rav means “master” and is the Hebrew title for Rabbi). Barkay told me that Rav Hovel was not a rabbi but was the title for the captain of the ship in the Book of Jonah; the title, Barkay explained, literally means “master of the ropes.”

At the same conference Reich mentioned that he had recently become a grandfather for the first time. “Ah, sabbah…” I began to tease him. He cut me off and said that he would not be called sabbah. “It’s not Hebrew,” he said. I was taken aback—all over Israel you hear children calling sabbah and savtah to their grandfathers and grandmothers. “It’s Aramaic,” Reich explained. He’s right, of course: the Hebrew word for grandfather is sav, while grandmother is sabbah (spelled samekh, bet, heh, not to be confused with the Aramaic sabbah for grandfather, which is spelled samekh, bet, aleph). Whatever he’s called, I hope Reich will get great enjoyment from his grandchild, a universal pleasure that will need no translation.