Leshon Ima – Mother Tongue with Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

The horrific experiences of wars left their mark on Jewish history and culture from biblical times onward.

The lovely holiday of Chanukah, which we celebrate this month, commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over Greek oppression and the reestablishment of Jewish sovereignty in the land of Israel (167-37 B.C.E).

However, this historic period was marked by a long series of wars and battles for survival and, in a way, is analogous to our modern reality.

Sadly, milchamah — war — has forever been attached to our existence.

Milchamah is mentioned in the Bible 317 times. It is derived from the verb lacham meaning fight or do battle and is related to the Moabite verb hiltaham, which may have originally meant to order the battle.

Over the years, the word milchamah received additional meanings in Hebrew, reflecting cultural struggles, political controversies, economic struggles for survival and heated intellectual discourses.

A question is frequently raised regarding the similarity in sound between the words milchamah and lechem, the Hebrew word for bread.

There were those who, even as early as biblical times, tried to make an etymological connection between the two words (Judges 5:4). However, this is a popular suggestion only.

Lechem, which also means meat or food, is derived from the Ugaritic verb lhm meaning to eat and is related to the Akkadian lemu meaning taste or enjoy. It has no connection to the battlefield.

Milchamah is at the center of many terms describing wars, which entered the language in post biblical times.

Terms such as milchamah karah (cold war), milchamah garinit (nuclear war), milchemet hakiyum (war of existence), and milchamet hashichrur (war of independence) are but a few examples.

In a social and cultural spectrum, milchamah was used to express political disputes and cultural disagreements.

Milchemet hasafot, the wars of languages, was the name given to the early struggle to establish Hebrew as the official language of the universities in Israel (1913-1914).

Milchemet d’varim, a war of words, means polemics or controversies, reflecting intense varying opinions.

And milchemet b’chirot, war of choices, points to political campaigns and elections.

We will end with the biblical term milchemet Gog u Magog, the war of Gog and Magog — the war of wars — which according to the prophet Ezekiel, is the war presaging the advent of the Messiah (Ez. 38-39).

May the Chanukah lights illuminate the universal hope to bring an end to all milchamot.

May the words of the prophet Isaiah — “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, velo yilmedu od milchamah, and they shall study war no more” (Is. 2:4) — come to fruition.

Dr. Rachel Zohar Dulin is a professor of biblical literature at Spertus College in Chicago and an adjunct professor of Bible and Hebrew at New College of Florida.

To read the complete December 2014 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.