l'havdil

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Pronunciations

l'havdil (leh-hahv-DEEL) listen
l'havdil (le-HAHV-dill) listen
l'havdil (leh-HAHV-deel) listen

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Definitions

  • adv. On the contrary, rather.

  • interj. 'Excuse the comparison'; 'no comparison intended'.

  • interj. An expression to distinguish sacred from non-sacred discourse.

  • interj. (ironic) An expression of one's superiority over another.

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Example Sentences

  • "Which one excites you more, that your child knows Gemoro by heart or l'havdil that he knows Shakespeare…" (source)

  • “I’m only starting in business, but l’havdil, at some point Rockefeller was only ‘starting in business.'” (NJY)

  • “'Rabbi, you speak as beautifully as that rabbi over on Thirteenth Street.' 'L’havdil.'” (NJY)

  • "As for this idea of the unborn child knowing the Torah, I recall some-
    thing similar in Plato, lehavdil." (Glinert)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • TH להבדיל lehavdíl 'to separate or distinguish (especially between sacred and profane)' > Y להבֿדיל lehávdl 'to make a distinction'

      • Who Uses This

      • Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage
      • Sephardim: Jews with Sephardi or Mizrahi heritage
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      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain
      • South Africa

      Dictionaries

      • Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
      • The New Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten and Lawrence Bush (New York, 2003[1968]).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).
      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
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      Alternative Spellings

      lhavdil, lehavdil, l'havdl

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