halevai

Pronunciations

halevai

(hah-leh-VAI)

Definitions

• interj. If only.
  

• interj. "Would that it be so." (Steinmetz, Yiddish and English)
  

• interj. I wish!
  

Example Sentences

• "In a few years we'll celebrate at your son's bris." "Halevai!"
  

• "Halevai it snowed and I wouldn't have to go to English today." (Weiser)
  

• "You're making it sound like just seeing tzitzit automatically makes someone think about the mitzvot. Halevai!" (source)
  

Languages of Origin

• Aramaic
• Yiddish
• Modern Hebrew

Etymology

• הלוואי
  

Who Uses This

• Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
• Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)

Regions

• North America

Dictionaries

• 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 JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
• The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
• Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
• Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
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Alternative Spellings

halivai, alevay, halevay, halvay, halavai, alevai