khurban

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Pronunciations

khurban (khoor-BAHN) listen

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Definitions

  • n. A destruction, devastation, disaster.

  • n. (capitalized) The destruction of the Temple.

  • n. (capitalized) The Holocaust.

Example Sentences

  • "Some of the walls inside the old city show burn marks dating back to the Churban." (Glinert)

  • "Jewish life flourishes, our communal institutions are strong, Israel is a strong and growing state; the term churban seems out of place in our times." (source)

  • "The struggling world economy represents a time of transition for us like the Churban represented for the ancient Jewish communities at the turn of the First Century." (source)

  • "In Yiddish, khurbn is the word for “total destruction,” the word for what the English-speaking world calls the Jewish “Holocaust” of World War II." (source)

  • "How does your approach to teaching the khurbn in a Yiddish language class differ from teaching the Holocaust in a more general Jewish studies class? (if applicable)" (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish
  • Modern Hebrew

Etymology

  • TH חורבן khurban 'destruction' > Y חורבן khurbn, MH חֻרְבָּן khurbán

      • 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)
      • Ashkenazim: Jews with Ashkenazi heritage

      Regions

      • North America
      • Great Britain

      Dictionaries

      • The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).

      Alternative Spellings

      churban, hurban, khurbn, churben, hurben, khurben, churbn, hurbn

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