hoshana
Pronunciations
Definitions
n. "Prayer recited on Sukkot while circling the synagogue and waving the lulav" (JPS).
n. The arava beaten on Hoshana Rabbah.
Example Sentences
"There were so many people doing hoshaanot that the circle hardly moved." (Glinert)
"My guess is that throwing them on the Aron comes from the minhag in the bais hamikdash where when they finished hoshanos they left their hoshanos by the mizbeach" (source)
Languages of Origin
- Textual Hebrew
- Yiddish
Etymology
TH הוֹשִׁיעָה־נָּא 'save (us) please' > הושענא hoshana
- Religious: Jews who are engaged in religious observance and have some Jewish education
- North America
- Great Britain
- South Africa
- Australia / New Zealand
- The JPS Dictionary of Jewish Words, by Joyce Eisenberg and Ellen Scolnic, (Philadelphia, 2001).
- The Joys of Hebrew, by Lewis Glinert (New York, 1992).
- Dictionary of Jewish Usage: A Popular Guide to the Use of Jewish Terms, by Sol Steinmetz (Lanham, MD, 2005).
Who Uses This
Regions
Dictionaries
Alternative Spellings
hoshaana, hoshane, hoshaanot, hoshanes, hoshanah
Notes
Generally said in the plural form: hoshanot / hoshanos.
On Hoshana Rabbah, seven circles are made and seven hoshanot are said, but on each other day of Sukkot it is just one of each.
"These prayers are said for the land of Israel, for fertility, and for rain" (JPS).
The word hoshana is the source of the Christian word of prayer and adoration, hosanna.
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