hefkerus

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Definitions

  • n. Disorder, abandonment, lawlessness.

Example Sentences

  • “The lack of supervision caused the dorm to sink into hefkerus.” (Weiser)

  • "The Be’er HaGolah at the very end of Choshen Mishpat tells us there is no bigger hefkerus than not taking care of oneself." (source)

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Languages of Origin

  • Textual Hebrew
  • Yiddish

Etymology

  • Y הפֿקרות hefkeyres 'neglect, debauchery'

      • Who Uses This

      • Orthodox: Jews who identify as Orthodox and observe halacha (Jewish law)
      • Older: Jews who are middle-aged and older

      Regions

      • North America

      Dictionaries

      • Frumspeak: The First Dictionary of Yeshivish, by Chaim Weiser (Northvale, 1995).
      • Yiddish and English: A Century of Yiddish in America, by Sol Steinmetz (Tuscaloosa, 1986).

      Alternative Spellings

      hefker veil, hefker velt, hefkeyrus

Notes

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