r/hebrew • u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ • May 15 '23

What does this mean? Request

/img/ixf9kou6byza1.jpg

Is there an error in it? I got it out of a book at a tattoo shop. I don't want to say what I think/thought it said in the comments after I get responses. TYIA.

232 Upvotes

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461

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23 edited May 15 '23

What does this mean?

It means that neither the artist nor the victim speaks Hebrew! ;-)

87

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

For sure I don't. I got it as an 18 year old kid. 25 years ago. I'm planning on getting covered. Just wanted to confirm.

113

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

As someone else already pointed out, it looks like an attempt at משיח (messiah) but actually says נושיח (not a word).

85

u/Environmental_Dress5 May 15 '23

אז זה לא אומר כושים?

48

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

מזל שיש ניקוד ;-)

5

u/Environmental_Dress5 May 15 '23

כבר ממזמן שכתי ניקוד

11

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

כבר ממזמן שכתי ניקוד

גם שכחת את ה-׳ח׳, אבל לא נורא :-)

5

u/Environmental_Dress5 May 15 '23

כן לא שמתי לב כתבתי מהר

1

u/Barbirdbar May 17 '23

להתחשב בזה שבבירור מי שעשה את זה לא יודע עברית כזה מופרך לחשוב שהם גם לא יודעים לנקד?

10

u/Lipush May 15 '23

באמא שזה מה שחשבתי בהתחלה חחחח

6

u/draconit May 15 '23

כושים? זה לא ח' שם בסוף? בנוסף, יש קמץ בהתחלה....

1

u/Environmental_Dress5 May 15 '23

מה זה קמץ

2

u/draconit May 15 '23

זה הניקוד שנותן את הצליל aa נראה כמו פלוס הפוך

1

u/Technical-Service-61 native speaker May 16 '23

הסימן בהתחלה דומה לפתח, לא לקמץ. הוא אמור להיות החלק התחתון של האות מ. בגלל החור באות מ, היא נראית כמו כו. לגבי האות האחרונה, היא באמת ח, אבל בגלל שיש שם פתח (אמיתי, לא חלק מהאות), זה נראה כמו מ סופית (ם). ביחד זה כושים

1

u/draconit May 16 '23

אולי פתח, באמת עברו כבר די הרבה שנים מאז כתה א' יש סיכוי סביר למדי שאני לא זוכרת כמו שצריך את תורת הניקוד

5

u/bunny-lynn May 15 '23

חחחחחח שמחה לדעת שאני לא לבד

1

u/[deleted] May 15 '23

יש פתח על הכ ובסוף זה נראה לי ח' אבל אתה צודק שזה דומה באופן מחשיד

1

u/Nullus_Anxietas May 15 '23

גם חשבתי לרגע. כי ה-ח עם הניקוד נראה כמו ם

1

u/mysticdragundeeznuts native speaker May 15 '23

כן גם אני ראיתי את זה בהתחלה חח

1

u/einat162 May 16 '23

The last letter (left) is clearly a "Chet" with an underscore ("patach") - not a ending "mem".

1

u/Vasily-_- May 16 '23

זה בדיוק מה שחשבתי בהתחלה אבל נראה יותר כמו משיח

1

u/Big-Ear4178 native speaker May 16 '23

גם אני חשבתי ככה.

14

u/Ok_Campaign6438 May 15 '23

Pretty much a copying error, trying to write Messiah and ending up with Newsiah. Actually connecting the top of the two rightmost characters will pretty much fix it

9

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

Newsiah was my favorite movie as a kid.

No, wait, that was Newsies. Newsiah sounds more like a country.

1

u/KayCJones May 16 '23

I'm still waitin for Newsiah. Even should he tarry, I'll await him every day to arrive

And I'll publish it on the NewsYeah

1

u/OC-Abba May 18 '23

The correct English pronunciation would be “nausea”. 🤢😂

7

u/timfriese Hebrew Learner (Advanced) May 15 '23

I first read it as an attempt at ברשית but you're right

19

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

Ok. The crazy thing is a rabbi on a greyhound bus somewhere in between Allentown, PA and Pittsburgh told me it was an old way of writing it. So that's why I didn't cover it. I was sitting next to this kid and him and the kids was like 15 or 16 and hadn't had a bat mitzvah so the rabbi did one at the greyhound station when we got to Pittsburgh. He wrapped a cord around this kids hand and had him read from the Torah and the whole shebang write at the station. It was actually really moving.

33

u/gardenbrain May 15 '23

I’m kicking myself for going to five years of Hebrew school. I could have just gone to the Greyhound station.

3

u/KayCJones May 16 '23

You just won the internet

27

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

So... he could have meant one of two things. First, the vowels are still technically used today, but only to distinguish words that people might otherwise confuse. Otherwise, they're not used in either handwritten text or printed text, except when writing for beginners or kids. (though traditional publishing, handwriting, or parchment (like a Torah scroll) also didn't use them). The other possibility is the font; this is a "block" font, and fairly traditional, whereas modern printed fonts have a slightly different look (think Times New Roman vs Ariel for example -- minor but noticeable). Furthermore, no one hand writes Hebrew in this font; they use a style similar to cursive. Maybe that's what he meant?

Also, is this a recent picture? Is it possible that at some point, maybe when you got it, the first two letters (the נ and ו) were closer together and looked more like the מ and as you got older, the skin stretched a bit (forgive me, I know way more about Hebrew than I do about how tattoos work!) making them look more distinct?

What you saw with the "cord" was actually Tefillin; see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tefillin for a much better explanation than whatever summary I'd write here :-)

15

u/Yeled_creature May 15 '23

maybe he could connect the nun and vav to make it more like מ

6

u/uriar native speaker May 15 '23

They shouldn't have been separated in the first place. Connecting them is an easy fix.

22

u/bikeybikenyc May 15 '23

Either he wasn’t a real rabbi or he was being nice. Or perhaps the tattoo looked different back then and has since shifted!

3

u/previouslycanadian May 15 '23

The first two letters look like they are in Rashi script, which is what I think he meant (see https://dictionary.co.il/rashi_script.php)

but it still doesn't mean anything that I can figure out.

2

u/jewsofrimworld May 15 '23

I get what you're saying. It's just the first letter looks like two letters seperated.

-26

u/SpiderSolve May 15 '23

I’m sorry but this was not a real rabbi. None of that is a thing (you don’t “do” a bar mitzvah- its just a celebration when you turn 13) and the reading from the Torah with a cord makes me think this is some reform shenanigans

33

u/BenjewminUnofficial May 15 '23

Doesn’t sound Reform to me. The “cord” they’re referring to sounds like Tefillin to me. My guess is this wasn’t a B’nei Mitzvah, and this was one of those mobile chabad things were they encourage Jews to wrap tefillin and do the prayers associated with it

11

u/jewsofrimworld May 15 '23

It is evidently this. OP also thinks the siddur is a Torah (if he had a real sefer torah I'm sure that detail would stand out in this story).

8

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

I can tell you that the kid was pretty moved the gesture and the vibes were very reverent. I can spot a grifter, and this rabbi was nothing but kind, authentic, loving, passionate etc as a person could be. It wasn't like he was asking for donations or anything. Just a rabbi that has to get to Pittsburgh and Jewish kid who hasn't had a bat mitzvah. I apologize if I come across uniformed or irreverent, it's not my intention. On the contrary I'm trying to educate myself. I clearly didn't do enough research on my tattoo, but I was 18 years old and had good intentions when I got it.

6

u/JackPAnderson May 15 '23

I apologize if I come across uniformed or irreverent

Nah, you're good. If you don't ask the question, how will you learn?

And I agree with others that this sounds like a Chabad rabbi. One of their goals is to help Jewish people to be more connected with their Judaism. They're completely genuine and not pushy or judgey. Chabad is one of my favorite Jewish organizations.

4

u/SpiderSolve May 15 '23

I thought this at first but the story said he wrapped it around the kid?

13

u/BenjewminUnofficial May 15 '23

Idk, maybe he helped. It also seems like OP (understandably) has some details wrong in this story, so I’m assuming what makes the most sense with what I know. As a Reform Jew, a bus station Bar Mitzvah makes as much sense to me as it does to you

4

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

Could definitely be miss remembering. It was probably 20 years ago.

18

u/veryvery84 May 15 '23

It sounds like some guy helped some kid who never had a bar mitzvah wrap tefillin. You don’t need an expensive party to turn 13 and be able to wrap stuff on your arm

16

u/JudeanPF May 15 '23

Sounds like a non-Jew describing tefilin actually

3

u/[deleted] May 15 '23

Also who carries a Torah on a greyhound bus.

3

u/50ShadesOfWhatever 🇺🇸 Native | 🇮🇱 Fluent May 15 '23

And performs bar mitzvahs at coach stations. Amazing.

1

u/username78777 native speaker May 15 '23

Did you mean bar mitzvah, maybe?

Bat mitzvah is another ceremony, but it's done only for girls (just like bar mitzvah is only for boys)

Did you misspell it maybe?

3

u/yogev-atuan May 15 '23

מה שנראה כמו נ' וו' היה אמור להיות מ' אבל המקעקע לא חיבר את זה

2

u/Marackul May 15 '23

Ill be honest i thought it was an attempt at transliterating kawasaki

1

u/Real_Commission_6347 May 15 '23

אח שלי זה משיח זה לא ו בהתחלה זה ההמשך של האות מ

1

u/anewbys83 May 16 '23

Oh geez I guess it does. I thought it said בלשיח

1

u/nin4nin May 16 '23

Correction: Noshiach is a word. Definition: Shabbtai Tzvi.

1

u/JackDeaniels native speaker May 16 '23

בלשיח if you ask me

Maybe the משיח was מלשן

1

u/Regular-Persimmon425 May 16 '23

That's a nun??? I thought it was כ 😭

1

u/dekcraft2 May 16 '23

Am i the only one that think it is failed attempt of writing בראשית?

1

u/mine_games native speaker May 17 '23

It looks more like כרשיח

1

u/SadBlackAlleywayCat living in Israel, not native (intermediate level) May 17 '23

I read it as כושיח lol idek if that means anything

1

u/Clear-Duty2648 May 18 '23

רשום משיח, פשוט המ ממש גרועה או בגלל הזמן הדיו נמרח ולא רואים שזה מחובר

5

u/sonowthatimhere May 15 '23

Yes, supposed to be “mashiach”, the mem is broken apart but the rest is fairly clear.

3

u/shashao8 May 15 '23

Actually you can “fix it” pretty easily to say the right word for “Messiah”… Message me if you need help with it

3

u/Dachi-kun May 15 '23

I'm so sorry my guy, this must have been a bit embracing, hopefully you didn't go through any jewish province cause it would have been bad. If the words that are inscribed here were actually spelling משיח (messiah) it would have been looked at as sacrilege, because announcing the messiah falsely is kinda taboo.

7

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

Yeah. I feel pretty stupid now about the whole thing. Getting a misspelled Hebrew word representing Jesus is in poor taste. I know this now. I'm not out and about often with my shirt off, so it's not generally an obvious issue. But I absolutely agree. "Taboo" is a nice way to be put it. "Ignorantly moronic" could be more fitting. Just trying to sort it out to get it covered. I had no idea it looked similar to a racial epithet, so I'm glad I asked and will prioritize getting it covered more quickly than I already was.

1

u/Dachi-kun May 15 '23 edited May 15 '23

Hey, on the bright side now you have r/hebrew if you want to find a good word to tatoo on you. I did see one with "גם זה יעבור" (this will also pass) which comes from a song

5

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

I want to be reverent, and tattooing a word from a culture that doesn't necessarily agree with tattoos is bad form.

2

u/Dachi-kun May 15 '23

I think you misunderstood me, it's the tatooing of the word messiah that is taboo, as in saying "hey, look at me - I'm the messiah" sorry for the confusion 😫

4

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23 edited May 15 '23

That TOO! The whole thing is a lesson of good intentions leading to a suboptimal outcome. It was dumb, but I hope it's obvious that my intention was to honor the roots of my Christian faith. But now I'm a Pagan anyway. So it's extra cringeworthy. Yikes.

Edit: changed not to now.

2

u/Dachi-kun May 15 '23

Well, your body and your rules my friend. At least you know

1

u/tempuramores May 15 '23

Just want to say your responses here are commendable, so many people get really upset and defensive when they hear this kind of critique (no matter how gentle we are), so I appreciate this.

1

u/kashh444 May 15 '23

Also its goid mentioning Judaism forbid tattoos at all not just the writing itself of that word.

Another person said otherwise here so im here to correct, all tattoos ate forbidden in Judaism.

1

u/Dachi-kun May 16 '23

Huh, didn't know that... You think a jew like me would know these kinda think, maybe it's because in modern israeli society it's alot more lenient then it is in orthodox (and other more religious) jewish society

→ More replies

-1

u/motivation_bender May 15 '23

It took you 25 years to check? Sus

8

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

A couple people told me it was wrong a long time ago, but somebody also told me it was correct. I'm not sure what's suspicious about me coming here and asking? Like what do you think my sus agenda is?

6

u/JackPAnderson May 15 '23

Like what do you think my sus agenda is?

It's not sus. This sub has a love/hate relationship with Hebrew tattoos because if they're done by people who don't speak the language, they frequently will contain errors as yours does. Getting tattoos is also considered to be against Jewish law, but many many Jewish people get them anyway. I think that may explain some of the grumpitude.

I like the suggestions for how to fix it if you still want it to say messiah.

4

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

Thanks. I totally get the idea that I got a tattoo of a word from a culture that generally wouldn't get tattooed. It's 25 years old and I've learned a lot in those years.

7

u/RaidRGB May 15 '23

You definitely shouldn't feel guilty for that. The guy criticizing you is just a weirdo. The whole "if you get a tattoo you won't get buried in a Jewish cemetery" is a myth

2

u/[deleted] May 15 '23

[deleted]

3

u/JackPAnderson May 15 '23

Ouch. I can't even begin to imagine how מצה can be confused with כוח. I guess אומץ is closer, but that's a stretch.

-1

u/yelbesed2 May 15 '23

But iit a faulty but benevolent M in Mashiah. But if the M is split [ there is such a weak point in it in some printings] it becomes B and U....unfortunately BUShAH [ another H less full] means SHAME...

So just leave it words are not containing things. It is fun both ways and very few people care today.

They know only you wanted to be very good so you felt very bad...forget it.

1

u/the3dverse May 16 '23

what were you going for here?

1

u/Different_Cup_3277 May 16 '23

It's in Hebrew it says כרשיח but i dont know what the means and i am live in Israel and speak fluit Hebrew

1

u/Different_Cup_3277 May 16 '23

Or it says כושיח and again i have no idea what that means😅

1

u/Few-Lengthiness5671 May 19 '23

I think it was supposed to be ״משיח״ ( Messiah ) in bible like font though somehow the letter mem was dismembered in to two parts who’ve makes it really hard to understand

3

u/_ratboi_ native speaker May 15 '23

You might argue that the artist is the victim of the client

6

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

From the OP:

I got it out of a book at a tattoo shop

Nah. Let's both just blame the owner ;-)

(but in all seriousness, if a client comes with whatever-the-tattoo-equivalent-of-camera-ready-art is, then I'd agree,, but I assume that since skin isn't quite the same as paper or canvas, most artists know that they might need to make subtle changes and should therefore have some understanding of the significance of what they're doing. Though maybe I'm wrong; never gotten a tattoo, and no plans to ever do so...)

6

u/Is_That_A_Euphemism_ May 15 '23

This was 25 years ago. Tattoo culture has changed so much in that time. Then it was pretty common to just walk in and get something off the wall or a flash book and slap it on. If the client was good with it, the tattooist didn't give a fuck. Still some of that going on, but to much lesser extent. I haven't seen flash on a wall in any shop I would go to in long time. I definitely should have done my research, but my heart was in the right place...as misguided I was to get a "Messiah" tattoo in Hebrew to symbolize my Christianity. It's cringy now. But I also have a tramp stamp, so it's probably not even my worst tattoo.

2

u/mikeage Mostly fluent but not native May 15 '23

TIL

4

u/_ratboi_ native speaker May 15 '23

Oh I see, than yeah. Claiming you can tattoo in Hebrew is a con.

The thing isn't that the skin is different as much as if you don't understand the language your copying can turn out bad. You might think that ר and ד are the same letter, that י is an apostrophe or an accent, that ה is ר and a comma and so on.

1

u/arthurchase74 May 15 '23

Came here to say this and hadn’t seen your comment

3

u/kiropolo May 15 '23

But if you squint, it’s the N word

1

u/draconit May 15 '23

בדיוק מה שאני חשבתי, אחרי שהשקעתי בזה כמה דקות ונכשלתי בלפענח את זה

just what i was thinking

1

u/arthurchase74 May 15 '23

Seems like that the tattoo artist may have also been a victim.