Chaim's phrase book - please teach me!

[Masha]

Dear Hebrew speakers,

I have noticed that Chaim in his videos keeps peppering his speech with Hebrew expressions when he talks about an emotional topic or a person that he feels strongly about. I have no idea what they mean, but I suppose they mean things like "Let G-d bless his descendants to the 100th generation" or "let God take him apart limb by limb" or "if G-d is willing". I think it would be so cool to know some of these often used expressions so that I could insert them in my speech as well when I debate politics. I think my arguments would sound more convincing if I use these standard Hebrew phrases instead of just cursing, which I'm strongly inclined to do when I'm speaking, for example, about self-hating Jew-traitors. If some of you know these expressions, could you please share? I will be much obliged.

[Until Shiloh Comes]

Hello Masha, and good day to you.   Allow me to personally welcome you to the forum.

I can recollect a few of the Hebrew phrases Chaim uses most often.

Zecher tzadik livracha (ZT"L) =  May the memory of this saint be immortalized. (reserved for righteous saints)
Zichrono livracha = Of Blessed memory, may his name be immortalized. (reserved for righteouss people)
Yimach shemo-vezichro (YM"S) = May his name and memory be obliterated. (ultimate Jewish curse.  Use with caution.)
HaShem Yikom Damo (HY"D) = May G-d avenge his blood. (for martyrs)
Baruch HaShem = Thank G-d/G-d Willing
Jukim = Cockroaches
Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Haolam shehakol nih'yeh bidvaro = Blessed are You, HaShem, our God, King of the Universe, by whose word everything comes to be.  (Chaim's prayer before a glass of water)

There are literally so many.   You really need to learn the proper uses of some of these blessing/cursings, and I'd refrain from just throwing them out there for the sole purpose of sounding "cool".

-Christopher

[Masha]

Until Shiloh Comes, thank you very much for writing these down. And thanks for welcoming me to the forum.

I have a couple of questions, may I?

1) How do you pronounce "J" in Jukim? Is it like "y" in "boy" or like "j" in "Jack"?

2)Is it appropriate to use the first phrase about Rabbi Kahane? Also, my great-great-grandfather was called a "tzadik" by contemporaries. Could I use it about him?

3)Can the second phrase be used about anyone I consider righteous?

4)Can the third expression, the Jewish curse, be applied to any of the Israeli politicians who gave away the Jewish land to the arabs? Or to somebody like Avram Burg or Neturei Karta? Or is it too strong, and should only refer call people like Hitler or Iran's Ahmadinejad?

(I used the word "cool" facetiously ).

Thanks again, and if you happen to think of something else some time down the road, I would greatly appreciate this.

[Joe Schmo]

Ignorantly, I use the phrase 'Yimach shemo-vezichro' in referring to people that I don't like.

Whoops.

[Masha]

Ignorantly, I use the phrase 'Yimach shemo-vezichro' in referring to people that I don't like.

Whoops.

I've heard that Jewish curses are very effective if they are used the right way. I've also heard that the Pulsa Denura curse can only be invoked against another Jew, not against a Gentile, and only for the crime of betraying Israel, being an anti-Israel traitor. Is there any truth to this, does anyone know?

[Allen-T]

What is the distinction between a saint and a righteous person? In the Christian scriptures saint just means believer in Christ. 

[Masha]

What is the distinction between a saint and a righteous person? In the Christian scriptures saint just means believer in Christ. 

That's what I would like to know too. If you lead a good life and make moral choices, would this be enough to be considered a righteous person?

[mord]

Yes a tzadik is a saintly person

[Ehud]

Tzadik does generally mean a righteous person, but not righteous in the sense that JTF uses it, it's much more limited than that.  Tzadik refers to a more exclusive group of righteous people.  Although everyone can be part of Tzadikkim, people who are considered to be righteous in the literal sense of the word aren't necessarily worthy of the title of a Tzadik.  I feel like saying that a Tzadik is simply a "righteous person" doesn't do justice to what a real Tzadik means.

To Allan-T, if you lead a good life and make moral choices, this might be considered part of what is needed to be a righteous person but that wouldn't make someone a Tzadik.  A Tzadik is more like a saint, I believe Chaim translates it correctly on his shows.

[ftf]

Saying that a Tzadik is a saint is misleading to a christian audience, because the christian definition of saint is quite literally, one who follow christ, i.e. christians.

[Ehud]

Saying that a Tzadik is a saint is misleading to a christian audience, because the christian definition of saint is quite literally, one who follow christ, i.e. christians.

Really, all good Christians are known as saints?  I've never heard that before.  Why is the official title of sainthood reserved for select people, like St. Paul etc.  That makes no sense if every Christian is a saint.

[ftf]

I thought a saint in Christianity was someone who was given sainthood. Isn't it a title given to a dead Christian who was particularly righteous?

That's the Catholic interpretation, Non-Catholic Christians take it to simply mean one who follows Christ. Though it seams to imply something more.

[Masha]

Thank G-d is Hodu LaShem

Is this a typo or is it supposed to be LaShem, not HaShem? Thanks.

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

I thought a saint in Christianity was someone who was given sainthood. Isn't it a title given to a dead Christian who was particularly righteous?

That's in Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and (possibly) Lutheranism. Evangelical and nondenominational Christians understand "saint" simply to mean any sanctified person--i.e. any Christian. This is the original, biblical definition of the term.

Of course, I don't know the translation of the Hebrew word Chaim uses for "saint". 

Chaimfan

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

  Not to get too off-topic, but here are some of my favorite Chaim phrases of recent memory:

"What, are you going to take a course in "The Politics Of Screwing A Cow?"

"The only 'founding fathers' Ron Paul has anything in common with are the founding fathers of the Third Reich!"

"He's scum. Talented scum, but still scum."

"Here, instead of getting a Ph.D. you get an H.I.V.!"

"We're gonna have used syringes lying on the front lawn of the White House!"

[Joe Schmo]

Not to get too off-topic, but here are some of my favorite Chaim phrases of recent memory:

"What, are you going to take a course in "The Politics Of Screwing A Cow?"

"The only 'founding fathers' Ron Paul has anything in common with are the founding fathers of the Third Reich!"

"He's scum. Talented scum, but still scum."

"Here, instead of getting a Ph.D. you get an H.I.V.!"

"We're gonna have used syringes lying on the front lawn of the White House!"

"You tell my woman, if she be watchin' this show, to get off her bigggg, uggggly, lazzzzy, fat butt, at the Superdome, and get me some money.  I needs money right now!"

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

"You tell my woman, if she be watchin' this show, to get off her bigggg, uggggly, lazzzzy, fat butt, at the Superdome, and get me some money.  I needs money right now!"

I love all of his schvartze impressions. Can't pick just one. 

[Masha]

You can't say Le Hashem. When le (to) and ha (the) come together, it becomes la. The same thing happens with be (in) and ha which become ba.

Got you. Thanks for the Hebrew lesson. 

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Are you sure? Ph.D. and HIV rhyme, BA doesn't.

[Lubab]

Tzaddik can be used in two ways.

One is the loose use of the word which the Talmud often uses to refer to anyone who has more good deeds than bad ones.Such a person on judgemet day will be stamped "Righteous" as opposed to "Evil". But that's just like in a court case when somone is proclaimed "innocent". It doesn't mean he's perfect, it just means he's won this particular case. People use this colloquially-e..g "David over at the grocery store...what a Tzaddik!"

Then there is the strict use of the word which is someone who has fully eradicated or elevated the evil within himself and doesn't desire sin at all. This is explained in the hasidic text called the Tanya. There are few of these in each generation. A tradition holds that there are always 39 in each generation.

However in the end days (entering messianic times), which I beleive we're now in, the sages say that there won't be any .   At that time it's up to the rest of us regular folk to make the world a better place and bring redemption.

[Lubab]

Then there is the strict use of the word which is someone who has fully eradicated or elevated the evil within himself and doesn't desire sin at all. This is explained in the hasidic text called the Tanya. There are few of these in each generation. A tradition holds that there are always 39 in each generation.

Does that have to do with the 39 categories of melachot?

Also, 13 x 3 = 39. Is that because 13 is the age of mitzvot?

I have no idea. 

[Masha]

Tzaddik can be used in two ways.

One is the loose use of the word which the Talmud often uses to refer to anyone who has more good deeds than bad ones.Such a person on judgemet day will be stamped "Righteous" as opposed to "Evil". But that's just like in a court case when somone is proclaimed "innocent". It doesn't mean he's perfect, it just means he's won this particular case.

I'm thinking of a story in connection with this. I'm probably going to mess it up, but this is how I remember this.

One Jew found out that he had a terminal illness that would bring him a lot of uffering in his final months. He got upset about dying - but that he couldn't do anything about, because everyone dies. But he got especially upset and scared about the fact that he is going to undergo a lot of suffering. So he decided to pay a visit to a very famous Rabbi-tzaddik and ask for his intercession with G-d. He travelled to his village, found his house, and knocked on the door. The Rebbetzin opens the door and asks him inside. When he is in the room, the Rebbetzin asks what his business is with the Rabbi. The man tells her about the diagnosis, and adds: "I just want the Rabbi to know that I am a good man. Everyone will attest to this. I have lead an upright life. I don't deserve so much suffering; it really scares me. I'd like to ask the Rabbi to pray for me so that my final days are not as terrible as the doctors predict. Allright, says the Rabbi's wife. I will go talk to my husband about this. In the meantime, sit down in this comfortable chair by the fireplace and rest.

The chair was indeed very comfortable, and the place by the fire very warm. Before he knew it, the man fell asleep and started dreaming. In his dream, he was already dead. He was brought to a place that looked like a courtroom. A very stern judge said that now all his deeds will be weighed. They brought in a large sack and dumped its contents onto one side of the scales, which plunged down immediately. "These are your bad deeds," said the judge. Then they brought a much smaller bag and told him that these were his good deeds. When they put it on the other side of the scales, the scales did not move. "Woe to me!" cried out the man, "I'm finished." But as soon as he said it, he saw that they were bringing out yet another bag. "What's in this bag?" he asked, surprised. "These are you sufferings," he was told. They untied the bag and started shaking its contents out onto the good-deed side. Very slowly the scales started to move. "More sufferings, more sufferings, bring on more sufferings," the man started screaming, very agitated. At this moment he felt somebody shaking his shoulder. He woke up and saw the Rabbi. "Did you just say that you wanted more sufferings?" asked the Rabbi. "Then you have changed your mind."

[MassuhDGoodName]

Regarding Masha's story (..."He woke up and saw the Rabbi. "Did you just say that you wanted more sufferings?" asked the Rabbi. "Then you have changed your mind.")

Absolutely hilarious! 

[jazzloversinc]

For a person to be a saint it has to be proved that they have performed miracles.  There's a list of things before someone is sainted.  (catholic church are the saint people)  I don't think protestants do saints.  Jazzz.

[jazzloversinc]

I don't think being dead is a prerequsite..but I could be wrong.  I'll go google it.  jazzzz.