Friday, June 11, 2021

:ס"ב The ט"ו בשבט Connection

[Originally published in the vicinity of ט"ו בשבט תשע"ד]

Ok, this is a little bit of a stretch...

מיעוט צפרים שנים *שתים

I was initially intrigued by the הגהה. Really? ציפור is feminine? Certainly there are other words that don't give off any apparent evidence of being feminine but are, nevertheless. But I wanted to double-check it. As I was approaching the חומשים where I would confirm that it most definitely is feminine - החיה, השחוטה, אותה, etc. - it hit me that the ubiquitous ט"ו בשבט ditty as well indicates that it is so. Here are the words:

השקדיה פורחת
ושמש פז זורחת,
צפורים מראש כל גג
מבשרות את בוא החג.

ט"ו בשבט הגיע חג לאילנות.
ט"ו בשבט הגיע חג לאילנות.