[etni] understanding from context
- From: Yisrael and Batya Medad <ybmedad@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: ETNI <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 05 Apr 2004 06:22:18 +0200
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One of the "skills" we are told to expect/demand from our students is that
they should be able to understand a word from its context. Unfortunately
it's not very easy, even for the well-educated, intelligent adult. Just
yesterday I observed, even participated in, a typical example. Someone on
one of the "anglo" lists sent out a warning notice translated from Hebrew
that a certain company made "resek agvaniyot-tomato paste and ketchup"
including an ingredient not kosher l'Pesach. I'm certain that I'm not the
only one who immediately ran to my pantry to check. One of my tomato paste
cans was from that very same factory. But there was something that didn't
make sense. My tomato paste is kosher l'Pesach all year long, and there is
nothing in the ingredients other than tomatoes, not even preservatives, and
in Hebrew it's called "tarkiz." So I went back to the notice and read the
Hebrew. The Hebrew doesn't mention tarkiz; it says resek, and clue #2,
it's partnered with ketchup. I concluded that the warning had nothing to
do with tomato paste, but yes with tomato sauce, and promptly sent out a
"reply all" to explain. Some very intelligent people attacked me
for--doubting the rabbi! Yes, they insisted that I had a lot of nerve
doubting the rabbi's notice, which of course I didn't at all. I was just
correcting the translation--from context.
I suggest we teach the kids how to use a dictionary and not jump to
conclusions.
Chag Kasher v'Sameach,
Batya
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