Here’s another late Friday afternoon Hebrew question.
What is the English translation of the Hebrew in the photo linked below?
Thank you.
It looks like it says “העלות”, [the cost] but it is vowelized with FUBAR (i.e., wrong) vowels. One would expect “הָעֲלוּת”. I am sure a Hebrew expert can set the record straight. Maybe one of those cases of people tattooing random words onto their skin without having any knowledge of the language?
“Hei’alut”, from the root ע.ל.ה (rise, ascend, increase). It’s a neologism that means “Transcendence”, although the usual word for that is “Hit’alut”, which is a slightly different conjugation of the same verb. It’s one of those words that shouldn’t exist, because there’s a very similar word that means basically the same thing.
Thanks for the correction/explanation. I do not know how ancient the word “hit’alut”, which I have encountered, is (I have already admitted I am not a Hebrew expert), but it is perfectly cromulent Rabbinical/medieval Hebrew at least.
That’s a good theory. Probably better than my theory - that there was a sign with a menu of different Hebrew tatoos, labeled:
העלות: ₪50
And the guy in the picture just pointed and said, “I want that one”
(Realistically the menu would be labeled מחיר instead).
Heh. If it weren’t for that tzere, I’d agree with you.
I don’t think your word is just a “theory”, though, since I found it in at least one Modern Hebrew dictionary, and I don’t mean one that was just published last year.
Def. + example:
הֵעָלוּת, היעלות הִתְרוֹמְמוּת ׃ הֵעָלוּת הֶעָשָׁן מֵעַל הַר־הַבַּיִת.
…though, the dictionary example sentence does not smack of “transcendence” to me, simply the rising of the smoke. Whereas the definition of “hit’alut” absolutely talks about transcendence.