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What is the Hebrew version of the Yiddish name Elka? Thankss
Youre welcome even though i didnt answer
How about a transliteration?:- Elkono [Dad of Shemuel haNovie
Elka is a girls name
it would help if you know the source for the name. What does Elka mean? Believe it or not I am unfamiliar with the spelling of the name when written with Hebrew letters. Is it asn ayin or an aleph? Koof or kuf. Is it written like one of the “Sheimos” because if so, then it seems to derive from that, much like the girl’s name of Elisheva or Eliana. The “kah” part is typically an endearment added to many European names. The K sound is not necessarily part of the original name (as someone thought Elkonoh, which IS a male name).
A good example of this is a name like Shmuel. My friend calls her son Shmuel-kah (similar to the name Shmelkie). the K is superfluous, but added to the name out of affection. Sometimes OTHER letters in the name are dropped as the K sound is added. So Miriam can become Mirkah or Mirchkah (as I have in my own family on my husband’s side) Rochel becomes Roch-kah, etc. Perhaps the same holds true for Elka. Maybe it is a contraction of something else (and if spelled with an ayin, maybe the original name was Aliza – who knows?)
I give this a lot of thought, because naming our children after family members was a very big deal to me, and my husband and I do not believe in the usage of anything other than Loshon Kodesh for a Jewish child’s name (I am not chalilah criticizing those who use Yiddish names, but that never made sense to me any more than it would nowadays to use an English name of someone Choshuv, over Loshon Kodesh). So for example, girls who are named for a Faigel and Fraydel, would be Tzipporah and Aliza (or Gila).
kaykay87: How do you spell it? Its not so clear.
I did a search on google and this is what i got.
There are many possibilitys.
* Elka a form of Elizabeth.
Elizabeth is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Elisheva.
* Elka a variant of Elke (Old German, Yiddish?)
* Elka a Feminine form of ELKANAH (Hebrew)
oomis1105: Reb Moshe Feinstein in Tshuvis does not think like you and your husband.
Personal fealings don’t come in when we deal with Halacha.
“oomis1105: Reb Moshe Feinstein in Tshuvis does not think like you and your husband.
Personal fealings don’t come in when we deal with Halacha. “
Right Path – there is NO halacha when it comes to naming a baby. Only minhagim. Personal feelings very much DO come in when dealing with this issue. The Torah is filled with all the names of babies that came from emotional feelings of the parents. It has nothing to do with Halacha at all. With all due respect, I believe that you are mistaken about this specific issue.
And my own Rov, ZT”L to whom Rav Moshe ZT”L referred his own PERSONAL shailos, specifically told my husband and me that to give the name in Loshon Kodesh was a bigger zechus for both the baby AND the niftar (if any) for whom that baby is named. He advised us to always look for the exact Hebrew equivalent, if the name was not intrinsically in Ivrit. One of Bnei Yisroel’s zechusim in Mitzrayim was that they did not change their Hebrew names from Loshon Kodesh to an Egyptian-acceptable version. Considering that they owed a great debt to Yosef who was known as Tzofnas Paneach, you would think there would have otherwise been many little Tzofnas Paneachs running around (as we see many Alexanders, Senders, etc. out of respect for Alexander the Great). But there were not and are not.
Oomis 1105:- Kol haKovod to you; jiddish names are totally archaic & out of vogue. Could just as easily give an English name.
When we named our daughter, we transliterated a grandmother’s Jiddish name to Hebrew, and we have never looked back nor regretted our wise decision.
To stick a Jiddish name as some 2nd name and never call her by it except og her Kesuvoh, go for 1 Hebrew name which will be happily utilized by all.
Elka:- Ayin Lamed Kuf Oleph
Anyone have Reb Moshe Tshuves Chailek Vov? I think thats were he speaks about it. I could be mistaken.
and many give the Yiddish names because in todays frum world they are absolutely acceptable and used. NO need to change. BTW no one speaks the lashon kodesh we spoke in Mitzrayim Ivrit or Ivris is not lashon Kodesh and many hold that Yiddish, by its very name is part of not changing our language. Rav Oshry ztl (Teshuvos Mimamakim) said that yiddish is the ONLY language that announces by it’s’ name that it sis for Yidden even though it is a mixture of many. ( Yidden DO have a specail affinity for cholent!!!)
Cholent is a french origin word:- Not Jiddish Origin:- “Cheaux Long” which means hot for a long time.
“Elka:- Ayin Lamed Kuf Oleph “
Thank you. That would tend to make me think that Aliza would be an appropriate Hebrew name for Elka. Aliza-ka, Al…ka, Elka.
Rabbaim , many Jews give English names in English speaking countries. So should all those Jews who speak ONLY English (and not Yiddish) not give a Jewish name to their children, because the language in their frum world and in which THEY learn Torah is English?
All the Rabbanim who say the things you state, probably only or primarily spoke Yiddish (or their parents and grandparents did, in the alte heim). So naturally they would think that way about Yiddish. And the only reason we call Yiddish by that name is NOT because it is announcing itself, but because it was the language spoken by YIDDEN in Europe, an amalgamation of German, Hebrew, and a few other languages. When some black people speak with a certain type of word usage, we call it Ebonics (for ebony/black). Does that make it particularly special?
The specialness and “holiness” of Yiddish is that it united all European Jews by giving them a common means of communicating. Otherwise it is not much different from English today, the language in which most people are learning and communicating as they once did in Europe. And one who is intellectually honest will recognize that. I am NOT putting Yiddish down, so don’t think I am. It is a rich and expressive language. But it has been elevated to a kedusha beyond Loshon Kodesh in the minds of many people, to the point that they would prefer to name a child in that language (which did not exist in the days of yetzias Mitzrayim), over Hebrew which might have been in a slightly different form from the way we speak today (though we do not know that for certain), yet nonetheless is recognizable as Hebrew when we read tanach. Do what you will, and say what you will, kol hakavod, that is your privilege, but I applaud people who understand that only Hebrew is the holy language of our people. Everything else is nice, but it is not THE language of Jews. And btw, people who speak Ladino feel the same way about their language as you do about Yiddish.
Vouliez-vous dire “chaud”…
No one gives a child an English name at his Bris. We do for Yiddish names.
r moshes tshuvah is in cheilek daled tshuva 64, i believe. he says that this that the yidden were saved in mitzrayim for not changing their names was ONLY before matan torah, not after. he brings down many names from amoraim that had secular names. however, he is skeptical in paskening this l’halacha, check it out.
Al the yiddishists on this thread are in good company between Golda Meir and Rav Shach.
rabbaim- hebrew (in english) is actully “ivrit”. Th quintessential name for our ancestors was “ivri” (see jossef) so that language too “announces’ itself as being “jewish”, with apologies to Rav Oshri but his view is inaccurate. and BTW- “cholent” is “chaud lent” – hot, slowly.
kaykay, I still think you could go with Aliza, but if Elka is a family name, watch out for family members who will try to make you feel bad for not using “Elka.” People are funny that way…
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