Wednesday, April 11, 2007


With a number of Israeli national holidays and memorial days coming up, there will be many ceremonies held in the country. The Hebrew word for ceremony is tekes. How is it spelled in Hebrew, and what is its origin?

The site Safa-Ivrit tells us that we find two spellings - טכס and טקס. However the spelling טקס is used more in Modern Hebrew, and is recommended by the Hebrew Language Academy.

In Talmudic Hebrew we find both forms, as well as the word tachsis טכסיס - all meaning "arrangement". They all derive from the Greek taxis - meaning "order". Other words deriving from this root are tactics, taxonomy, and syntax. (Taxi, as in a cab, is not connected, but is related to the word "tax" instead.)

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