Passing Phrase - www.learnhebrew.org.il

Hicah al chet

Literally: beat one's breast (in contrition)
Idiomatically: To express remorse

This phrase refers to the tradition that on Yom Kippur when we confess to our sins we strike our fist at our heart to emphasize that we are admitting them and wish to repent.

I was once told that the word nache נכה or invalid stems from the same root Nun chaf hey נ'כ'ה' and refers to means someone who was hit on a limb .

הנשיא הכה על חטא בראיון לתוכנית טלווזיה

Hanasi hicah al chet bera'ayon the tochnit televizia

The president expressed remorse in an interview on television.

Of course he did it on prime time with a flag on his side…

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