Passing Phrase - www.learnhebrew.org.il

Asuy Miksha Achat

Literally: Made of a single piece
Idiomatically: Homogeneous / One piece

"Asuy" (f. "Asuya") stems from the root ayin-sin-hey ע'ש'ה which means to make (Genesis 2:2). We find the word "asuy" also in the Bible (Numbers 25:6). "Miksha" has two very different meanings: The first and the one which our phrase is based upon can be found in Exodus (25:3), meaning a block or one unit: The menorah (7-branched candelabra) was fashioned out of one block of gold. The second one refers to a field, usually connected with the squash/cucumber family (Isiah 1:8). This phrase can refer to something physical i.e. the menorah as noted above, or to people, as in:

הציבור הישראלי אינו עשוי מקשה אחת.

"Hatsibur hayisraeli aino asui miksha achat." The Israeli public is not homogeneous…

…except when it comes to complaining about politics.


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