smooth
At a glance
In short
Chalak is the adjective: smooth, and where a surface lets things slide, slippery. Rabbi Klein concludes, in light of Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg's explanation, that shua and its Aramaic form shiiya are not one hundred percent synonymous with it: they name daubing or pasting one material onto another, which incidentally smooths the surface (smoothed on, daubed, plastered). Rashi takes shua instead as combing a single material smooth, and the dispute between him and the Tosafists over shaatnez in Kilayim 9:8 turns on that difference.
Distinctions
Chalak (חלק)
Yaakov: "v'anochi ish chalak," "and I am a smooth man" (Bereishis 27:11); Rivkah covers chelkas tzavarav, the smooth of his neck (Bereishis 27:16). The word extends to slippery footing and to slipping itself. In Rabbinic Hebrew a chaluk is a plain, smooth garment with no frills.
The Yiddish and German word for chalak is glatt, best known from the stringency requiring an animal's lungs to be smooth and free of bumps, whence glatt meat. Glatt is also a cognate of Yiddish and German gleiten/glitchen, a relative of English glide, and the relation between smooth and glide is obvious, since one glides easily on a smooth surface. Glitchen has reached other familiar words: the English glitch, a malfunction or slip-up, according to some linguists, and etymologists even trace English glad to the same Germanic root, the feeling of life sailing along smoothly. Modern Hebrew glishah, surfing or skiing or going down a playground slide, derives from glatt/glitch as well, since Hebrew has no itch sound and it morphs to sh, glitch becoming glish.
Shua (שוע), shiiya (שעיע), mishi (משעי)
Root ש-ע. On Mecklenburg's reading, the root is about laying one thing onto another so that the join is smooth: plaster onto a wall (Vayikra 14:42 in Onkelos), fibers pressed into one another (Kilayim 9:8 on Tosafos' reading), eyelid onto eyelid (Yeshayahu 6:10, 32:3). Mishi at Yechezkel 16:4 is the same root: in the navi's metaphor, which likens Hashem's redeeming the Jews from Mitzrayim to a kindly stranger taking in an abandoned baby girl, the infant "was not washed with water for mishi." And shaashua, delight or enjoyment, is the root borrowed, since feeling something smooth is an enjoyable sensation, so a word for smooth is lent to whatever is enjoyable.
Where the authorities disagree
What shua means in the shaatnez Mishnah. Shaatnez (Vayikra 19:19; Devarim 22:11) is read by the Mishnah (Kilayim 9:8) as a contraction of shua (smoothed), tavui (spun) and nuz (woven or twisted); the issur applies only to fabric made of wool and linen via these three processes.
- Rashi (to Yevamos 5b): shua is "combed smooth," and it applies to a single material worked on its own. So wool and linen must be combined from the earliest stage, at the combing of the fibers; mixed later, the cloth is not shaatnez.
- Tosafos (opinions cited there): shua is the smoothness produced by attaching separate things, "pressed smooth together." Wool and linen processed apart and joined afterward are still shaatnez.
One practical case is felt, made by pressing fibers together: not shaatnez on Rashi's definition, shaatnez on the Tosafists'.
The proof for the second view. Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg (1785-1865) points to the Rambam's commentary on that Mishnah, which defines shua by citing Targum Onkelos to Vayikra 14:42, where v'tach es habayis, plastering the house with fresh mortar once the afflicted stones are removed and replaced, is rendered v'yashua. As Rabbi Klein unpacks it, in that context shua's primary sense is not "making smooth" but "applying plaster"; if the whole of its meaning were "making smooth," as Rashi has it, the Targum makes no sense there, so shua must also mean attaching, with smoothing the implication (and the plaster is smoothed over the wall as much as the wall by the plaster). Mecklenburg adds the cognate sha, closing the eyes (Yeshayahu 6:10, 32:3), where it appears as though the upper lid is attached to the lower, which supports his point that shua also means attachment.
What mishi means in Yechezkel 16:4.
- Radak (there and in Sefer HaShorashim): smoothness, since washing smooths the skin.
- Menachem Ibn Saruk and Rashi: it belongs with shaashua, and the pasuk speaks of bathing for pleasure.
Whether shiiya is Hebrew at all. The Targumim render Yaakov's chalak (Bereishis 27:11) with the Aramaic shiiya, whose root is ש-ע-(ע), which suggests they are a Hebrew and Aramaic pair for one idea. Rabbi Avraham Vilner (1765-1808), the Vilna Gaon's son, in Tirgem Avraham, brings Yechezkel 16:4 to show the ש-ע root in the sense of "smooth" exists in Hebrew as well as Aramaic, which is what makes a real distinction between chalak and shua possible.
Radak on this root
Sefer HaShorashim
ח-ל-ק
To divide, with חֵלֶק, a portion, and from it חֶלְקָה, a holding of fields. A second sense is smoothness, and likewise of words, soft and enticing speech and deceit.
Dividing
וַיַּחְלְקוּ אֶת הָאָרֶץ (Yehoshua 14:5), they divided the land, and חִלְקוּ שְׁלַל אֹיְבֵיכֶם (Yehoshua 22:8), divide the spoil of your enemies. וַיֵּחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם לַיְלָה (Bereishis 14:15), and the night was divided over them, he explains: at the middle of the night he overtook them. The nouns are חֵלֶק, a portion, and מַחֲלֹקֶת, a division.
The plot of ground
From this a holding of fields is called a חֶלְקָה, because this is one portion and that another: הַֽחֶלְקָה אֲשֶׁר־לִי (Shmuel II 14:31), the plot that is mine, and חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה (Rus 4:3), the plot of the field.
Smooth
וְאָנֹכִי אִישׁ חָלָק (Bereishis 27:11), and I am a smooth man, and מִן הָהָר הֶחָלָק (Yehoshua 11:17), from the smooth mountain, which he explains as the mountain that had no trees on it; Yonasan renders that one from the first sense, טוּרָא פְּלִיגָא, a divided mountain. From smoothness the river stones are named as well, חַלֻּקֵי אֲבָנִים מִן הַנַּחַל (Shmuel I 17:40), smooth stones from the brook, because they are smooth.
Smooth speech
חָלְקוּ מַחְמָאֹת פִּיו (Tehillim 55:22), the butter of his mouth was smooth, and לְשׁוֹנָם יַחֲלִיקוּן (Tehillim 5:10), they make their tongue smooth. The nouns are מֵחֶלְקַת לָשׁוֹן נָכְרִיָּה (Mishlei 6:24), from the smoothness of a strange tongue, and דַּבְּרוּ לָנוּ חֲלָקוֹת (Yeshayahu 30:10), speak to us smooth things, and with the letters doubled וַחֲלַקְלַקֹּת (Tehillim 35:6), and smooth places. All of them, he says, are softness and smoothness, and likewise of words, the softening and enticing of the tongue and its deceit.
Slipping away
לַחֲלִק מִשָּׁם בְּתוֹךְ הָעָם (Yirmiyahu 37:12), to slip away from there among the people, he takes as ענין השמטה, slipping away, which lies close to the sense of slipperiness: Yirmiyahu wished to slip out from there. He allows that it may be read from the first sense instead.
אֲשֶׁר חָלַק י"י אֱלֹהֶיךָ אֹתָם (דברים ט, יט), יַֽחֲלֹק נַֽחֲלָֽה (משלי יז, ב), וַיַּחְלְקוּ אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ (יהושע יד, ה), תַּחְלְקוּ אֶת־הַשָּׂדֶֽה (שמואל ב' יט, ל), חִלְקוּ שְׁלַל־אֹֽיְבֵיכֶם (יהושע כב, ח). והפעל העומד חָלַק לִבָּם (הושע י, ב). והנפעל אֵי־זֶה הַדֶּרֶךְ יֵחָלֶק אוֹר (איוב לח, כד). וַיֵּֽחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם לַיְלָה (בראשית יד, טו), כלומר כי בחצי הלילה השיגם. והכבד [פִּעֵל] וַיְחַלֵּק לְכָל־הָעָם (שמואל ב' ו, יט), אֲחַלְּקֵם בְּיַֽעֲקֹב (בראשית מט, ז), וַיְחַלְּקוּ לָהֶם אֶת־הָאָרֶץ לַֽעֲבָר־בָּהּ (מלכים א' יח, ו). ושלא נזכר פועלו [פֻּעַל] אָז חֻלַּק עַד־שָׁלָל מַרְבֶּה (ישעיה לג, כג), וְאַדְמָֽתְךָ בַּחֶבֶל תְּחֻלָּק (עמוס ז, יז). וההתפעל וְהִתְחַלְּקוּ אֹתָהּ לְשִׁבְעָה חֲלָקִים (יהושע יח, ה), פירוש התחלקו בה. והשם הַמַּֽחֲלֹקֶת הָֽאַחַת (דברי הימים א' כז, א), וְעַל מַֽחֲלֻקְתּוֹ (שם כז, ד), כִּי לֹֽא־פָטַר יְהֽוֹיָדָע הַכֹּהֵן אֶת־הַמַּחְלְקֽוֹת (דברי הימים ב' כג, ח), לְכֹל דְּבַר הַמַּחְלְקוֹת הַבָּאָה וְהַיֹּצֵאת (שם א' כז, א), כְּמַחְלְקֹתָם לְשִׁבְטֵיהֶם (יהושע יא, כג). ומשקל אחר וְחֵלֶק הָֽאֲנָשִׁים (בראשית יד, כד), בחמש נקודות, חֶלְקִי י"י אָמְרָה נַפְשִׁי (איכה ג, כד). ומשקל אחר חֶלְקַת מְחֹקֵק (דברים לג, כא). ומשקל אחר וַֽחֲלֻקַּת בֵּֽית־אָב (דברי הימים ב' לה, ה), כלם ענינם ידוע. ומזה נקראת אחזת השדות חלקה לפי שזו חלק אחד וזו חלק אחר הַֽחֶלְקָה אֲשֶׁר־לִי (שמואל ב' יד, לא), חֶלְקַת הַשָּׂדֶה (רות ד, ג), וְאָֽכְלָה אֶת־הַחֵֽלֶק (עמוס ז, ד), בְּחֵלֶק יִזְרְעֶאל (מלכים ב' ט, י). וענין אחר חָלְקוּ מַחְמָאֹת פִּיו (תהלים נה, כב). והכבד אֲמָרֶיהָ הֶֽחֱלִֽיקָה (משלי ב, טז), לְשׁוֹנָם יַֽחֲלִֽיקוּן (תהלים ה, י), גֶּבֶר מַֽחֲלִיק (משלי כט, ה), כִּי־הֶחֱלִיק אֵלָיו בְּעֵינָיו (תהלים לו, ג), לַֽחֲלִק מִשָּׁם בְּתוֹךְ הָעָֽם (ירמיה לז, יב), משפטו לְהַֽחֲלִיק הם ענין השמטה שהוא קרוב לענין חלקלקות רוצה לומר שהיה רוצה להיות נשמט משם. מַֽחֲלִיק פַּטִּישׁ (ישעיה מא, ז). ויש לפרש לַֽחֲלִק מִשָּׁם בְּתוֹךְ הָעָֽם מהענין הראשון. והתאר וְאָֽנֹכִי אִישׁ חָלָֽק (בראשית כז, יא), כָּל־חֲזוֹן שָׁוְא וּמִקְסַם חָלָק (יחזקאל יב, כד), מִן־הָהָר הֶֽחָלָק (יהושע יא, יז), שלא היו בו אילנות, ויונתן תרגם מהענין הראשון טוּרָא פְּלִיגָא. וְחָלָק מִשֶּׁמֶן חִכָּֽהּ (משלי ה, ג). והשם בְּחֵלֶק שְׂפָתֶיהָ תַּדִּיחֶֽנּוּ (משלי ז, כא), וכן לְחֵלֶק יַגִּיד רֵעִים (איוב יז, ה), והנני עתיד לפרש בשרש רמם. ומשקל אחר וְעַל חֶלְקַת צַוָּארָֽיו (בראשית כז, טז), מֵֽחֶלְקַת לָשׁוֹן נָכְרִיָּֽה (משלי ו, כד), דַּבְּרוּ־לָנוּ חֲלָקוֹת (ישעיה ל, י), בַּֽחֲלָקוֹת תָּשִׁית לָמוֹ (תהלים עג, יח). ובדגש יַֽחֲנִיף בַּֽחֲלַקּוֹת (דניאל יא, לב). ובהכפל העי"ן והלמ"ד יִֽהְיֶה דַרְכָּם לָהֶם כַּֽחֲלַקְלַקּוֹת בָּֽאֲפֵלָה (ירמיה כג, יב), יְֽהִי־דַרְכָּם חשֶׁךְ וַֽחֲלַקְלַקֹּת (תהלים לה, ו), וְהֶחֱזִיק מַלְכוּת בַּֽחֲלַקְלַקּֽוֹת (דניאל יא, כא), כלם ענין רכות וחליקות. וכן בענין הדברים ברוך ופתוי הלשון והתרמית. ומזה נקראו אבני הנחל בְּחַלְּקֵי־נַחַל חֶלְקֵךְ (ישעיה נז, ו). ומשקל אחר חַלֻּקֵי אֲבָנִים מִן־הַנַּחַל (שמואל א' יז, מ), לפי שהם חלקים ובלע"ז קוגל"ש.
Radak, Sefer HaShorashim, Berlin 1847. Public domain, digitised by Sefaria from the National Library of Israel.
Sources
Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Smooth Sliding and Glad Gliding," What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 30 November 2019.
Cited in the essay: Bereishis 27:11 with the Targumim, and 27:16; Vayikra 14:42 with Targum Onkelos, and 19:19; Devarim 22:11; Yeshayahu 6:10, 32:3; Yechezkel 16:4 with Radak, Rashi and Menachem Ibn Saruk; Mishnah Kilayim 9:8 with the Rambam's commentary; Rashi and Tosafos to Yevamos 5b; Radak, Sefer HaShorashim s.v. משע; Rabbi Avraham Vilner, Tirgem Avraham; Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, HaKsav VeHaKabbalah to Vayikra 19:19, Devarim 32:9.