Halaka

[Sam Weiss <samweiss...>]

<borzykowski (at) infomaniak(dot)ch> wrote:

 >What is the meaning of the yiddish /hebrew term "Halaka" ?
 >Can it be the child's first haircut?
 >This question is not completely OoT: 
 >I saw the klezmer theme "Bottle Dance" or "Folk song"
 >under the title "Halaka". Could this song/dance
 >be used for that circumstance?

Halaka (I've also seen it written as 'Halaqa', 'Halaqah' & 'Hahlaqah) is 
indeed a Hebrew (?Arabic) term for the "Upsherenish" ceremony of a 
3-year old boy. It's not the customary word for a haircut, but "Halak" 
in Hebrew can mean 'smooth' or 'bald'. The word is most often used in 
connection with the particular ceremony held at Meron (Israel) on Lag 
B'Omer morning -- a day for general haircutting among Orthodox.  A 
substantial portion of the instrumentals and wordless dance tunes among 
the Chassidim who partake in various Meron festivities derive from 
borrowings of the klezmer repertoire (an unusual case, since the classic 
path for such borrowings was vice versa).  A bottle dance, as well as 
variations of a Broygez Tants or T'khiyes Hameysim Tants, are typical of 
the Meron musicmaking.

The word (spelled with Khet-Lamed-Kuf) has nothing to do with "Halacha," 
(Hey-Lamed-Chaf).

______________________________________________________
Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ

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