It is human nature to do things for what we think is a very good reason, but people fool themselves. An example is the modern-day practice of Hebrew-loving Jews calling their grandparents by names they think are ancient Hebrew. They do so because they love Hebrew and want to call their grandparents in this ancient language. They are mistaken.

Saba (סַבָּא) and Savta (סַבְתָּא) are affectionate terms for grandfather and grandmother used by grandchildren who love ancient Hebrew and want to call their grandparents in that language. But they are fooling themselves.

This widespread practice began only in the mid-20th century, when Israel revived spoken Hebrew and later........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)