# Chin-tzadek



## James Brandon

On the assumption that we are dealing with a Hebrew word/expression, here, I would like to know what 'chin-tzadek' would refer to. I believe it relates to 'tzadik', which I am familiar with. Why 'chin'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzadik

This query is part of some research I am doing in Jewish Polish history. 

Thanks for help.

__________

Extract from the book I am working on (in relation to synagogue):-

There was a special place next to the sacred closet for the ‘chin-tzadek'; he had the title of rabbi (Rabbi Pinchas [or Pinhas] Meir Berman is mentioned here, and there is his photo). There are references to the hazzan (or *cantor), and i*t is the same person as the ‘chin-tzadek’, i.e. Rabbi Berman; he is described as “a very gentle Jew” who had a beautiful voice.


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## ahshav

No, it's not the word "tzadik" - it is a mispronunciation of the letter tzadi (צ). The acronym (commonly pronounced "shatz") means "messenger [on behalf] of the public/congregation" - the one who leads prayers in shul. Also, commonly known as "khazan."

ש"ץ - שליח ציבור


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## James Brandon

Thank you very much, but can you explicate a little bit more? I mean, what should I write in English for this, and what is the acronym you are referring to? 

I understand we mean the 'khazan' and not a 'tzadik', which makes more sense.


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## ahshav

The acronym is ש"ץ - pronounced "shatz," equivalent in usage to the word "khazan."


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## James Brandon

OK, so, does "shatz" ( = khazan) cover the whole lot, ie what I referred to - erroneously - as "chin-tzadek", or does it cover _only_ "tzadek", in which case, what does "_chin_" stand for and how can I translate it into English?

I do not want to sound dense, but I do not know Hebrew, as, by now, you have realised, and the source I am working on, obviously, features words in Hebrew, apart from Yiddish and Polish... I have used a translator but this one was left behind, as it were. 

Many thanks.


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## ahshav

It covers both, as it is an acronym for Shaliach Tzibur - the first two letters of each word form the acronym - "shatz."

As for translation into English - I do not think an attempt at a literal translation will work - "the one who leads the congregation in prayer" is an apt description though.


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## James Brandon

OK, so the full term is 'Shaliach Tzibur' and 'Shatz' is the short form, put together with initials, as is often the case in Hebrew. The meaning is clear. And you have given me a synonym. 

I am still a bit puzzled how come the translator (not a professional one, and a secular person, so not that well acquainted with matters religious) could have transcribed it 'chin-tzadek' because it does not sound the same... I suppose your worked it out from the quote and context.

Many thanks.


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## Lyberty

'chin-tzadek' are just the names of these letters in the Hebrew alphabet.
chin - ש
tzadi - צ


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## Lyberty

tsadi can be written צ and ץ


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## amikama

James Brandon said:


> There was a special place next to the sacred closet for the ‘*chin*-tzadek'; he had the title of rabbi (Rabbi Pinchas [or Pinhas] Meir Berman is mentioned here, and there is his photo). There are references to the hazzan (or cantor), and it is the same person as the ‘*chin*-tzadek’, i.e. Rabbi Berman; he is described as “a very gentle Jew” who had a beautiful voice.


Maybe it's a stupid question, but I wonder why the name of the letter ש was transliterated the French way, and not as "*sh*in".


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## David

You don't say what the original language of your quotation is. It appears to be description of a synagogue written in, or translated into, somewhat awkward English. For example, the "sacred closet" sounds a little odd; usually the enclosure in which the Scrolls of the Pentateuch are kept is usually called the "Holy Ark" in English, not the "sacred closet."

Given the rough English, I presume the _chin-_ spelling, which would be pronounced by a Francophone like the English  Hebrew, Yiddish and English "shin", is just a misspelling by someone who did not distinguish carefully between _ch_ and _sh_ as used in English in spelling.

"OK, so, does "shatz" ( = khazan) cover the whole lot, ie what I referred to - erroneously - as "chin-tzadek", or does it cover only "tzadek", in which case, what does "chin" stand for and how can I translate it into English?"​
The acronym ש’’ץ, normally pronounced "shatz", [Compare: NATO, UNICEF] as has been explained above, consists of the two letters "shin" ש and "tzadek" צ (the initial and medial form) or ץ (terminal form), which are the initials of the expression שליח ציבור "shaliach tzibur," "emissary for the congregation", a traditional title for the individual usually known in English as the _cantor. _

In your quotation, it has been transcribed not as pronounced, but as the names of the two letters, _[s]hin-tsadek._ I  assume, from the context, that the original language of the writer was probably Yiddish, which includes a very high proportion of Hebrew and Aramaic words and expressions spelled in their original form, though often pronounced differently in Yiddish,or perhaps Polish, where shin would be written _szyn_.

Given that three or perhaps four languages are involved, Hebrew, Yiddish, perhaps Polish and English, and that the writer was probably not primarily an Anglophone, the few ambiguities are to be expected.

Does that clarify the very valuable advice, given in somewhat disjointed form, by previous posters?


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## James Brandon

Thank you for explanations and further insight, more particularly the latest post by David, which, indeed, clears up any ambiguities and tidies up any loose ends there might have been. 

It may be obvious to a Hebrew speaker how the abbreviations work in relation to the full expression (and bearing in mind vowels are left out); however, this use of abbreviations for ordinary words (not NATO or BBC or OPEC) is not found, to the best of my knowledge, in European languages, and is very disconcerting to someone such as myself, who does not speak Hebrew. A bit of explaining comes in handy, as a result. 

The confusion on translation/transcription stems from the fact that I have been working on a Memorial Book written in Yiddish and Hebrew, with many Polish words added in (not to mention place-names and the odd bit of German, or Russian). The Hebrew was initially translated by a Hebrew speaker, who is a young, educated Israeli, whose English is good, but not 100% fluent, and who does not know Yiddish, and is not that well versed in matters religious. From the English I was given, I have tried to produce an edited version that is as close to the original as possible. (With the Yiddish, it has been more straightforward, since the person translating into English is a professional translator.) 

This explains the confusion. As for the transcription (_chin_ instead of _shin_), I chose _chin_ because the /tch/ sound in English is /ch/ (e.g.: _cheeky_) and not /sh/ (e.g.: _shame_); the word incorporated a /tch/ sound in the way it was pronounced: hence, my transcription made sense and was not French in nature. The only words in English where /ch/ is pronounced /sh/ are non-English words (and this could be a case in point...), such as _Chinook_ (the helicopter, and originally an American Indian name) or _Champagne_ (a French region and word), etc. 

Original sources that relate to Eastern & Central Europe would mix various languages and both Yiddish and Hebrew are hard to transcribe into Latin characters, as we know, hence the endless confusions. Even Polish, for that matter, uses letters that have no equivalent in Western European languages. So there is absolutely nothing surprising in such problems - regrettable as they may be - arising. 

Yiddish names of people can usually be transcribed in 2 or 3 or 4 different ways, and each Jewish Polish person, pre-war, usually had a Yiddish name and a Polish name on top of it all (I am talking about first names), to make matters more confusing. 

That is a bit of context for you.


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## David

OK, but it's not /tch/, it's /sh/. Dunno who pronounced it for you, but it would be the same sound in Hebrew and Yiddish.

Two minor points: the tsadek changes form because in the whole word, it is an inintial letter, but in the acronym, it is at the end, in the terminal form.

These acronyms are very common in old religious texts, often used as "nicknames" for revered sages, the Rambam (Maimonides), the Besht (Baal-Shem-Tov), etc. Acronyms are not a recent invention in Hebrew, and were absorbed into Yiddish centuries ago.  The two apostrophe-like marks in the middle are not letters but indicators that it is an abbreviation. Compare ד’’ר = Dr.

Good luck with the Yizkor Book.


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## James Brandon

David,

Yes, there could have been some confusion regarding phonetics, hence my transcription (/ch/ Vs /sh/). 

I am aware that abbreviations of the kind we are talking about are very common in Hebrew - there is no equivalent in languages I know (English, French or Spanish). 

I am close to the end of dealing with the Yizkor Book; transcription has been a big problem all along, and has not been solved entirely satisfactorily, I must admit. (E.g.: An Israeli Hebrew speaker is reading a 1970s text in convoluted Hebrew referring to a Polish place name, and he speaks neither Polish nor Yiddish, and finds some rough equivalent in Latin script, when, presumably, the Polish name had to be transcribed into Hebrew script, in the first place, in a haphazard way, unless the author of the text used a Yiddish name for that place, itself written in Hebrew...)


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