B”H
Don’t bother looking up pushkantza in your Hebrew dictionary. It ain’t there. You can tell by the spelling (the final alef) that this is not a native Hebrew word. The modern Hebrew term for raven is orev shachor עור שׁחור, literally, a black crow. I wondered if pushkantza might be of Aramaic origin, or possibly even Polish. But a quick look in the Aramaic/Hebrew/English dictionary answered the question. It’s Aramaic.
There are three ways to spell (and say) this word:
- As it appears in our text: פּוּשְׁקָנְצא pushkantza
- פִּישְׁקָצא pishkatza
- פֻּשְׁקְצא pushk’tza
Likutei Moharan 3:1 quotes the agadah of Rabbah bar bar Chanah in Bava Basra 73b. There’s an interesting daf yomi on Bava Basra 73 that not only has an explanation of how we might frame the agados of Rabbah bar bar Chanah, but also speaks to the meaning of the story itself, with interpretations by the Vilna Ga’on and Marharsha.
IN DEFENSE OF THE RAVEN — I must say these folks did not have a very good understanding of the corvids. Ravens are very social birds. They maintain familial ties and young birds stay with their parents for up to two years before setting off on their own. Not only is it untrue that ravens don’t feed their young, but in fact, juvenile ravens stay with their parents and help raise their younger siblings. The young ones not only have parents to feed them but brothers and sisters also. So… while the analogies in the agadic interpretations are interesting, they not based on any real understanding of corvid behavior.
shir ‘Az
