Judaica antedatings

[James A. Landau]

What follows is my list of Jewish terms for which I have an antedating to the
date on the OED2 CD-ROM (of which I have the 1st edition).

The following terms I have not yet submitted to the OED but intend to in the
next day or so: Heshvan, kosher, perfect year, potato pancake, shochet, and
Veadar.  All others have already been submitted.

Bat mitzvah      (OED 1952)         Barry Popik has 1922
Chanukah         (OED 1891)    1843 [H] also 1864, 1868, 1872,
                               1878.  Barry Popik has 1841
Fast of Esther   (not in OED)  1843 [H]
Fast of Gedalia  (not in OED)  1843 [H]
fleishig         (not in OED)  1912 [B page 79]
gabbai           (not in OED)  1758 [C vol I pages 83f],
                               1903 [D vol V page 538]
goy              (OED 1841)    1800 [G page 592], sometime in
                               17th century [C vol II page 497]
Heshvan          (OED 1833)    1758  [C vol I page 83f]
High Holy Days   (not in OED)  1923 [E page 161]
Hoshanna Rabba   (not in OED)  1843 [H]
Karaism          (OED 1882 but "Karaitism" 1741)  1771 [F]
kehillah         (OED 1882)    1765 [C vol I page 86]
kishke           (OED 1936)    1912 [B page 145]
kosher           (OED 1851)    1825 [G page 525],
                                    Barry Popik has 1816
mahamad          (OED 1831)    1783 [C vol II page 157]
matzah           (OED 1846)    1825 [G pages 529ff]
milchig          (not in OED)  1912 [B page 79]
parnas           (OED 1831)    1759 [C vol I page 119]
perfect year     (not in OED)  1833 [OED under "Hesvan"]
potato pancake   (OED 1936)    1903 [A page 34]
Rosh Hashanah    (OED 186)     1766 [D vol X page 55]
Rosh Hodesh      (OED 1879)    1843 [H]
Shavuot          (OED 1892)    1843 [H]
Shemini Atzereth (not in OED)  1868 [I page 42]
shochet          (OED 1841)    1825 [G page 525]
Shofar           (OED 1833)    1793 [G page 657]
shul             (OED 1874)    1771 [C vol II page 58]
Simchat Torah    (OED 1891)    1843 [H]
Sukkot           (OED 1892)    1843 [H]
Tishah b'Av      (OED 1936)    1874 [J page 61]
ultra-Orthodox   (not in OED)  1849 [K, January 1849]
Veadar           (not in OED)  1758 [C vol I page 83f]
yad              (not in OED)  1771 [C vol II page 58]
yeshiva          (OED 1851)    1760 [C vol I page 85]
Yom Kippur       (OED 1854)    1735 [C vol I page 111],
                               1846 [OED under "Rosh Hashanah"]

The above list is hardly the final word.  For example, there exists a Hebrew
calendar, published in Newport, Rhode Island in 1806 by one Moses Lopez.  At
least one copy of this calendar is extant, at the American Jewish Archives in
Cincinnati.  Someone who can examine a copy of this calendar will probably
have a dozen antedatings of the above list.

           James A. Landau
           systems engineer
           FAA Technical Center (ACB-510/BCI)
           Atlantic City Int'l Airport NJ 08405 USA


        feetnotes

A. Kander _Settlement Cook Book 2nd edition_ 1903
B. Kander _Settlement Cook Book 6th edition_ 1912
C. Jacob Rader Marcus _Early American Jewry_
D. Jewish Encyclopedia, 1901-1905
E. Jeffrey S. Gurock, ed _American Jewish History_ vol I
F. Encyclopedia Britannica, 1st Edition, 1771
G. Blau and Baron, ed. _The Jews of the United States 1790-1840_
H. Jewish calendar in "The Occident" September 1843
I. E. Eppstein _Confirmant's Guide to the Mosaic Religion_
J. Vorspan and Gartner _History of the Jews of Los Angeles_
K. The Occident (magazine edited by Isaac Leeser, first published 1843)