Interesting. I think where the "root גמר also means "to learn", and from here we get the word Gemara גמרא (also גמרה)" played out in my life this year, given that I started my Bahir study 10 days prior to Rosh Hashanah (for 10 days of selichot) and, as of this moment, have 11 "entries" already on the first verse alone!!!! - my Oral Torah (Gemara), so to speak!
Liorah | Homepage | 09.29.06 - 10:59 pm | #

I've just commented on "Gmar chatima tova":

http://biurchametz.blogspot.com/...hatima- tov.html
Zman Biur | Homepage | 10.03.06 - 6:45 pm | #

לברך על המוגמר has nothing to do with 'finishing'. מוגמר (or מיגמר in the Eretz-Yisrael tradition)meansthe perfumed spices burnt at the end of the meal. See Mishna Berachot 6:6 and Tosephta Shabbat 1:23; and see Ben Yehuda, Dictionary, p. 2785-6.
Moshe Morgenstern | 10.04.06 - 8:55 am | #

Liorah - Interesting...

Zman Biur - I guess I'll leave my response by you...

Moshe - I agree, that's the point I was trying to make in my post. However, in modern Hebrew usage, לברך על המוגמר refers to finishing something, even though that's not what the phrase originally meant.
Dave (Balashon) | Homepage | 10.04.06 - 9:55 am | #

You're correct. My eye skipped and I missed a part of the post. My apologies!
Moshe Morgenstern | 10.04.06 - 5:02 pm | #