I realize that I should be focusing on 'chatan,' but I couldn't help but notice the similarity between 'pras' and 'prize.'
Phil, you are absolutely correct. In pre-modern Hebrew, פְרָס (or even פֶּרֶס) means 'portion, payment, salary). See Mishna Avot 1:3:
אנטיגנס איש סוכו קיבל משמעון הצדיק. הוא היה אומ'. אל תהיו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת לקבל פרס אלא היו כעבדים המשמשים את הרב על מנת שלא לקבל פרס. ויהא מורא שמים עליכם.
(This is the reading of the Kaufmann manuscript.)
In Modern Hebrew, owing to the similarity of sounds between pras and prize, it has taken on the latter meaning.
I read that some of the earliest Simchas Torah piyyutim are clearly meant to accompany a spring festival; and that these would have been used in the three and a half year cycle when the Torah reading was completed in the spring.
michael - you'll need to explain how a 3.5 year cycle consistently ends in the spring.
dlc - today, the bar mitzvah boy is known as the 'chatan bar mitzvah'
Phil - while Moshe answered you very well (thanks Moshe) I think that פרס is definitely a word that deserves its own post. As they say in Israel "acharei hechagim"..
Michael - I've often thought it would be nice to live in Eretz Yisrael with a 3.5 year cycle. Shul would be shorter, and you'd get to pay more attention to a smaller section of the Torah.
Adderabbi - Again, I wonder when that term was first used, and how it came about.
In answer to adderabbi: with a three and a half year cycle, Simchas Torah would alternate between spring and autumn.
In Australia, South Africa, etc. the one-year cycle consistently ends in spring. But I presume these are not the origin of the early piyyutim...
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