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מִי וָמִי

Growing up in Los Angeles, I used to get excited about the Oscars.Now, living in Jerusalem, I’m a lot more excited about the who’s who in the new Knesset.

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The Hebrew term for an illustrious who’s who is list מִי וָמִי – literally, who and who.

If you’re up the challenge, read this Ynet article about the מִי וָמִי בַּכְּנֶסֶת הַחֲדָשָׁה the who’s who in the new Knesset, or perhaps just the first paragraph, or even just the title.

The phrase first appears in סֵפֶר שְׁמוֹת the Biblical Book of Exodus:

וַיּוּשַׁב אֶת-מֹשֶׁה וְאֶת-אַהֲרֹן, אֶל-פַּרְעֹה, וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם, לְכוּ עִבְדוּ אֶת-ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם; מִי וָמִי, הַהֹלְכִים?
(שְׁמוֹת י’:ח’)

And Moses and Aaron were summoned back to Pharoah, and he said to them, “Go, worship the L-rd your G-d – who and who is going?” (Exodus 10:8)

In Modern Hebrew, we might encounter:

לַתַּעֲרוּכָה הֻזְמְנוּ כָּל הַמִּי-וָמִי שֶׁל תֵּל אָבִיב.
All the who’s who of Tel Aviv were invited to the exhibition.

Visit Ktzat Ivrit.

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Ami Steinberger is founder and director of Ulpan La-Inyan.