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Perhaps I'm among the last to have found this out, but it took me quite a while to understand why, in a signature, the name was preceded by a הק׳. The Ozar Rashei Tevot book has 31 different interpretations and this one is at position #28, meaning "hakatan." A good friend who obtained his Smicha in Czechoslovakia explained that in "that part of the world" people would humbly sign their letters, books, etc., as being "hakatan" הקטן even if they were gedolim.

My question is: When did this practice start and how widespread is it?

msh210
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Madeleine
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    Wasn't there a tanna named Shemuel HaKatan? – Double AA Jan 12 '12 at 02:44
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    @DoubleAA, that's following the name, not preceding it; and we don't know (or do we?) that he called himself that first, which is what this question's about. – msh210 Jan 12 '12 at 03:05
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    I seem to recall that Rabbi Menashe Klein's signature was מנשה הק׳ (I assume because Klein means "small"). – msh210 Jan 12 '12 at 18:55
  • May I point out that the transliteration of "Rash" is really getting to me? I'm really fighting the urge to modify someone else's transliteration, but it's just wrong, isn't it? Anyone else agree or disagree? – Seth J Apr 11 '12 at 20:58
  • @SethJ IIRC It's supposed to be a kamatz rachav/gadol under the reish, not a kamatz katan, so the transliteration looks find to me. Compare to Bamidbar 30:2 – Double AA Apr 11 '12 at 22:31
  • @DoubleAA - Can you point to a source for that? – Seth J Apr 12 '12 at 13:18
  • @SethJ Tikkun Simanim, Tikkun Ish Matzliach, I'm 90% sure about the koren sacks siddur. I'm still looking for a good source that discusses from a grammar perspective. – Double AA Apr 12 '12 at 15:50
  • I think I have Tikkun Simanim somewhere. Any other Pesukim that come to mind (specifically those that come up in Tefillah)? If so, I've got a Rinat Yisrael Machzor for R"H and Y"K that I can check. I'll ping my former Hebrew/Aramaic/Arabic professors later if I remember. – Seth J Apr 12 '12 at 16:25
  • @SethJ See discussions here. – Double AA Apr 12 '12 at 16:45
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    Just to be annoying, I have the book אוצר ראשי תבות by Shmuel Ashkenazi and Dov Jarden. The title of the book in English reads: OZAR RASHE TEVOT. – Madeleine Apr 12 '12 at 21:59
  • @msh210 I believe R' Menashe Klein at one point started calling himself like that "Menashe HaKatan" because he took that on as his last name (just what I heard -- since klein means katan.) He gave a haskama to his sons Sefer called "Mishnas HaGer" and on the letter heard it says "Menashe HaKatan". I don't know what the reason for the change was. – Yehoshua Nov 07 '12 at 22:05
  • @SethJ, DoubleAA, the shin has no dagesh to close the syllable, and an open syllable never gets a kamatz katan. – msh210 Nov 08 '12 at 15:33
  • related? (in spite of http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/13252/when-did-the-use-of-rashei-tevot-heh-kuf-in-writings-books-letters-etc#comment22097_13252) : http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/29195/is-the-midrash-about-the-moon-and-sun-being-the-same-size-intended-literally – Menachem Jul 07 '13 at 01:54
  • The Ben Ush Hai is the first Gadol I remember to use it. – Hacham Gabriel Sep 04 '13 at 03:24
  • @msh210 alternatively being that he was from Ungvar, a satellite Shtetll of Munkatch, from the Czechoslovakian area, he called himself that in line with the OP's reasoning. – user6591 Oct 08 '15 at 21:15

2 Answers2

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In Gemara Chulin 60b it refers to Yaakov Hakoton, Shmuel Hakoton (the Tanaah), and Dovid Hakoton. For Yaakov and Dovid it quotes Pesukim as proof.

Meir Zirkind
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  • See Double AA's comment of Jan 12 '12 at 2:44 to the question above, and my comment immediately beneath that comment. – msh210 Apr 07 '13 at 01:58
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    See this page of Haskomos to Siddur Sha'ar Hashomayim from the Shelah Hakodesh and you will see that some put Katan before the name and some after. http://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=22560&st=&pgnum=3 – Meir Zirkind Apr 09 '13 at 21:49
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The first reference to someone being known as HaKatan is most likely Shmuel HaKatan - a Tanna who lived according to some towards the end of the second Bais HaMikdash. The Yerushalmi in Sotah Perek 9 Halacha 13 brings 2 reasons why he was known as HaKatan. One is because he acted humbly and the other is because he was smaller than Shmuel HaRamasi.

Gershon Gold
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