In Hebrew: 'Who's Who'

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February 6, 2013, 12 PM ET

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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. 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.

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