חבֿרה־מאַן
khevreman
a sociable fellow, one of the boys, the guy who knows everybody · noun (masculine)
Khaver is a friend - one person. Khevre is the crowd, the people of the circle. A khevreman is the man of that crowd, the guy of the guys. He walks into the café and by the time he sits down he's paying for somebody else's coffee and the owner's brother-in-law is coming out to say hello. Not a shlemiel, not somebody sitting in the corner.
יעדער אין דעם הויף קען אים —ער איז אַן אמתער חבֿרה־מאַן.
“Everybody in the courtyard knows him — he is a real khevreman.”
Who is the khevreman in your family or your community?
Published 8 September 2026