Mishmash (or mish mash) is a Yiddish word that means “mixture” or “medley” or “jumble.” It comes from the Yiddish word mish (מיש), which means “mix” and is related to the German misch.
A classic use of the word mishmash would be when teaching the Fourth Plague, Arov, which according to the most common Jewish teaching was a mixture (mishmash) of wild and dangerous animals.
Read: What Was the Fourth Plague?
In Jewish law, it is especially pertinent on Shabbat, when one of the 39 Melachot is not to “sort” mixed items (a mishmash). Known as borer (“selecting”), this prohibition has many caveats and details, such as the fact that one may select certain items from a mishmash, provided that they are needed in the immediate future and that it is done by hand.
Read: The Laws of Borer
