The root of this word is actually shin-nun-bet ש'נ'ב' (no aleph). It refers to a small window through which a breeze can blow (Proverbs 7:6). Many will be familiar with the phrase "Haru'ach noshevet krira" - a cold wind is blowing, which is from the song "Hafinjan" (The Coffee Pot), famously sung by Yaffa Yarkoni and written by Chaim Chefer. Eventually the word morphed into the small service window where a bank teller, post office clerk, or ticket seller would sit and accept the public very slowly.

סיפורו של העיתון הוא אשנב להיסטוריה של היישוב בארץ לפני קום המדינה.

"Sipuro shel ha-iton hu ashnav lehistoria shel hayishuv ba'aretz lifnei kom hamedina." The story of the newspaper is a window into the history of the settlement of the land before the founding of the state.

BTW, "Ashnav" was also the name of an underground Haganah newspaper which ran between 1941-47.

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