two words for “gift” in Hebrew
חֵרֶם, לְהַחֲרִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חרם-1.wav” /] The English word boycott is named for a 19th-century Irishman, Charles C. Boycott, who was ostracized after refusing to lower rent for his tenant farmers (see Online Etymological Dictionary). The Hebrew word for this social (or antisocial) action goes further back, all the way to the Bible. The word is חֵרֶם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חרם-2.wav”…
I’m reading a book written by a cousin of my grandmother’s, who was among those in Budapest that helped rescue Jews during the Holocaust. One of the missions he participated in was smuggling Jews across the Romanian border to safety, on their way to אֶרֶץ יִשְׂרָאֵל (EH-rets yees-rah-EL) – the Land of Israel. …
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/שחום-#.m4a” /]שָׁחוּם If you’ve taken our Level 1 course, you know the basic Hebrew colors, which include חום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/שחום-#.m4a” /] – brown and שחור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/שחום-#.m4a” /] – black. Melded together, they create the word שחום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/שחום-#.m4a” /] – dark brown, which describes a skin color. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/שחום-#.m4a” /]היא בחורה צנומה, שחומה, וכריזמטית ביותר. היא…
שִׁלְשׁוֹם Can’t read Hebrew yet? Today, in Hebrew, is הַיּוֹם . Yesterday is אֶתְמוֹל . And two days ago? That’s שִׁלְשׁוֹם . For example: דִּבַּרְתִּי אִתּוֹ שִׁלְשׁוֹם. I spoke with him the day before yesterday. The modern usage of שלשום as the day before yesterday…
להתאבל If you’re familiar with Rabbinic law and literature, you probably know the word for mourner – אָבֵל/אָבֵלָה (ah-VEHL – m; ah-veh-LAH – f), as well as the word for mourning: אָבֵלוּת (ah-veh-LOOT). Here’s how to say to mourn: (le-heet-ah-BEHL). Why this word today? I wish אבלות on no one. But…