how to say “basket” in Hebrew
סַל, סַלְסִלָּה, טֶנֶא
Hebrew has several words for basket, each with a distinct meaning:
1. סל
סַל is your typical weaved basket that can hold several kilos of fruit and other items.
is your typical weaved basket that can hold several kilos of fruit and other items.A metaphoric usage familiar to those of you who have made aliyah (immigrated to Israel) is סַל קְלִיטָה
– literally, absorption basket, that “basket” of benefits the State of Israel gives to its new immigrants.2. סלסלה
While סל is a basket with capacity for as much as a person can carry, סַלְסִלָּה is a smaller basket that Little Red Riding Hood might carry with a couple of apples inside. You might also hear Israelis pronouncing it סַלְסָלָה .
is a smaller basket that Little Red Riding Hood might carry with a couple of apples inside. You might also hear Israelis pronouncing it סַלְסָלָה .3. טנא
The word טֶנֶא refers to a decorative basket full of fruit, used for festive occasions, as appearing in this week’s Torah portion:
refers to a decorative basket full of fruit, used for festive occasions, as appearing in this week’s Torah portion:וְלָקַחְתָּ מֵרֵאשִׁית כָּל פְּרִי הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר תָּבִיא מֵאַרְצְךָ אֲשֶׁר ה’ אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ וְשַׂמְתָּ בַטֶּנֶא וְהָלַכְתָּ אֶל הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה’ אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם.
And you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from your land that the Lord your G-d is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket, and you shall go to the place that the Lord your G-d will choose, to make his name to dwell there.
– Deuteronomy 26:2
To visualize these different types of baskets, plug each of the three words into Google image search.