מַצְלֵמָה After having landed yesterday at LAX, I attended services this morning at my beloved community synagogue in which I was raised, Chabad of Encino. Following the prayers I sat in Rabbi Gordon’s class on the Torah portion, which is videotaped and uploaded daily. You can check it out here. Rabbi Joshua B. Gordon…
Note: the other day I taught that אונייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-3.m4a” /] and ספינה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-4.m4a” /] were interchangeable words for ship. It turns out that אונייה refers to a larger ship and ספינה to a smaller one. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-1.m4a” /]יַסְמִין The jasmine flower is named after a perfume from the Persian empire: jasmine – in Hebrew, יסמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/יסמין-1.m4a” /] – originates…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-1.m4a” /]לְהַעֲלוֹת חֶרֶס בְּיָדוֹ Hebrew does have a word for to fail – להיכשל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-3.m4a” /]הוא נכשל במבחן. He failed (on) the exam. But there’s another, softer expression: להעלות חרס בידו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להעלות-חרס-1.m4a” /] – literally to raise clay on his hand. The phrase is often shortened to להעלות חרס – to raise clay. For…
having trouble seeing the print? תְּלוּת Get talking… in Hebrew. Class starts October 30 around the country with Ulpan La-Inyan. After observing the הוֹשַׁעֲנָא רַבָּה (hoh-shah-NAH rah-BAH) service this morning and looking forward to the prayer for rain tomorrow, I’ve been thinking about how much we humans depend upon water and rain – for…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/השנה-1.m4a” /]הַשָּׁנָה You may know the Hebrew word for today or this day – היום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/השנה-2.m4a” /]. It’s also the title of a song by Ehud Banai. היום means literally the day: same structure works for this week – השבוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/השנה-3.m4a” /], this year – השנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/השנה-4.m4a” /], etc. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/השנה-5.m4a” /]כמה עולים הגיעו לארץ…