having trouble seeing the print? מָסָךְ Check out Ulpan La-Inyan’s winter course offerings! The flat object emanating light, text and images you’re probably looking at right now, a monitor, is called in Hebrew a מָסָך (mah-SAHKH). This word goes all the way back to the Torah, in which a מסך – a…
having trouble seeing the print? פָּרָה Ancient Israel was the nexus of its world, the crossroads of trade routes running from Assyria in the north to Egypt in the south… and from India in the East to Mauretania (ancient Morocco) in the west. A popular mode of long-term transportation in those days was by…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-1.m4a” /]הִתְכַּוַּנְתִּי If you’re familiar with Jewish prayer, you may know the word כוונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-2.m4a” /] – intent. The word is derived from the root כ.ו.נ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-3.m4a” /] – which is quite ubiquitous, appearing in words as diverse as כן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-4.m4a” /] – yes, נכון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-5.m4a” /] – correct, and להתכונן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/התכוונתי-6.m4a” /] – to get ready. Another application of…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תחרותי-1.m4a” /]תַּחֲרוּתִי The Hebrew word for competition is תחרות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תחרותי-5.m4a” /], which I discussed around the time of the US presidential election four years ago. In that post I point out that this word’s root is ח.ר.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תחרותי-2.m4a” /] meaning anger or wrath – which makes sense, since competition requires the type of energy that often comes with anger. Someone competitive…