how to say “to recruit” in Hebrew
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Suppose you need to recruit people to volunteer to say, give blood… or to donate towards the establishment of a magnificent spiritual center, as it happens in the Torah portion to be read tomorrow by Jews around the world. In Hebrew, there are two words that come to my mind to express this concept of to recruit:
לְגַיֵּס (leh-gah-YES)
This active-intensive פיעל verb is related to couple slightly more familiar word, especially to those who have served in the Israeli army or their loved ones: לְהִתְגַּיֵּס (leh-heet-gah-YES) – to be drafted/recruited, and גִּיּוּס (ghee-YOOS) – a draft/recruitment.
לִרְתּוֹם (leer-TOHM)
This active פעל verb also means to hitch an animal. Likewise, by recruiting someone, you’re hitching them to your cause. The person can also recruit themselves – or enlist oneself to a cause. The verb in that case is in the נפעל form: לְהֵרָתֵם (leh-HEH-rah-TEM). For example, הַבָּחוּרָה נִרְתְּמָה לָעִנְיָן הַחָשׁוּב הַזֶּה (hah-bah-khoo-RAH neer-teh-MAH lah-een-YAHN hah-khah-SHOOV hah-ZEH) – the young woman enlisted to this important matter.
For those wondering, לרתום is not related to the word תְּרוּמָה (teh-roo-MAH) – donation. The ת (t) on that word is not part of the original root anyway.
שבת שלום וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom and a pleasant weekend to all!
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