how to say “to approach” in Hebrew
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About a year ago I did an entry on drawing close to someone, לְהִתְקָרֵב (leh-heet-kah-REV). That word means not only to draw close emotionally, but also to physically shorten the distance between two people, or one person and an object – to approach.
Another word for to approach appears conjugated in the first word of this week’s Torah portion, which will be read by Jews around the world this שבת-Shabbat. לָגֶשֶׁת (lah-GHEH-shet) means to approach someone or something. It’s also the word Israeli students use to mean to take an exam – לָגֶשֶׁת לְמִבְחָן (lah-GHEH-shet leh-meev-KHAHN) – they simply replace the metaphor of taking a test with the metaphor of approaching a test, sometimes with great trepidation.
The root of לגשת is נ.ג.ש (n.g.sh), meaning approaching. It’s also the root in the word נָגִיש (nah-GHEESH) – approachable or accessible.
לגשת is a נפעל (neef-AHL) verb.
שבת שלום וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם!
Shabbat Shalom and a pleasant weekend for all!
