how to say “to purify” in Hebrew – part 1

ByAmi Steinberger

 

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לְטַהֵר

 



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There are two relatively common Hebrew words for to purify. לְטַהֵר (leh-tah-HEHR), an active-intensive פיעל (pee-EL) verb, communicates the idea of causing something to go from unclean, sometimes shameful to spiritually and physically pure. The word is used in both a spiritual/religious context as well as in more mundane contexts such as in the term מְטַהֵר אֲוִיר (meh-tah-HEHR ah-VEER) – air freshener.


לטהר comes from that ancient, ancient Hebrew root, ט.ה.ר (t.h.r), meaning pure.


Tonight the first candle of חֲנֻכָּה (khah-noo-KAH) is lit. It’s time to stop, take a deep breath, and gaze at those lights – there’s something מטהר about them.


As for the second term… you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.

חֲנֻכָּה שָׂמֵח! 

(khah-noo-KAH sah-MEH-ahkh)
Happy Hanukkah! 



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