how to say “development” in Hebrew
Yesterday’s dose of Hebrew introduced the word for opening up – לְהִפָּתַח (leh-hee-pah-TAHKH). It’s a verb that falls into the נפעל (neef-AHL) pattern, which means it may have passive and reflexive qualities.
A similar word that falls into the התפעל (heet-pah-EL) pattern, a proper reflexive pattern, is to develop – not to develop something but just to develop. Think of a child who isn’t grown up enough to develop something on his/her own, but just develops. In Hebrew, it’s לְהִתְפַּתֵּח (leh-heet-pah-TEH-ahkh).
A song by Yardena Arazi I’ll be playing today on my radio show (at noon Israel time) speaks of the human being who just is – who just wants to live and love – and deserves compassion, despite his/her drawbacks.
I have found that recognizing that people are fine just the way they are – as well as recognizing their potential for הִתְפַּתְּחוּת – development (heet-pah-teh-KHOOT) – is a great way to learn to love them.
