When an Israeli teen gets a letter from the military to show up, s/he receives a צַו גִּיּוּס (tsahv g-ee-YOOS) – literally, this is an order of recruitment.
A mitzvah (in Hebrew it’s מִצְוָה – meets-VAH), in the purest sense of the word, is a commandment.
See the connection between the words צו and מצוה? The root of both is צ.ו.ה. – ts.w.h., the core concept of commanding or ordering.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתנהג-1.m4a” /]לְהִתְנַהֵג To behave is to conduct oneself in a certain way. Thus Modern Hebrew draws upon the Biblical root נ.ה.ג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתנהג-2.m4a” /] meaning to conduct, to drive (such as a chariot) and creates the reflexive התפעל verb להתנהג[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתנהג-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתנהג-3.m4a” /]הוא מתנהג בצורה פראית! He behaves in a wild manner! Other…
having trouble seeing the print? לְתַקְתֵּק Never experienced Ulpan La-Inyan? We’re offering free demo classes throughout the summer. Sign up for yours now! The other day I introduced the Hebrew word לִדְפוֹק – to knock (leed-FOHK), which also means, in non-literal sense to move along smoothly. The Hebrew word that means to tick is לְתַקְתֵּק (leh-tahk-TEK), an…
When I walked up to my first exhibit at the British Museum last Monday, I was surprised, excited and humbled to find myself face-to-face with the Rosetta Stone. Thanks for the picture, Mark! Yes, this stone is the namesake of some of the best software for learning a foreign language. The reason…
הַחְיָאָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? Even if you have no background in Hebrew, chances are you’ve heard the expression !לַחַיִּים before, meaning to life! To produce a word for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, CPR, Modern Hebrew invokes a word related to לחיים, the active-causative verb לְהַחֲיוֹת – to revive or to make…
אמת, אמיתי If you’re having trouble seeing the vowels, enlarge the display on your monitor. The Rabbis pointed out that the Hebrew word for truth – אֶמֶת (eh-MEHT) – begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, א, continues with one of the two middle letters, מ, and ends with the last letter, ת….