Author: Ami Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/לגרד-#.m4a” /]לְגָרֵד The word לגרד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/לגרד-#.m4a” /] means both to scratch and to itch. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/לגרד-#.m4a” /]דוד, אל תגרד את הגלד. David, don’t scratch the scab. and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/לגרד-#.m4a” /]העור שלי מגרד וזה מציק לי. My skin itches and it bothers me. לגרד is an active-intensive פיעל verb.

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/להציק-#.m4a” /]לְהָצִיק להציק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/להציק-#.m4a” /], also means to poke, but its main usage is to pester. For example: הוא אלוף בלהציק לאחותו.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/להציק-#.m4a” /] He’s excellent at pestering his sister. להציק is an active-causative הפעיל verb of the root צ.ו.ק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/להציק-#.m4a” /]. Note that להציק – literally to pester – means here pestering, though הצקה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/להציק-#.m4a” /] also…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/אלוף-בשחמט-#.m4a” /]אַלּוּף The Hebrew word for a military general is אלוף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/אלוף-בשחמט-#.m4a” /]. For example: אורנה ברביבאי היא האלופה הראשונה בצה”ל.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/אלוף-בשחמט-#.m4a” /] Orna Barbivai is the first (female) general in the IDF. אלוף also means champion, extended in slang to refer to someone who is really good at something. For example: הוא אלוף בשחמט.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/אלוף-בשחמט-#.m4a” /] He’s…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ששחש-1.m4a” /]שבת שלום, וחג שמח! Shabbat Shalom, and happy holiday!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רובע-#.m4a” /]שְׁכוּנָה, רֹבַע The Hebrew word for neighborhood is שכונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רובע-#.m4a” /], as in: הוא גר בשכונה הירושלמית מקור חיים.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רובע-#.m4a” /] He lives in the Jerusalem neighborhood Mekor Haim (Source of Life). The root of שכונה is ש.כ.נ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רובע-#.m4a” /] meaning dwelling, the same as that of the word שכינה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רובע-#.m4a” /] –…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /]שִׁעוּר The Hebrew word for lesson is שיעור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /]. It comes from the root ש.ע.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /] meaning measure: a lesson is a measured portion of a greater course. For example: יש אצלנו 20 שיעורים ברמה.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /] We have at our (school) 20 lessons in a level. You might think that…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /]רָמָה The Hebrew word for level is רמה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /], as in: היא רוצה להירשם לקורס רמה שלוש.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /] She wants to register for the level 3 course. רמה also means height, as in רמת הגולן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /] – the Golan Height(s), and the name of kibbutz adjacent to Jerusalem, רמת רחל[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]שַׁגְרִירוּת The Hebrew word for ambassador was coined by former Prime Minister of Israel, Moshe Sharett. He took the Biblical-Hebrew root ש.ג.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] meaning offspring or offshoot, used his imagination and came up with שגריר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] – someone sent off to another country to represent his/her own. And embassy? That’s שגרירות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]. For…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /]רִבּוֹנוּת What does a rabbi have to do with sovereignty, a nation’s stake to a piece of land? Look at the words for both: ריבונות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] – sovereignty, and רב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] – rabbi. The root of both is ר.ב.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] meaning greatness. Here’s ריבונות in context: ירושלים המאוחדת עברה לריבונות ישראל ב-1967.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a”…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/גועל-נפש-#.m4a” /]גֹּעַל נֶפֶשׁ, מַגְעִיל This is one of the less pleasant Hebrew expressions but useful nonetheless. This evocative expression, גועל נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/גועל-נפש-#.m4a” /] means literally abhorrent to the soul. Suppose you come back from a long vacation only to find that you left some milk in the fridge. When your unassuming family member grabs…