Author: Ami Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/שקט-1.m4a” /]שֶׁקֶט, שָׁקֵט If you went to Jewish school in the States, you may know the patient exhortation of Hebrew teachers, in sing-song form: שקט, בבקשה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/שקט-2.m4a” /] – quiet, please! Or from the less patient teachers (or the more demanding students), simply: !שקט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/שקט-3.m4a” /] – quiet! In any case, שקט means quiet…

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/2018/02/להסביר-1.m4a” /]לְהַסְבִּיר The Modern Hebrew word for to explain – להסביר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/להסביר-1.m4a” /] – comes from the Aramaic root ס.ב.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/להסביר-2.m4a” /] meaning thinking. Hebrew takes the root and plugs it into the active-causative הפעיל verb form. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/להסביר-3.m4a” /]אתה קולט אותי, או שאני צריך להסביר? Do you (a male) get me, or do…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לקלוט-1.m4a” /]לִקְלוֹט The word לקלוט[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לקלוט-1.m4a” /] means literally to absorb or to take in, for example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לקלוט-2.m4a” /]החור באדמה נועד לקלוט כדורי גולף. The hole in the ground is meant to catch (take in) golf balls. But לקלוט also comes in handy when referring to one’s ability to “get” that which is said to…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לרמוז-1.m4a” /]לִרְמוֹז, לְרַמֵּז You may know the Hebrew word for traffic light – רמזור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לרמוז-2.m4a” /]. This word combines two others: רמז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לרמוז-3.m4a” /] – hint (in our case, an indication) and אור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לרמוז-4.m4a” /] – light. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/לרמוז-5.m4a” /]בצמתים רבים בארץ יש כיכר במקום רמזור. At many intersections in Israel there is a roundabout instead of…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/בין-השורות-1.m4a” /]לִקְרוֹא בֵּין הַשּׁוּרוֹת One element of writing style is to say one thing and hint at another – to communicate between the lines. Such writing has an emotional impact on the reader, persuading them more so than straightforward language can do. In Hebrew, to read between the lines is a literal translation: לקרוא בין השורות[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/האותיות-הקטנות-1.m4a” /]הָאוֹתִיוֹת הַקְּטַנּוֹת Hebrew’s expression for the fine print – that important text in a contract that people often gloss over – is literally the small letters: האותיות הקטנות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/האותיות-הקטנות-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/האותיות-הקטנות-2.m4a” /]אל תחתום על ההסכם עד שקראת את האותיות הקטנות! Don’t sign the agreement until you’ve read the fine print! (spoken to…

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/2018/02/בית-זיקוק-1.m4a” /]בֵּית זִקּוּק The letters כ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/בית-זיקוק-2.m4a” /] and ק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/בית-זיקוק-3.m4a” /] sound alike in Modern Hebrew, when the כ is hard. In ancient times they sounded different, but similar. Sometimes meanings of roots and words are similar when in one root there’s a כ and in the other there’s a ק. One such…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/סכנה-1.m4a” /]סַכָּנָה If you’ve spent enough time around kids in Israel, you almost certainly know the word מסוכן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/סכנה-2.m4a” /] – dangerous, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/סכנה-3.m4a” /]אסור לחצות את הכביש בלי להסתכל – זה מסוכן! It’s not allowed to cross the street without looking – it’s dangerous!  A related word is the one for danger itself:…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/מתח-1.m4a” /]מֶתַח The word מתח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/מתח-1.m4a” /] means literally tension, while מתוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/מתח-2.m4a” /] means tense. But it also means suspense, as in סרטי מתח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/מתח-3.m4a” /] – suspense films, as well as: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/מתח-4.m4a” /]אל תשאירו אותי במתח! Don’t leave me in suspense! מתח also has a meaning in physics – voltage.