Author: Ami Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/גירוש-ספרד-1.m4a” /]גֵּרוּשׁ סְפָרַד The Modern-Hebrew word for Spain is ספרד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/גירוש-ספרד-2.m4a” /], though the name in Biblical Hebrew refers to a land far away from Israel, most likely in present-day western Turkey (Wikipedia). In Mishnaic times the land that is today Spain was called אספמיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/גירוש-ספרד-3.m4a” /], probably a Phoenician version of the Hebrew אי…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/היסטוריה-של-1.m4a” /]הִיסְטוֹרְיָה שֶׁל עַם יִשְֹרָאֵל, הִיסְטוֹרְיָה יְהוּדִית You may have struggled through the first word in the title, but soon hit yourself on the forehead realizing that היסטוריה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/היסטוריה-של-2.m4a” /] is basically history (well, historia) in Hebrew letters. And while היסטוריה יהודית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/היסטוריה-של-3.m4a” /] means Jewish history and is a term used fairly often, the preferred term among…

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! =”410″> Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-נורא-1.m4a” /]לֹא נוֹרָא Earlier this week we encountered the word נורא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-נורא-2.m4a” /], which means awesome or awful, depending on the context. But when Israelis say לא נורא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-נורא-1.m4a” /], they definitely mean not awful… or, in the English equivalent, no big deal. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-נורא-3.m4a” /]אז שכחת פעם אחת את התיק בבית, לא נורא! So you…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-רע-1.m4a” /]לֹא רַע The Hebrew word for bad is רע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-רע-2.m4a” /], though you’re not likely to hear it very often, since Israelis tend to say לא טוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-רע-3.m4a” /] – not good – instead. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-רע-4.m4a” /]אני מרגיש לא טוב. I (a male) feel bad (not good). But in the negative, רע does…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחאה-1.m4a” /]מְחָאָה Curiously, the word for protest – מחאה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחאה-1.m4a” /] – is related to the expression to clap hands – למחוא כפיים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/מחאה-2.m4a” /]. That’s because sometimes clapping hands isn’t always about appreciation or adoration, but rather sometimes it’s what a director might do to get their crew to focus – protesting what’s going on…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נורא-ואיום-1.m4a” /]נוֹרָא וְאָיוֹם This expression appears first in Biblical Hebrew, though there the words appear in the opposite order: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/נורא-ואיום-2.m4a” /]כִּי-הִנְנִי מֵקִים אֶת-הַכַּשְׂדִּים, הַגּוֹי הַמַּר וְהַנִּמְהָר; הַהוֹלֵךְ, לְמֶרְחֲבֵי-אֶרֶץ, לָרֶשֶׁת, מִשְׁכָּנוֹת לֹּא-לוֹ. אָיֹם וְנוֹרָא, הוּא… (חבקוק א’:ו’-ז’) For I am establishing the Chaldeans, that bitter, hasty nation, who goes to the ends of the…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-סתם-1.m4a” /]לֹא סְתַם בֵּית קָפֶה Here’s the word סתם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-סתם-2.m4a” /] again with yet another usage. Here, it means just or just any as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-סתם-3.m4a” /]זה לא סתם בית קפה. This is not just any cafe. בית קפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-סתם-4.m4a” /] – cafe – means literally, house of coffee. Some other applications of לא סתם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/לא-סתם-5.m4a” /]: [audioclip…

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! =”410″> Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתייבש-1.m4a” /]לְהִתְיַבֵּשׁ You may know the basic Hebrew word for dry – יבש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתייבש-2.m4a” /]. This word forms the root of related words such as the active-intensive לייבש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתייבש-3.m4a” /] – to dry something and the reflexive intensive להתייבש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתייבש-1.m4a” /] – to dry up… or to dehydrate. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/להתייבש-4.m4a” /]מאוד קל להתייבש בארץ בקיץ. It’s very…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חם-מהרגיל-1.m4a” /]חַם מֵהָרָגִיל The Hebrew word for regular is רגיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חם-מהרגיל-2.m4a” /] (despite the similarity between the words regular and רגיל, there doesn’t seem to be a connection). And something regular is also typical or usual. Thus hotter than usual is חם מהרגיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חם-מהרגיל-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/חם-מהרגיל-3.m4a” /]מחר מזג האוויר יהיה חם מהרגיל לעונה….