Author: Ami Steinberger

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נפש-בריאה-1.m4a” /]נֶפֶשׁ בְּרִיאָה בְּגוּף בָּרִיא The Hebrew word נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נפש-בריאה-2.m4a” /] carries a spiritual connotation, as it means soul or essence: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נפש-בריאה-3.m4a” /]נפש האדם עוצמתית ביותר. The human soul is extremely powerful. But the word can also mean something perhaps less spiritual, though no less powerful: the mind. Thus a healthy mind in a healthy body, in Hebrew,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כישוף-1.m4a” /]כִּשּׁוּף Whereas a not-very-nice term in English to describe a not-very-nice woman likens her to a dog, one such term in Hebrew likens her to a witch – מכשפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כישוף-2.m4a” /] (more commonly pronounced with an ah vowel at the beginning of the word – מַכשפה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כישוף-3.m4a” /]). The root of מכשפה is כ.ש.פ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/כישוף-4.m4a” /],…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מראה-1.m4a” /]מַרְאָה, רְאִי Non-human and non-animal things in English have no grammatical gender. You wouldn’t say “she’s a nice shirt” or “he’s a big house.” Most other Western and Middle-Eastern languages do have such gender assignments, and Hebrew is no exception. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מראה-2.m4a” /]היא חולצה יפה. It’s a nice shirt. and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מראה-3.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שפיות-1.m4a” /]שְׁפִיּוּת The biblical story tells of the foreign prophet בלעם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שפיות-2.m4a” /] (Balaam): [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שפיות-3.m4a” /]וַיֵּלֶךְ שֶׁפִי and he walked relaxedly (alternative translation: up to a bare hill) Mishnaic Hebrew takes שפי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שפיות-4.m4a” /] to imply a state of physical… or mental calmness – sanity, in contrast to a state of mental disturbance – insanity. In Hebrew, שפיות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שפיות-1.m4a”…