having trouble seeing the print? גָּבוֹהַּ, נָמוּךְ The recent snow storm affected Jerusalem, Samaria to the north and Judea to the south, because these are: מְקוֹמוֹת גְּבוֹהִים high-up places A man who is tall or “high up” is an אִישׁ גָּבוֹהַּ, while a tall woman is an אִשָּׁה גְּבוֹהָה In contrast, Mount Sinai is…
having trouble seeing the print? מַצַּב רוּחַ Sometimes I feel like singing. And sometimes I don’t. I bet you’re the same way. The Hebrew term for mood is מַצַּב רוּחַ – literally, state of spirit or situation of spirit. The quality of the מצב רוח can often be determined by context, even…
having trouble seeing the print? תַּרְדֶּמֶת Tomorrow Israel will lay to rest Former Prime Minster Ariel “Arik” Sharon. Sharon suffered a massive stroke eight years ago, and since then had been in a coma. The Hebrew word for coma is תַּרְדֶּמֶת . For example: אֲרִיאֵל שָׁרוֹן הָלַךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹ…
אֹמֶץ The People of Israel are standing on the shore of a sea. Behind them, an army of Egyptian horsemen is advancing quickly, with vengeance in their stride. Moses receives the message from G-d that the people are to cross the sea. No one moves. Then, one man takes a leap of faith…
having trouble seeing the print? מְסִבַּת עִתּוֹנָאִים This is my favorite term in Hebrew. When you hear the term press conference, microphones and cameras might come to mind, perhaps also politicians or celebrities making statements. When I hear the Hebrew version of press conference, the first thing that comes to my…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהַבְרִיחַ For those of you in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv… Our Level 2 and 4 courses are set to start soon! Jerusalem . Tel Aviv Now that the sale and consumption of marijuana is legal in Colorado and Washington, it is expected that rates of smuggling the substance will go down…
having trouble seeing the print? כַּנָּ”ל For those of you in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv… Our Level 2 and 4 courses are set to start soon! Jerusalem . Tel Aviv In most societies, people are assumed nice until proven otherwise. That’s why we say “nice to meet you” in English, נָעִים מְאֹד or נָעִים…
having trouble seeing the print? לִפּוֹל בֵּין הַכִּסָּאוֹת At Ulpan La-Inyan, we try not to let such things happen. Suppose a teacher is delivering a daily lecture to a group of forty students. While many students – especially more vocal ones – may prosper, others are bound to fall between the cracks and miss…
having trouble seeing the print? אֶזְרַח The Torah portion to be read this week by Jews around the world tells the story of the Exodus from Egypt. As those who have attended a סֵדֶר פֶּסַח – Passover seder – know, the People of Israel rose and left the enslaving nation after a hearty…
having trouble seeing the print? תַּגְבִּיר אֶת הַוּוֹלְיוּם When we speak in English of raising volume, we mean making the volume more powerful or stronger. That’s the literal meaning of the active-causative Hebrew verb לְהַגְבִּיר , which is used in the expression: לְהַגְבִּיר אֶת הַוּוֹלְיוּם to raise the volume In context:…
having trouble seeing the print? חֶמְאַת בָּטְנִים I recently discovered, thanks to my intern, Craig, that peanut butter is available in Israel. I suppose I should have known that, since the Hebrew term for peanut butter has been in use for decades. The term is חֶמְאַת בָּטְנִיםThe latter word, בָטנים is one of the cases…