How do you say “enlightened” in Hebrew?
Here’s a picture from last year’s Festival:


[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/להרחיב-#.m4a” /]לְהַרְחִיב If you’ve taken our Level 1 course, you know the Hebrew word for street – רחוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/להרחיב-#.m4a” /]. Historically, this was a place רחב מספיק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/להרחיב-#.m4a” /] – wide enough – for the people of a city to congregate. Taking the root ר.ח.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/להרחיב-#.m4a” /] (wide) and plugging it into the הפעיל verb form, we…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-1.m4a” /]חֲסַר תַּקְדִּים A precedent, in Hebrew, is תקדים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-2.m4a” /], of the root ק.ד.מ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-3.m4a” /] meaning first or early. You may recognize the root from words such as מוקדם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-4.m4a” /] – early and !קדימה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-5.m4a” /] – let’s go (ahead)! תקדים in context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/חסר-תקדים-6.m4a” /]החלטת בית המשפט מהווה תקדים חשוב. The court’s decision constitutes…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/סניף-בנק-#.m4a” /]סְנִיף בַּנְק The Hebrew word for bank is בנק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/סניף-בנק-#.m4a” /] – simple enough. The word for branch (not of a tree – a location) is סניף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/סניף-בנק-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/סניף-בנק-#.m4a” /]כמה סניפים יש לכם בקו החוף? How many branches do you have on the coast line? or [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/סניף-בנק-#.m4a” /]כמה סניפי בנק יש לכם?…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שקע-1.m4a” /]שֶׁקַע חַשְׁמַלִּי The Hebrew word for outlet or socket is שקע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שקע-2.m4a” /]. The word’s three letters form the root ש.ק.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שקע-3.m4a” /], which means to sink: a שקע is sunken into a wall. To refer specifically to an electrical outlet, the expression is שקע חשמלי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שקע-1.m4a” /]. For example, if you need to charge your phone,…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חשיבות-#.m4a” /]חֲשִׁיבוּת You may know the Hebrew word חשוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חשיבות-#.m4a” /], important (literally, something thought of). What about importance? That’s חשיבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חשיבות-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חשיבות-#.m4a” /]זה ממצא בעל חשיבות רבה. This is a finding of great importance. חשיבות and חשוב derive from the simple פעל verb לחשוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/חשיבות-#.m4a” /] – to think.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/לא-היה-ולא-נברא-#.m4a” /]לֹא הָיָה וְלֹא נִבְרָא To express that something never took place, you could say זה אף פעם לא קרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/לא-היה-ולא-נברא-#.m4a” /] or זה מעולם לא קרה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/לא-היה-ולא-נברא-#.m4a” /]. But Hebrew has a more special expression for this: לא היה ולא נברא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/לא-היה-ולא-נברא-#.m4a” /] – literally, it was not and was never created. For…