how to say “to draw close together” in Hebrew
לְהִתְקָרֵב
Earlier this week, we saw the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), meaning closeness, used in a variety of forms.
We saw לְהַקְרִיב (le-hahk-REEV) – to sacrifice, give something up or to bring something close – and its passive form, מֻקְרָב (mook-RAHV). These are the causative forms (הפעיל and הופעל).
We saw לִקְרָב (leek-RAHV) – to draw close to someone or to approach. This is the “simple” form, בניין קל. The root does not appear in the נִפְעַל (neef-AHL) form (I made a mistake on Sunday, saying that it does appear in נפעל).
We saw לְקָרֵב (le-kah-REV) – to pull someone else close – and its passive form, מְקֹרָב (me-koh-RAHV) – pulled close. These are two of the three intensive forms: פיעל and פועל.
Today we’ve got the reflexive form, the third of the intensives. לְהִתְקָרֵב (le-heet-kah-REV) means to get close to one another. It’s also used to mean to approach.
I invite you to watch this music video by Gilad Segev, a song about his older brother who was killed during his military service. When you watch, listen for the phrase, הִרְגַּשְׁתִּי שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ מִתְקָרְבִים (heer-GAHSH-tee she-ah-NAHKH-noo meet-kahr-VEEM) – I felt that we were getting close.
שבת שלום וסוף שבוע נעים לכולם – Shabbat Shalom and a good weekend to all!
