Israel’s Song for Eurovision 2019 in Tel Aviv

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/להציל-1.m4a” /]לְהַצִּיל You may know the Hebrew word for lifeguard – מציל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/להציל-2.m4a” /] for a male and מצילה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/להציל-3.m4a” /] for a female. Literally, these mean no less than savior. They derive from the active-causative הפעיל verb להציל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/להציל-1.m4a” /] – to rescue. The root of להציל is נ.צ.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/להציל-4.m4a” /] meaning deliverance. For example: [audioclip…

The Hebrew word for fruit is פרי. For example: רחלי, אולי תאכלי פרי? Racheli, maybe eat a fruit? Fertility – or fruitfulness – is פוריות. Likewise, fertile ground is קרקע פורייה, a place for something to grow, either literal or figurative. For example: קיצוניות – קרקע פורייה לטרור. Extremism – fertile ground for terror. You may have noticed…

מִפְלֶצֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מפלצת-1.mp3″ /] I’m excited for Jurassic World, a sequel to Jurassic Park ten years in the making. Some describe dinosaurs – in Hebrew, דִּינוֹזָאוּרִים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מפלצת-2.mp3″ /] – as monsters. The Hebrew word for monster is מִפְלֶצֶת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מפלצת-1.mp3″ /], a word that appears once in Biblical Hebrew (מְלָכִים א’, פֶּרֶק ט”ו[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מפלצת-3.mp3″ /] – I Kings,…