כבאי/ת Following yesterday’s entry on heroes – גִּבּוֹרִים (ghee-boh-REEM), today I’ll refer to the bulk of those who displayed גְּבוּרָה (ge-voo-RAH- heroism) by name. A firefighter is usually referred to as a כַּבַּאי (kah-BAH-ee), though a woman in כַּבָּאוּת (kah-bah-OOT), fire fighting, is referred to as a כַּבַּאִית (kah-bah-EET). כבאית is also the name for…
ק.ל.ט. Perhaps you’re familiar with the term מֶרְכַּז קְלִיטָה (mehr-KAHZ klee-TAH) – absorption center. Perhaps you’ve lived in one. The word קליטה comes from the root לִקְלוֹט, which means to absorb. The word is used in colloquial Hebrew to mean to get it, as in “Ah, now I get it!” – אָה, עַכְשָׁיו…
מס הכנסה The great American institution, the IRS, has an Israeli equivalent. It’s called מַס הַכְנָסָה (mahs hakh-nah-SAH) – literally, income tax. לְהַכְנִיס (le-hakh-NEES) is to insert or to cause to come in – so its noun form is הכנסה – income. מַס is a Biblical Hebrew word that means something to…
שינוי Aside from being the name of a short-lived left-of-center Israeli political party, the word שִׁנּוּי (shee-NOO-ee) means a change. Sometimes it takes a long time for a שינוי to appear. However, sometimes, שינוי takes place in an instant. Where in English you might say, it’s warm today, for a change, in…
אדישות Apathy can be dangerous, especially regarding things like the Holocaust and people like Gilad Shalit (גִּלְעַד שָׁלִיט). Apathy tends to go against the basic human need/function of love. The Hebrew word for apathy is אֲדִישׁוּת (ah-dee-SHOOT). You might describe a man as אָדִיש (ah-DEESH) or a woman as אֲדִישָׁה (ah-dee-SHAH). See if…
עצם The עֶצֶם (EH-tsem) means bone, but it also means essence. The 70s and 80s rock group that brought us the popular Bar-Mitzvah dance song, “Yo Ya,” also have a song called “פֹּה קָבוּר הַכֶּלֶב” (poh kah-VOOR hah-KEH-lev) – “This is Where the Dog is Buried.” I bring you this song because …
המזרח התיכון The word תִּכוֹן appears in the Bible as the middle-beam crossing the מִשְׁכָּן (meesh-KAHN – the holy tabernacle). The word מִזְרַח (meez-RAH), also appearing in the Bible, comes from the root ז.ר.ח. (z.r.h.). This root represents the sun rising, which occurs in the east. Placed in sequence, הַמזרח הַתיכון (ha-meez-RAH…