חוֹתֵן, חָם, חָמוֹת Tomorrow, Jews around the world will read the Torah portion called יִתְרו (yeet-ROH) – Jethro. The highlight of this portion is the Ten Commandments, but there’s lots of other action that takes place in this short-but-monumental section of the Torah. We are introduced to the father-in-law of Moses, יתרו,…
פְרִיחָה In honor of ט”וּ בִּשְׁבַט (tu beesh-VAHT) – the 15th of Shvat… If you know a bit of Hebrew, you probably know the word for flower – פֶּרַח (PEH-rahkh). The word for flowering or blossoming, or bloom, is פְּרִיחָה (pe-ree-KHAH). It comes from the verb, לִפְרוֹח (leef-ROH-ahkh) – to blossom, flower, bloom….
לְתַמְרֵן Suppose a guy is trying to get through a light traffic jam by maneuvering his way around the other cars. In Hebrew, you’d say, הוּא מְתַמְרֵן בֵּין הַמְּכוֹנִיוֹת (hoo me-tahm-REHN beyn hah-me-khoh-nee-YOHT) – he’s maneuvering among the cars. It’s also the word for to manipulate another person… You could say, הוּא תִּמְרֵן…
מֻגְבָּלוּת If you’ve read some of the Hebrew Bible or have followed the peace process listening to Israeli news, you’ve probably come across the word for border – גְּבוּל (ge-VOOL). A border is something that separates two things, or limits them one from the other. To limit something is לְהַגְבִּיל (le-hahg-BEEL). It’s a causative הפעיל…
כְּפוֹר This word isn’t very widely used, especially since we don’t get too much frost here in Israel. Nevertheless, I think it’s a nice tidbit with which you might be able to strike up a friendly conversation with your Israeli neighbors or to adopt an alternative expression to it’s cold!!! when you shiver walking down the…
בִּן לַיְלָה The online front page of one of Israel’s major newspapers, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת (ye-dee-OHT ah-khah-roh-NOHT) reads: יְצִיאַת תּוּנִיסִיָּה: “הָפְכָה לְעִירַאק בִּן לַיְלָה” (ye-tsee-AHT too-NEE-see-yah: “hahf-KHAH le-ee-RAHK been LAH-ee-lah”) – Exodus from Tunisia: “Turned into Iraq overnight.” Here’s the article. To say that something occurs overnight, you’d use the expression, בִּן…
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…
שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה This one’s for ליאת (Liat). If you’ve got some Hebrew, the first word that may have come to mind for scandal is סְקַנְדָּל (skahn-DAHL). But there’s another word: שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה (shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH). This word appears in Biblical Hebrew and is derived from the adjective שֹׁעַר (SHOH-ahr), meaning vile. For example… אֵיזוֹ שׁערורייה! (EH-ee-zoh shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH)…
לְהַקְרִיב The other day, we had the word לְקָרֵב (le-kah-REV), to draw someone/something close. For example, הוּא קֵרֵב הַרְבֶּה אֲנָשִׁים (hoo ke-REV hahr-BEH ah-nah-SHEEM) – He drew many people close. To say, I was drawn close – to be the recipient of the action – you’d use the passive version of the פיעל (pee-EL), the פועל…
מַסָּע If you know a little Hebrew, you’re probably familiar with the word for to travel – לִנְסוֹע (leen-SOH-ah). A journey or trek is a מַסָּע (mah-SAH). This is not a journey in the sense of driving in your convertible from Tel Aviv up the coast to Netanya. Rather, this is the type of journey knights used…
לְקָרֵב Yesterday we saw the simple usage of the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), with the verb, לִקְרַב (leek-RAHV) – to draw close. An example would be הוּא קָרַב אֵלֶיה (hoo kah-RAHV eh-LEH-hah) – He drew close to her. לִקְרַב is a “simple” (“קל”) usage of the root. Today I’ll introduce you to a more intensive usage…