לְהִתְהַלֵּךְ If you know some basic Hebrew (surely if you’ve taken Level 1 of our program), you know how to say he is walking – הוּא הוֹלֵך (hoo hoh-LEKH). To say he is wandering, you’d use הוּא מִתְהַלֵּך (hoo meet-hah-LEKH). This is a reflexive התפעל (heet-pah-EL) usage of the root ה.ל.כ. In Modern Hebrew,…
מַאֲדִים, נֹגַהּ I’ve got a copy of the classic guide to dating and love, Men are From Mars and Women are from Venus, sitting on my desk. But this copy can only be read by those who can read Hebrew (get started!). my borrowed copy The Hebrew title is גְּבָרִים מִמַּאֲדִים וְנָשִׁים…
תַּקָּלָה Suppose you’re standing in a line at the bank that seems abnormally slow. Within a few minutes the reason becomes apparent when someone behind the glass tells another customer, “there’s a glitch in the system.” In Hebrew, the teller would say, יֵשׁ תַּקָּלָה בַּמַּעֲרֶכֶת (yesh tah-kah-LAH bah-mah-ah-REH-khet).
כּוֹשֶׁר At the end of today’s dose, you’ll find an opportunity to boost your fitness in order to help people in Israel with mental disabilities. Even if you just joined Ktzat Ivrit yesterday, you almost certainly know the Hebrew word for that which is fit to be eaten according to Jewish law…
דְּלִיפָה Over the past few months Wikileaks has been hovering ominously over the heads of various heads of state. Here’s how to say a leak in Hebrew: דְּלִיפָה (de-lee-FAH). It’s the noun form (gerund) of לִדְלוֹף (leed-LOHF) – to leak. This is a simple (פעל – קל) verb. דליפה can mean either…
הָרָשׁוּיוֹת Back in June, I introduced the word for authority, as in the Palestinian Authority: רָשׁוּת (rah-SHOOT). So today’s entry isn’t entirely new, since you may already have the word רשות well integrated in your Hebrew vocabulary. Rather, today I’d like to introduce you to a specialized usage of this word, one that…
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…