גִּיל הַהִתְבַּגְּרוּת listen to this phrase pronounced Check out Ulpan La-Inyan for teens in our four locations. In yesterday’s dose of Ktzat Ivrit, I introduced נַעֲרוּת (nah-ah-ROOT) as adolescence and נַעַר and נַעֲרָה (NAH-ahr, nah-ah-RAH) as adolescents. Thinking it over (especially after Adam pointed it out to me this morning on the radio),…
נַעַר, נַעֲרָה, בֶּן טִפֵּשׁ עֶשְׂרֵה listen to these words pronounced I write the following entry in honor of the Ulpan La-Inyan summer classes opening just for teens in our four locations around Israel. Our three-week classes start at 11am, after a good night’s sleep, and end at around 1 so that…
אַחְוָה listen to this word pronounced Last night I had the honor to attend the wedding of my friend and colleague, Mark Rebacz, to Sarah Kornbluth. Among the blessings recited over a cup of wine at a Jewish wedding is one detailing various elements of goodness the guests wish upon the newlywed couple….
אֵין בְּעָיָה! עַל לֹא דָּבָר! In other languages that may sound familiar (or native!) to you, we’ve got no hay problema (Spanish), pas de probleme (French), etc. In English, it’s no problem! But it’s got at least two meanings: there’s no problem at the beginning of a statement – as in, No problem, I’ll fix that – and no problem…
לְרוֹקֵן listen to this word pronounced Perhaps you know the Hebrew word for empty – רֵיק (rek or REH-eek). For example, הַבַּיִת רֵיק – the house is empty (hah-BAH-yeet rek). Likewise, emptiness or vanity is רִיק (reek), used in Modern Hebrew to replace the foreign word for vacuum – וָקוּם (VAH-koom). The word for to empty something, however,…
אֶל עַל listen to this word pronounced It’s very likely that you’re familiar with Israel’s flagship air carrier, El Al, especially if you’ve made aliyah through the Jewish Agency or Nefesh B’Nefesh. The idiom אֶל עַל (el AHL) means upward or skyward. I came across this term today as I began reading an article…
חֻרְשָׁה listen to this word pronounced Says Wikipedia, “A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others.” When I hear the word thicket I think Bambi. Anyway, a thicket or a grove in Hebrew is a חורשה (khoor-SHAH). And in Jerusalem’s…
עִם שְׁתֵּי רַגְלַיִם עַל הַקַּרְקַע listen to this expression pronounced A person having both feet on the ground refers to this person being sensible, realistic, practical. The Hebrew expression means the same thing. For example, הוּא בָּחוּר עם שתי רגליים על הקרקע (hoo bah-KHOOR eem SHTEH-ee rahg-LAH-yeem ahl hah-kahr-KAH) – He’s a guy with…
לְשַרְיֵן listen to this word pronounced First of all, a correction: The Modern Hebrew word for jet lag – יַעֶפֶת (yah-EH-fet) comes from the root י.ע.פ (y.a’.f), meaning flight. It doesn’t come from the acrobatic linguistic act I described the other day. Thanks for the tip, Larry. Now for today’s dose… The…
לְהִשָּׁבַע listen to this word pronounced Check out our summer courses for adults and teens! This one’s for Zach-נָחוּם. We (I can only speak for the extended family) are proud of you. On Friday Blogger went down, so I wasn’t able to put out the Daily Dose of Hebrew. I hope everyone used…
יַעֶפֶת (גֶ’ט-לֶג) listen to this word pronounced Check out our summer classes – for adults and teens! Most Israelis call it, simply, גֶ’ט-לֶג (jet lag). But those who work at the Academy of the Hebrew Language would call it by its official Hebrew name, יַעֶפֶת (yah-EH-fet). I haven’t looked into it thoroughly, but…