נִמּוּק If you know some Hebrew, you probably thought I’d be introducing the word סִבָּה (see-BAH) for a reason. Gotcha. Truth is, I thought of today’s word because it’s a synonym of סיבה, which appears in a song I have not yet been able to (and don’t really want to) get out of my head today,…
לְנַפְנֵף listen to this word pronounced יוֹם הָעַצְמָאוּת (yohm hah-ahts-mah-OOT) – Independence Day – is also called, unofficially, יוֹם הַנַּפְנָפִים הַלְּאוּמִי (yohm hah-NAHF-nah-feem hah-leh-oo-MEE) – The national day of wavings. From Ynet This nickname refers to the tradition of waving fans over barbecues to encourage the flames to keep – נִפְנוּף (neef-NOOF). נפנוף…
נוֹעָז listen to this word pronounced Check out our summer Hebrew classes for adults and teens! Thanks to acts of bravery, selflessness and, at times, utter audacity on the part of Israeli soldiers, Mossad agents, security personnel and the leaders of the State, the Jewish people have a place to call home today. The Hebrew…
יְרִיָּה יֶרִי (YEH-ree) is gunfire. יְרִיָּה (yeh-ree-YAH) is the act of shooting, as well as a gunshot. The latter comes from the verb לִירוֹת (lee-ROHT) – to shoot. On יוֹם הַזִּכָּרוֹן (yohm hah-zee-kah-ROHN) – Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers (at that time not yet designated for the victims of terror) – in 1995, I stood…
מְלַאי listen to this word pronounced Yesterday, I introduced the word חִסּוּל (khee-SOOL), in honor of the חיסול of Osama Bin Laden. Several readers wrote to me noting that לְחַסֵּל (leh-khah-SEL) means not only to finish something (or someone) off, but is also commonly used to mean liquidation, particularly in the phrase חיסול…
לְחַסֵּל Check out our summer Hebrew classes for adults and teens! This week the arch terrorist Osama Bin Laden was… taken out. The (non-slang) way of saying that in Hebrew is הוּא חֻסַּל (hoo khoo-SAHL). חוּסל (khoo-SAHL) is a “passive-intensive” פועל (poo-AHL) verb – he was taken out. To say, they took him out,…
טֶקֶס listen to this word pronounced Check out our summer Hebrew classes for adults and teens! This week and next are loaded with טְקָסִים (teh-kah-SEEM) – ceremonies – here in Israel: for יוֹם הַשּׁוֹאָה (yohm hah-shoh-AH) – Holocaust (Remembrance) Day this past Monday and for יוֹם הַזִּכּרוֹן (yohm hah-zee-kah-ROHN) – Memorial Day (for the soldiers…
קַיִץ listen to this word pronounced Spring, in Hebrew, is אָבִיב (ah-VEEV); Passover is חַג הָאָבִיב (khahg hah-ah-VEEV). Today was a gorgeous יוֹם אָבִיבִי (yohm ah-vee-VEE) – spring day – here in Jerusalem. It was quite warm… but not quite hot, with the sun shining, the flowers blooming, and the city getting excited…
הֶמְשֵׁכִיּוּת listen to this word pronounced In honor of יוֹם הַשּׁוֹאָה (yohm hah-shoh-AH) – Holocaust Memorial Day… in reverence of the six million. My grandfather was one of many youth leaders in Budapest in 1948 who operated underground in a tireless effort to rescue Jews of Hungary from the grips of the Nazi…
לְהִתְאָרֵס listen to this word pronounced My good friend Avi last night became engaged to be married to Karen (thanks for the correction, Netanya). To get engaged in Hebrew is לְהִתְאָרֵס (leh-heet-ah-RESS). אָבִי הִתְאָרֵס אֶתְמוֹל בָּעֶרֶב (Avi heet-ah-RESS et-MOHL bah-EH-rev) – Avi got engaged last night (yesterday evening). מַזָּל טוֹב! (mah-ZAHL tohv!)
לִנְחוֹר listen to this word pronounced The daily aspect of קצת עברית – Ktzat Ivrit – has been spotty over the past few days. I finally arrived this morning at 5:45 in Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv after having flown from LAX on Wednesday afternoon and having had a great time during my…