דמיון You might know how to say He looks like his father in Hebrew – הוּא דּוֹמֶה לְאַבָּא שֶׁלּו (hoo doh-MEH le-AH-bah sheh-LOH). The root of the word דומה is ד.מ.ה (d.m.h), which carries the concept of likeness or similarity. The English word imagination comes from the word image, which is a likeness. Likewise, the Hebrew word…
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ספל I tend to write a lot about verbs and adjectives, but once in a while a noun intrigues me. I just had a nice cup of tea. Hebrew’s equivalent of the English mug (not to mug, but a mug) is סֵפֶל (SEH-fel). This is what Ulpan La-Inyan students get when they…
ספל I tend to write a lot about verbs and adjectives, but once in a while a noun intrigues me. I just had a nice cup of tea. Hebrew’s equivalent of the English mug (not to mug, but a mug) is סֵפֶל (SEH-fel). This is what Ulpan La-Inyan students get when they…
להתגלח, לגלח Tonight I visited my סַבְתָּא (SAHV-tah) – grandmother – in Tel Aviv. She asked me whether I shave every day, to which I replied in the negative. So, in Hebrew, there’s to shave, and to shave something. To shave – that is, without an object – is לְהִתְגַּלֵּח (le-heet-gah-LEH-ahkh). For example, אֲנִי לֹא…
קריין, מספר A narrator is someone who reads or calls out a storyline. To read or to call out, in Hebrew, is לִקְרוֹא (leek-ROH). Likewise, to tell a story is לְסַפֵּר (le-sah-PEHR). A narrator or an announcer (such as on the radio) is a קַרְיָן (kahr-YAHN) for a male, and a קַרְיָנִית (kahr-yah-NEET) for a female. By contrast, the narrator voice in…
שיחת ועידה The Hebrew word for conversation is שִׂיחָה (see-KHAH). The word for conference is וְעִידָה (ve-ee-DAH). It comes from the same root as the word for committee – וַעַד (VAH-ahd) and its synonym, וַעֲדָה (vah-AH-dah). ועדה also carries the meanings, board and commission. Anyway, a conference call is a שִׂיחַת וְעִידָה (see-KHAHT ve-ee-DAH). This means, literally,…
כורה This week we’ve seen emotions running high and acts of courage being done in Chile, as 33 miners were rescued from 700 meters underground. The Hebrew word for miner is כּוֹרֶה (koh-REH). To mine is לִכְרוֹת (leekh-ROHT), which is spelled the same and sounds the same as the word for to cut off. …
שולי The Hebrew word for margins – as in the side of a paper or the side of a road – is שׁוּלַיִם (shoo-LAH-yeem). To say that something is insignificant or marginal, you’d use שׁוּלִי (shoo-LEE). My accountant friend used this word last night. I don’t recall the context – I’m about to go…
ראיית חשבון After finishing working tonight I walked up the hill from the German Colony to Katamon (both Jerusalem neighborhoods) for the evening prayer… and to get some air. On the way back I walked with a good friend of mine, דּוֹרוֹן (Doron), who is an accountant. We had a good conversation… and I…
לסנוור עִוֵּר (ee-VEHR) for a male and עִוֶּרֶת (ee-VEH-ret) for a female are the Hebrew words for someone who is blind. By contrast, to blind someone is לְסַנְוֵר (le-sahn-VEHR). This is a very old word; it comes up in next week’s Torah portion, where the angels visiting Lot strike the Sodomites with blindness –…