דייט, וכו. My Level 5 class at AACI Jerusalem is composed partly of some self-proclaimed yentes – people (usually ladies) who like to talk a lot. So the word for date (as in a non-platonic meeting between two people) came up. My students were surprised that the word for date in Hebrew is none other than…
נאור A couple of years ago I worked with a man named נָאוֹר (nah-OHR), who runs a non-profit organization in Tel Aviv. I thought about it, looked it up to confirm, and discovered that his name indeed means enlightened. The female version of the word/name is נְאוֹרָה (ne-oh-RAH). The word/name is actually a…
תכנית רדיו Tune into RustyMike Radio at 3pm Israel time (8am EST) on Monday to hear me presenting Israeli music with brief explanations (usually key words or basic content). I do this every week. If you’ve got requests for songs, let me know (you can just reply to this email).
לצחוק To laugh, in Modern Hebrew, is לִצְחוֹק (leets-KHOHK). It’s the same word used for making fun. In that case, the appropriate preposition following לצחוק would be על (ahl) – on. For example, זֶה לֹא יָפֶה לִצְחוֹק עַל אֲנָשִׁים (zeh loh yah-FEH leets-KHOHK ahl ah-nah-SHEEM) – it’s not nice to make fun of people. …
להמציא מחדש To “re” do something in Hebrew is לְ— מֵחָדָש (le…. meh-hah-DAHSH). To reinvent the wheel is לְהַמְצִיא מֵחָדָש אֶת הַגַּלְגַל (le-hahm-TSEE meh-hah-DAHSH et hah-gahl-GAHL). It’s not recommended. It takes too much time. Listen and repeat…
יושר Perhaps you know the Hebrew word for straight – יָשָׁר (yah-SHAHR). The word for integrity, or straightness, is יוֹשֶׁר (YOH-shehr). If someone does something with integrity, it’s בְּיוֹשֶׁר (be-YOH-shehr). For example, הוּא מִתְנַהֵג בְּיוֹשֶׁר עִם הַלָּקוֹחוֹת שֶׁלּו (hoo meet-nah-HEG be-YOH-shehr eem ha-lah-koh-KHOHT sheh-LO) – he behaves (acts) with integrity with his clients….
הַרְחָבָה (hahr-khah-VAH) – expansion There are now several hundred people receiving this daily email, many of whom have contacted me telling me they’re enjoying it. I would like to triple this number over the next month – so that three times the amount of people are learning Hebrew (for free!!!), and three times…
לח, לחות Tonight I celebrated my grandmother’s birthday with her, and my aunt and uncle in Tel Aviv. I was refreshed by the change in humidity from arid Jerusalem to a warmer, more damp air quality. Most people I know prefer the dryer weather. But I am reminded of a wonderful year I…
הלוויה Looks like “Hallelujah”, doesn’t it? Actually, the word printed above is הַלְוָיָה (hahl-vah-YAH), and it means funeral. In Yiddish it’s called a לְוָיָה (le-VAH-yah). Of course, this word comes from the same Hebrew root – ל.ו.ה (l.v.h.) – which carries the concept of escorting, but the Modern Hebrew usage is הלוויה….
שידור The word שִׁדּוּר (shee-DOOR) means a broadcast, like the kind done over TV or the radio. A שידור חָי (shee-DOOR KHAH-ee) is a live broadcast. לְשַׁדֵּר (le-shah-DEHR) means to broadcast. It follows the same grammatical structure as לְדַבֵּר (le-dah-BEHR) – notice that the two words have the same vowel points. And…
זהות If you’ve lived in Israel or have taken Level 2 of Ulpan La-Inyan, you’re familiar with the term for ID card – תְּעוּדַת זְהוּת (teh-oo-DAHT zeh-HOOT). The word זהות itself means identity. Its root is זֶה (zeh), which means this. Identity is “this-ness.” Today, perhaps more so than ever, it’s critical that…