סימפתי A conventional way of saying “she’s a nice person” is הִיא אָדָם נֶחְמָד (hee ah-DAHM nekh-MAHD). Note that אדם is used to mean person and stays masculine even though we’re talking about a woman. Another way of saying it that taps into the person’s nature more deeply, is היא אדם סִמְפָּתִי (hee ah-DAHM…
ערך The Hebrew word for value, as in “Ulpan La-Inyan courses are an excellent value”, is עֶרֶך (EH-rekh). To express that you respect a person – that you evaluate this person positively – you’d use the word לְהַעֲרִיך (le-hah-ah-REEKH). For example, you might say מְנַחֵם בֶּגִין הָיָה קָל לְהַעֲרִיך (meh-NAH-khem BEH-gheen hah-yah kahl le-hah-ah-REEKH) – Menachem Begin…
תמיכה Perhaps you’ve called up one of Israel’s phone companies seeking technical support. The phrase in Hebrew for this is תְּמִיכָה טֶכְנִית (te-mee-KHAH TEKH-neet). You can also support a friend – לִתְמוֹךְ בְּחָבֵר (leet-MOKH be-khah-VEHR) – or an organization – לִתְמוֹךְ בְּאִרְגּוּן (leet-MOKH be-eer-GOON). Why this word now? Because this week’s Torah…
כרטיס ביקור Today at AACI, the executive director’s teenage son (who may be one of the counselors on our summer program for preteen new immigrants) handed me the most innovative business card I’ve seen in a while, perhaps ever: I scribbled over the phone number so that he doesn’t get swamped. The…
לטפח This is a nice word. Suppose you’ve got a garden full of greens and flowers. To really appreciate the garden (גִּנָּה – ghee-NAH) means to nurture it – לְטַפֵּחַ אֶת הַגינה (le-tah-PEH-akh et hah-ghee-NAH). Likewise, you might wish to nurture a boy – לטפח יֶלֶד (le-tah-PEH-akh YEH-led) – or a girl לטפח…
אמוּר ל… If you wish to express in Hebrew “I am supposed to be… [blank]”, you’d use the phrase אָמוּר ל (ah-MOOR le…), or אָמוּרָה ל (ah-moo-RAH le…), if you’re a female. It means, literally, I am said to… For example, right now I might say אֲנִי אָמוּר לִהְיוֹת בַּמִּטָּה (ah-NEE ah-MOOR lee-hyoht bah-mee-TAH)…
קומזיץ, מדורה A common word used in Israel for bonfires is קוּמְזִיץ (KOOM-zeets). This word comes from Yiddish and means, literally, come, sit (say the word out loud and right away you’ll notice the Germanic similarity in the sounds). To an Israeli, the word קומזיץ brings to mind the bonfire and all that is…
לקבל החלטה In English we talk about making a decision. In Hebrew, we talk about receiving or taking on a decision. The word for to receive is לְקַבֵּל (leh-kah-BEHL). The word for decision is הַחְלָטָה (hakh-lah-TAH); and to decide is לְהַחְלִיט (leh-hahkh-LEET). So I could say that I made a decision to eat yogurt every day – קִבַּלְתִּי הַחְלָטָה לֶאֱכוֹל יוֹגוּרְטְ כָּל יוֹם (kee-BAHL-tee hahkh-lah-TAH leh-eh-KHOHL…
אחיין, אחיינית Brother is אָח (ahkh); sister is אָחוֹת (ah-KHOHT). I would rate these as Level 2 words for Ulpan La-Inyan. Nephew is אַחְיָן (ahkh-YAHN), and niece is אַחְיָנִית (ahkh-yah-NEET). These are more likely to be encountered in a Level 3 or Level 4 discussion. For example, I would say, יֵשׁ לִי אחיינית חֲדָשָׁה (yesh lee…
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דודים, סבים The Hebrew word for uncle is דּוֹד (dohd); the word for aunt is דּוֹדָה (doh-DAH – more commonly pronounced DOH-dah). Why? Because the word דוד itself means dear one – aunts and uncles are people close or dear to a child (i.e. close enough for love and gifst but usually distant enough so the…