משט I learned two words this past week in two languages. The first is flotilla. It must come from Spanish or something. The second is מַשָּׁט (mah-SHAHT). It comes from the root ש.ו.ט, which carries the core meaning of sailing or traveling by sea. Watch this video of a news report before the…
להתרענן If you’re having trouble seeing the vowels, enlarge the display on your monitor. Some of the readers of this blog live in Raanana – רַעֲנָנָה. I spent a year living there as well. That year, when I was 14 years old, I decided that I would make Israel my home – if…
אמת, אמיתי If you’re having trouble seeing the vowels, enlarge the display on your monitor. The Rabbis pointed out that the Hebrew word for truth – אֶמֶת (eh-MEHT) – begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, א, continues with one of the two middle letters, מ, and ends with the last letter, ת….
שלב, במה There’s the stage that people perform on, and the stage that is similar in meaning to rung, level, etc. The stage where plays and concerts take place is a בָּמָה (bah-MAH). Likewise, a director of a show, or a film for that matter, is a בַּמַּאִי (bah-MAH-ee). The plural is בָּמוֹת (bah-MOHT). …
לרדוף My house-mate Josh suggested this word. Josh grew up in the UK and now chases down terrorists – he’s a soldier in the IDF, preparing to be a commander. The Chapters of the Fathers (פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת – peer-KAY ah-VOHT) lists appropriate ages for various milestones in the life of the Jewish male: 9 for…
We’re opening up an evening Level 1 class (essential Hebrew conversation) at AACI Tel Aviv, starting June 6. That makes three classes in Tel Aviv (Levels 2 and 4 in the mornings), and five classes in Jerusalem. At our Ulpan, you won’t feel like this guy. Have you thought about signing up? What are you waiting…
עצלן My bed has clothes, CDs, envelopes and all kinds of other stuff on it, and I don’t feel like putting it all away so I can go to… bed. Instead, I’m going to do what I’ve done more than one night over the past couple of weeks. I’m going to sleep on…
אתגר This one’s for Devorah N. Thanks for the request. Keep them coming, people! A challenge in Hebrew is an אֶתְגָר (eht-GAHR). I’m not sure of the origin. It’s not Biblical Hebrew – I know this because I did a search. Perhaps it’s from Greek, or Ancient Persian… If anyone knows the origin, send…
מרשם This one’s for שלום (Shalom) – thanks for the idea mate. If you know a bit of Hebrew, you surely know the word for to write – לִכְתּוֹב (leekh-TOHV). To jot down, however, is לִרְשׁוֹם (leer-SHOHM). For example, אֲנִי אֶרְשׁוֹם אֶת מִסְפָּר הַטֶּלֶפוֹן שֶׁלָּך (ah-NEE ehr-SHOHM et mees-PAHR hah-TEH-leh-fohn sheh-LAKH) means, I’ll…
ספר If you’ve taken Level 1 of Ulpan La-Inyan, you know the Hebrew word for book – סֵפֶר (SEH-fehr). You may also know the word for number – מִסְפָּר (mees-PAHR), though, if I’m not mistaken, that comes up in Level 2. These words carry the same root; the core concept is counting, or recounting. The…
ייחודי I’ve been blessed to work with great people at Ulpan La-Inyan. Caron our instructor, one of these such people, sent me this video clip, which I invite you all the watch. If you can’t see the clip, you’ll need to go to the Ktzat Ivrit blog. One of the key words in…