לוֹעֲזִית Yesterday I introduced the Hebrew term for foreign language – שָׂפָה זָרָה (sah-FAH zah-RAH). Today I’m going to introduce a caveat to that entry. When describing something written in a foreign language, Israelis are less likely to say זֶה כָּתוּב בְּשָׂפָה זָרָה – it’s written in a foreign…
שָׂפָה זָרָה זָר (zahr) is the Hebrew core word for strange. The word you may know that means odd or weird – מוּזָר (moo-ZAHR) – comes from the same root. A foreign language – a strange language – is a שָׂפָה זָרָה. At Ulpan La-Inyan we work to make Hebrew less and less of a…
Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov I’ve seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself. Check out Yom Tov’s virtual gallery, and visit his Kohelet exhibition in Jerusalem. It’s open throughout the summer. גָּמוּר, גְּמוּרָה אֲנִי גָּמוּר – I’m exhausted, or literally, I’m done (ah-NEE gah-MOOR). A…
Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by… Check it out! לְהִתְנַשֵּׂא You may be familiar with this word from the קַדִּיש – Kaddish prayer (kah-DEESH). In that context, it means to rise up and refers to the exalting of G-d’s name. That’s לְהִתְנַשֵּׂא (leh-heet-nah-SEH) with its positive connotation. The negative connotation…
Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov I’ve seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself. Check out Yom Tov’s virtual gallery, and visit his Kohelet exhibition in Jerusalem. It’s open throughout the summer. תְּמִימוּת In Biblical Hebrew, a שֶׂה תָּמִים (seh tah-MEEM) is a perfect animal from the flock –…
שִׂיא Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by Yom Tov I’ve seen his amazing art at Hechal Shlomo and even acquired a piece myself. Check out Yom Tov’s virtual gallery, and visit his Kohelet exhibition in Jerusalem. It’s open throughout the summer. I happen to like warm weather – maybe it’s because I…
לְהַזְכִּיר, לְצַיֵּן Conversational Hebrew classes start this Sunday in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Efrat (Raanana starts mid-July). Some spots are still available. Check us out! In yesterday’s posting, I neglected to mention one more member of the Yelloz family in mourning, Tirtza (Tabitha). מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם תְּנֻחָמו – may you be…
תַּנְחוּמִים The other day, a friend and reader of this blog – a woman who watched me grow up – lost her husband, Roni Yelloz. Her sons, with whom I grew up, lost their father. To Eva, Marc, Joe and Gabi, my heart goes out to you. The Hebrew word for condolences is תַּנְחוּמִים (tahn-khoo-MEEM). The…
מִשְׁלוֹחַ Today’s dose of Hebrew is sponsored by… Check it out! In my Jerusalem apartment the other night, I searched Google for the Israeli bookshop in Encino, California. I found it and called the number listed. The man on the other end of the line said, שָׁלוֹם, אֵיךְ אֶפְשַׁר לַעֲזוֹר?…
מְאֻפַּק Don Corleone in The Godfather is the perfect example of an אָדָם מְאֻפַּק (ah-DAHM meh-oo-PAHK). He says little and does much, as suggested in פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת – Ethics of the Fathers (peer-KEH-ee ah-VOHT); although Don Corleone probably learned this from another source. can’t see the video? This passive-intensive פּוּעַל (poo-AHL) verb means not…
לְשַׁכְפֵּל Missed the deadline, but still want to take one of our classes this summer? Get discounted tuition (150 shekels off!) on your Ulpan La-Inyan course… Listen in to Ami’s show today at noon Israel time and on Sunday’s 2pm rebroadcast for instructions. Suppose you need to create…