ulpan raanana

  I’ve got my Israeli music uncovered (explained) today at noon, Israel time!   Tune in exclusively at RustyMike Radio.

  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 come…

  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 come…

  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 מִתְגַּלֵּחַ כָּל…

  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 a story…

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 (see-KHAHT ve-ee-DAH). This means, literally, a call…

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 (koh-REH). To mine is לִכְרוֹת (leekh-ROHT), which is spelled the same and sounds the same as the word for to cut off.    The…

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 (shoo-LEE).   My accountant friend used this word last night. I don’t recall the context – I’m about to go to…

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 (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 – סַנְוֵרִים…

יש לי מזל, וכו   There isn’t really a word for lucky. There is one – מְמֻזַּל (me-moo-ZAHL) describing a male and מְמֻזֶּלֶת (me-moo-ZEH-let) describing female, but it’s not very widely used. One could say, יֵשׁ לִי מַזָּל (yesh lee mah-ZAHL) – literally, I have luck. But that doesn’t work for phrases such as It’s my…