having trouble seeing the print? מַעֲבַר גְּבוּל Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Register Now! The Biblical Jacob crossed the Jordan River with his family and belongings, just as today people cross that river between the countries Israel and Jordan. The Hebrew term for border crossing is מַעֲבַר גְּבוּל . A מַעֲבָר is a crossing…
having trouble seeing the print? וָרֹד, וְרֻדָּה Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! See review material at the end of today’s dose! In the Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world, Jacob has a vision of עַתֻּדִים… וּבְרֻדִּים – billy goats… (and) speckled. בָּרֹד …
וֶרֶד, שׁוֹשַׁנָּה Modern Hebrew has two words for rose: וֶרֶד and שׁוֹשַנָּה. Both are also names given to Israeli baby girls (שושנה is the original Hebrew for the English name Susanna), though not as often today as in previous generations. While ורד first appears in the later Mishnaic Hebrew, שושנה first appears in Biblical Hebrew…
having trouble seeing the print? פְּגִישָׁה, מִפְגָּשׁ, אָסֵפָה, יְשִׁיבָה Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! As you can tell from the title, there are many words in Hebrew for meeting. Here’s a digest for you. פגישה The most common word for meeting is פְּגִישָׁה It comes from the active-simple verb לִפְגּוֹשׁ – to meet – of the root…
having trouble seeing the print? תַּקָּלָה טֶכְנִית Those of you receiving Your Daily Dose of Hebrew via email may have been disappointed over the past few days, since no emails have gone out. If you’re receiving this one, the problem has been solved. Here’s how to say glitch in Hebrew…
having trouble seeing the print? מְסֻיָּם, נְקֻדָּתִי, סְפֶּצִיפִי Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! The English word specific has a few synonyms: particular, precise, exact, etc. Likewise, Hebrew has more than one word for different situations. The most commonly-used one is transliterated from English: סְפֶּצִיפִי . For example: אַתָּה מְדַבֵּר עַל…
having trouble seeing the print? יְצִיאַת חֵרוּם Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! The Hebrew word for emergency is חֵרוּם , as discussed here. An exit is a יְצִיאָה , coming from the active-simple verb לָצֵאת – to go out – whose root is י.צ.א (y.ts.a). When יציאה is connected to…
having trouble seeing the print? עֲדָשׁוֹת, עֲדָשִׁים Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! See review material at the end of today’s dose… and TEST YOURSELF! The Hebrew words for lens and lentil are the same – עֲדָשָׁה . That’s because when the makers of Modern Hebrew were thinking about what to call that…
having trouble seeing the print? נִתּוּחַ Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! Surgery, as in a surgical operation, is נִתּוּחַ – whereas surgery in the abstract sense, is כִירוּרְגִּיָה – chirurgy transliterated. So, we have: הִיא עָבְרָה נִתּוּחַ. She underwent surgery. and הוּא לָמַד כִירוּרְגִּיָה. He studied surgery….
having trouble seeing the print? לְהַרְכִּיב מִשְׁקָפַיִם As for the act of putting on shoes, Hebrew has a special term for to wear glasses: לְהַרְכִּיב מִשְׁקָפַיִם The word להרכיב means to assemble in other contexts. Regarding glasses, להרכיב of the root ר.כ.ב (r.k.b) meaning riding, might evoke the imagery of legs dangling over the sides of a horse……
having trouble seeing the print? מְחַבֵּל, מְחַבֶּלֶת Mid-Fall Hebrew Courses Starting Soon! Register Now! The most widely-used Hebrew word for terrorist is מְחַבֵּל for a male and מְחַבֶּלֶת for a female. These words are participle forms (also present-tense) of the active-intensive verb לְחַבֵּל , which means to sabotage. In effect, a…