how to say “the United Nations” in Hebrew

  הָאוּ”ם   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The only organization whose name has been appearing in the news as often as Hamas recently is the United Nations.    The Hebrew translation is הָאוּמוֹת הַמְּאֻחָדוֹת  , or in short, like “the UN,” הָאוּ”ם  .   Broken down:   האומות   – plural of האומה  ,…

how to say “an escape” in Hebrew

  מָנוֹס   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world includes:   לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְלַגֵּר וְלַתּוֹשָׁב בְּתוֹכָם, תִּהְיֶינָה שֵׁשׁ הֶעָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, לְמִקְלָט לָנוּס שָׁמָּה, כָּל מַכֵּה נֶפֶשׁ בִּשְׁגָגָה. For the Children of Israel, and for the sojourner and the resident among them, shall…

how to say “keep me posted” in Hebrew

  תְּעַדְכֵּן אׂתִי   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     In English, we use the term to update mostly when discussing the news and professionally-related topics.   In Hebrew, however, it’s used in lieu of the everyday expressions let me know and keep me posted. The word is לְעַדְכֵּן  , an active-intensive verb of the four-letter root ע.ד.כ.נ (a.d.k.n)….

how to say “ceasefire” in Hebrew

how to say “ceasefire” in Hebrew

  הַפְסָקַת אֵשׁ   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for a break is הַפְסָקָה  , an active-causative verb of the root פ.ס.ק (p.s.k) meaning pause.   For example:   הָעוֹבְדִים יָצְאוּ לְהַפְסָקַת צָהֳרַיִם. The employees went out for an afternoon break.     And אֵשׁ   is fire.   So a ceasefire, or a…

how to say “ladder” in Hebrew

  סֻלָּם   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     If the Modern-Hebrew word for escalation is הַסְלָמָה  , its root is ס.ל.מ (s.l.m), forming a very ancient word, סֻלָּם   – ladder.   I say ancient because the word appears already in Genesis, in Jacob’s dream:   וְהִנֵּה סֻלָּם מֻצָּב אַרְצָה וְרֹאשׁוֹ מַגִּיעַ הַשָּׁמָיְמָה… and behold, a ladder placed on the earth,…

how to say “fellow human being” in Hebrew

how to say “fellow human being” in Hebrew

  הַזּוּלָת   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     זוּלָה   in Biblical Hebrew means removing from or except for, always used in the construct state – where the letter ה (h) at the end becomes a ת (t), or a ת with a suffix – as in:   זוּלָתִי כָּלֵב בֶּן יְפֻנֶּה, הוּא יִרְאֶנָּה… except for Caleb…

how to say “human shield” in Hebrew

  מָגֵן אֱנוֹשִׁי   Can’t read Hebrew yet?     One of the most deplorable tactics of war, used readily by the terrorists launching rockets from Gaza, is the human shield. in Hebrew, a human shield is מָגֵן אֱנוֹשִׁי  : the word מגן   means shield, and אנושי   means human in the adjective sense. For example:   הַמָּגֵן הָאֱנוֹשִׁי בְּעַזָּה…