קָהָל listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for audience is quite an ancient one, as Moses would address the audience – הַקָּהָל listen and repeat – of the wandering People of Israel for forty years in the desert. A modern example: הַקָּהָל מַקְשִׁיב. The audience is listening. listen The…
מחויבות, התחייבות So there’s Commitment with an upper-case C, and commitment with a lower-case c. The upper-case one (i.e. the one men are accused of not being prepared to make) is מְחֻיָּבוּת (me-khoo-yah-VOOT). For example, יֵשׁ לִי מחויבות כְּלַפֵּי בֵּיתַ”ר יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yesh lee me-khoo-yah-VOOT klah-PAY bay-TAHR yeh-roo-shah-LAH-yeem) – I have a commitment to(wards)…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לייבא-1.m4a” /]לְיַבֵּא Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for to export – לייצא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לייבא-2.m4a” /], an active-intensive verb of the root י.צ.א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לייבא-3.m4a” /]. Going in the opposite direction, to import is לייבא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לייבא-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/לייבא-4.m4a” /]ישראל כבר לא צריכה לייבא גז טבעי. Israel no longer needs to import natural gas. Likewise, if export…
להשתחרר Here’s a word that our Level 3 students get a kick out of getting their mouth around: לְהִשְׁתַּחְרֵר (le-heesh-tahkh-REHR). It means, to get liberated. It’s used in many contexts, such as מָתַי אֲתָּה מִשְׁתַּחְרֵר מֵהַצָּבָא? (mah-TAH-ee ah-TAH meesh-tahkh-REHR meh-hah-tsah-VAH) – When are you getting released from the army?; אֲנִי רוֹצֶה קְצַת לְהִשְׁתַּחְרֵר…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהַרְשׁוֹת, לָתֵת ל… Our popular Hebrew classes start next week around the country! Spots are still available. For such a famously legalistic text, the Hebrew Bible doesn’t have proper words for to allow or to forbid. So Modern Hebrew borrows from Mishnaic root for permission and authority,…