When an Israeli teen gets a letter from the military to show up, s/he receives a צַו גִּיּוּס (tsahv g-ee-YOOS) – literally, this is an order of recruitment.
A mitzvah (in Hebrew it’s מִצְוָה – meets-VAH), in the purest sense of the word, is a commandment.
See the connection between the words צו and מצוה? The root of both is צ.ו.ה. – ts.w.h., the core concept of commanding or ordering.
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /]אֱגוֹז קָשֶׁה לְפִיצּוּחַ While בוטנים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /] are peanuts and שקדים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /] are almonds, the generic word for nuts is אגוזים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /]. Someone particularly stubborn might be called in English a hard nut to crack – in Hebrew they’d be called אגוז קשה לפיצוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/אגוז-#.m4a” /]ניסינו וניסינו לשכנע אותה,…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/אגדה-#.m4a” /]אַגָּדָה I’m not referring to a legend on a map – that’s מקרא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/אגדה-#.m4a” /], which is also the word for scripture. No, I’m talking about the stuff of great stories, fables – a legend. This in Hebrew is אגדה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/אגדה-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/אגדה-#.m4a” /]האיש והאגדה the man and the legend You may have…
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]מְמֻקָּם Yesterday we saw that מיקום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /] means location, and it derives from the פיעל verb למקם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /], which means to place. Something placed or located is ממוקם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /], a פועל form of the same root. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]איפה המשרד שלכם ממוקם? Where is your office located? and [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/ממוקם-#.m4a” /]הקייטנה ממוקמת…
Putting it together… Give gifts of food to your friends. It’s a great conversation starter… and it’s a win-win situation, making everyone feel warm and fuzzy. This is one of the mitzvahs of Purim day. So if you’ve been following the blog throughout this past week, here’s a useful sentence that puts it all together:…
Nam libero tempore cum soluta nobis est eligendi optio cumque nihil impedit quo minus id quod.