Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /]אֵין צֹרֶךְ One of the most important things one needs to be able to say in Hebrew is I need: אני צריך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /] if you’re male, and אני צריכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /] if you’re female. A need is צורך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /], while there’s no need is אין צורך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/אין-צורך-#.m4a” /]אין צורך…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ממוחשב-#.m4a” /]מְמֻחְשָׁב You may know the Hebrew word for computer – מחשב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ממוחשב-#.m4a” /], deriving from the root ח.ש.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ממוחשב-#.m4a” /] meaning thinking. But did you know the word for computerized? That’s ממוחשב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ממוחשב-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/ממוחשב-#.m4a” /]למה לא עושים קלפי ממוחשב? Why don’t they make a computerized ballot box? ממוחשב is a פועל verb,…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/קלפי-2-#.m4a” /]קַלְפִּי The Hebrew word for ballot box – קלפי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/קלפי-2-#.m4a” /] – comes from the Ancient Greek word κάλπη (kalpi), which referred to an urn used to collect votes. קלפי made its way to Hebrew in Mishnaic times, when the Greeks ruled the Land of Israel. Today it refers not only to the physical ballot…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/להניף-דגל-#.m4a” /]לְהָנִיף דֶּגֶל The Hebrew word for flag is דגל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/להניף-דגל-#.m4a” /], as in the biblical: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/להניף-דגל-#.m4a” /]דֶּגֶל מַחֲנֵה רְאוּבֵן תֵּימָנָה (במדבר ב’, י’) The flag of the camp of Reuben towards the south (Numbers 2:10) To raise a flag or to fly a flag is להניף דגל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/להניף-דגל-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/להניף-דגל-#.m4a” /]בשנת 1967…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/הר-הבית-#.m4a” /]הַר הַבַּיִת The most common Hebrew expression for the Temple Mount in Jerusalem is הר הבית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/הר-הבית-#.m4a” /], literally the mountain of the house or home. However: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/הר-הבית-#.m4a” /]להר הבית יש כמה שמות נרדפים. The Temple Mount has several other names. הבית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/הר-הבית-#.m4a” /] – the house/home – is a shortened version of בית המקדש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/הר-הבית-#.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/מילה-נרדפת-#.m4a” /]מִלָּה נִרְדֶּפֶת The Hebrew word for word is מילה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/מילה-נרדפת-#.m4a” /], which derives from the Aramaic root מ.ל.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/מילה-נרדפת-#.m4a” /] meaning speech. מילה is a feminine word, even though it doesn’t appear to be one in the plural: words are מילים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/מילה-נרדפת-#.m4a” /]. A synonym is מילה נרדפת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/מילה-נרדפת-#.m4a” /] – literally, a word chased/pursued (by another word, perhaps…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/יחסית-#.m4a” /]יַחֲסִית The root י.ח.ס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/יחסית-#.m4a” /] appears in late Biblical Hebrew, where it means family connection: this is the origin of the Hebrew/Yiddish word ייחוס[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/יחסית-#.m4a” /] (yichus) meaning genealogy.  In Modern Hebrew, this root appears in words that have to do with relativity, so that relatively-speaking or relative to is יחסית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/יחסית-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/לבצע-הזמנה-#.m4a” /]לְבַצֵּעַ הַזְמָנָה If you’ve taken any of our courses from Level 2 and up, you know the word for to invite – להזמין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/לבצע-הזמנה-#.m4a” /], a הפעיל verb. Likewise, and invitation is הזמנה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/לבצע-הזמנה-#.m4a” /]. להזמין and הזמנה also mean to order and an order, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/לבצע-הזמנה-#.m4a” /]איפה ההזמנה שלי? Where is my order? To make an…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חטוב-#.m4a” /]חָטוּב The Biblical root ח.ט.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חטוב-#.m4a” /] means cutting or gathering wood. Thus, the body of someone who is really good shape – cut or chiseled – is חטוב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חטוב-#.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/חטוב-#.m4a” /]איזה גוף חטוב! באיזה חדר כושר אתה מתאמן, דוד? What a chiseled body! What gym do you work out in, David?…