Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/העלאה-#.m4a” /]הַעֲלָאָה The word עלייה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/העלאה-#.m4a” /] means ascent. When someone immigrates to Israel, they’re said to ascend, so their process is called עלייה. Now, עלייה is a noun form of לעלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/העלאה-#.m4a” /], a simple פעל verb meaning to ascend or to go up. But to cause something to go up – to raise it – is להעלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/העלאה-#.m4a” /],…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/משכורת-#.m4a” /]מַשְׂכֹּרֶת Those of you who are into Jewish theology may be familiar with the idea of שכר ועונש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/משכורת-#.m4a” /] – reward and punishment. שכר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/משכורת-#.m4a” /] means reward, as well as wage. A wage that comes on a regular basis is משכורת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/משכורת-#.m4a” /] – a salary. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/משכורת-#.m4a” /]גובה המשכורת שלך, שרה, יהיה תלוי…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/גורם-#.m4a” /]גּוֹרֵם Some decisions are easy to make. Others are harder: they have several factors one must consider. Each of these factors, in Hebrew, is called a גורם[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/גורם-#.m4a” /]. גורם means literally a cause (it’s a form of the simple פעל verb לגרום[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/גורם-#.m4a” /] – to cause). What do causes have to do with factors? A factor allows or…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/נובע-#.m4a” /]נוֹבֵעַ מִ– One of Israel’s major mineral water companies is called נביעות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/נובע-#.m4a” /] – literally, flowings or sproutings. לנבוע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/נובע-#.m4a” /] – a simple פעל verb – means to flow forth, both literally and figuratively. So if we want to say that one thing originates or flows forth – or stems – from something else, we’ll use a form of לנבוע….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/הערה-#.m4a” /]הֶעָרָה The Hebrew word for a comment is הערה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/הערה-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/הערה-#.m4a” /]שאלות? הערות? Questions? Comments? הערה is related to the word להתעורר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/הערה-#.m4a” /] – to wake up: they both come from the root ע.ו.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/הערה-#.m4a” /], which means rouse, awaken. When we comment, we awaken the listener’s attention to something. To comment (also…

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/2019/06/תסירו-אותי-#.m4a” /]תָּסִירוּ אוֹתִי! At the bottom of every marketing email that respects itself is a link that in English says something to the effect of unsubscribe. In Hebrew, that word is usually הסר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/תסירו-אותי-#.m4a” /] – literally, remove. הסר is an imperative (command) version of the word להסיר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/תסירו-אותי-#.m4a” /] – to remove. Here’s להסיר in a different…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/רשימת-תפוצה-#.m4a” /]רְשִׁימַת תְּפוּצָה We saw yesterday that התפוצות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/רשימת-תפוצה-#.m4a” /] means the Diaspora, and that the word תפוצות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/רשימת-תפוצה-#.m4a” /] itself means literally distributions. A mailing list or a distribution list is רשימת תפוצה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/רשימת-תפוצה-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/רשימת-תפוצה-#.m4a” /]יש לנו מעל שלוש עשרה אלף כתובות מייל ברשימת התפוצה שלנו. We have over thirteen thousand emails addresses on…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התפוצות-#.m4a” /]הַתְּפוּצוֹת The Hebrew word for exile is גלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התפוצות-#.m4a” /], as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התפוצות-#.m4a” /]עם ישראל היה אלפיים שנה בגלות. The People of Israel were two thousand years in exile. But what about the specific places that the Jews inhabited בגלות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התפוצות-#.m4a” /] – in the exile? There’s a special word for these: התפוצות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התפוצות-#.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /]הִתְבּוֹלְלוּת You may know the Hebrew expression לבלבל את המוח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /] – to drive someone crazy, or literally, to confuse the brain. לבלבל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /], whose four-letter ב.ל.ב.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /] root is a linguistically-mutated version of ב.ל.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /], means to confuse things. ב.ל.ל is also the root of the word assimiliation – התבוללות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/התבוללות-#.m4a” /]….

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/בכוונה-#.m4a” /]בְּכַוָּנָה You may know the word כוונה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/בכוונה-#.m4a” /] – intention or purpose – from Jewish prayer. With the letter ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/בכוונה-#.m4a” /] in front of it, the word becomes on purpose or intentionally, as in: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/בכוונה-#.m4a” /]סליחה, לא עשיתי את זה בכוונה! Sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose! כוונה comes from the root כ.ו.נ[audioclip…