Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /]שִׁעוּר The Hebrew word for lesson is שיעור[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /]. It comes from the root ש.ע.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /] meaning measure: a lesson is a measured portion of a greater course. For example: יש אצלנו 20 שיעורים ברמה.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שיעור-#.m4a” /] We have at our (school) 20 lessons in a level. You might think that…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /]רָמָה The Hebrew word for level is רמה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /], as in: היא רוצה להירשם לקורס רמה שלוש.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /] She wants to register for the level 3 course. רמה also means height, as in רמת הגולן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/רמה-#.m4a” /] – the Golan Height(s), and the name of kibbutz adjacent to Jerusalem, רמת רחל[audioclip…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]שַׁגְרִירוּת The Hebrew word for ambassador was coined by former Prime Minister of Israel, Moshe Sharett. He took the Biblical-Hebrew root ש.ג.ר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] meaning offspring or offshoot, used his imagination and came up with שגריר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /] – someone sent off to another country to represent his/her own. And embassy? That’s שגרירות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/שגרירות-#.m4a” /]. For…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /]רִבּוֹנוּת What does a rabbi have to do with sovereignty, a nation’s stake to a piece of land? Look at the words for both: ריבונות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] – sovereignty, and רב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] – rabbi. The root of both is ר.ב.ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a” /] meaning greatness. Here’s ריבונות in context: ירושלים המאוחדת עברה לריבונות ישראל ב-1967.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/ריבונות-#.m4a”…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/גועל-נפש-#.m4a” /]גֹּעַל נֶפֶשׁ, מַגְעִיל This is one of the less pleasant Hebrew expressions but useful nonetheless. This evocative expression, גועל נפש[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/גועל-נפש-#.m4a” /] means literally abhorrent to the soul. Suppose you come back from a long vacation only to find that you left some milk in the fridge. When your unassuming family member grabs…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פג-תוקף-#.m4a” /]פַּג הַתֹּקֶף The Hebrew word for period as in period of time is תקופה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פג-תוקף-#.m4a” /]. For example: היא יודעת הרבה על התקופה הרומאית.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פג-תוקף-#.m4a” /] She knows a lot about the Roman period. A related word is תוקף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פג-תוקף-#.m4a” /] – validity. So the expression פג התוקף[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/פג-תוקף-#.m4a” /] – expired – means literally the validity is…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לזרוק-להשליך-#.m4a” /]לִזְרֹק, לְהַשְׁלִיךְ You may know the Hebrew word for to throw – לזרוק[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לזרוק-להשליך-#.m4a” /], a פעל verb. For example: זרוק את הכדור![audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לזרוק-להשליך-#.m4a” /] Throw the ball! (to a male) But perhaps you didn’t know that לזרוק also means to toss into the garbage, for example: הגיע הזמן לעשות סדר ולזרוק פה כמה דברים.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לזרוק-להשליך-#.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הגיע-הזמן-#.m4a” /]הִגִּיעַ הַזְּמַן To ask someone what time it is in Hebrew, you’d say ?מה השעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הגיע-הזמן-#.m4a” /]. This means literally, what is the hour? The Hebrew word for time itself, though, is זמן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הגיע-הזמן-#.m4a” /]. And to say, it’s about time, you’d say the time has arrived – הגיע הזמן.[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/הגיע-הזמן-#.m4a” /] For example: הגיע הזמן שתתחילו…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לקחת-ברצינות-#.m4a” /]לָקַחַת בִּרְצִינוּת The Hebrew word for serious is רציני[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לקחת-ברצינות-#.m4a” /] for a male or a masculine object, and רצינית[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לקחת-ברצינות-#.m4a” /] for a female or a feminine object. I’m not sure of its etymology. There is a biblical figure named רצין[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/לקחת-ברצינות-#.m4a” /] – Retzin, the king of Aram, but there’s no…

The post earlier this week “How to say ‘flood’ in Hebrew” has changed. See updated version here. חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע…