Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי מוֹדֶה בְּ… A few weeks ago we saw that the Hebrew term for Thanksgiving is חג ההודיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-2.m4a” /]. The word הודיה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-3.m4a” /] means thanks as in to give thanks, whereas the simple expression thanks! is !תודה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-4.m4a” /]. הודיה is derived from the verb להודות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-5.m4a” /], whose root is ה.ד.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מודה-ב-6.m4a” /]. You…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-1.m4a” /]מַעֲדָן The Hebrew word for delicacy – מעדן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-1.m4a” /] – comes from the root ע.ד.נ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-2.m4a” /], the letters making up Eden as in גן עדן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-3.m4a” /] – the Garden of Eden. Don’t confuse מעדן with מדען[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-4.m4a” /], which means scientist. The word in context: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מעדן-5.m4a” /]היא שמה על השולחן…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעים-1.m4a” /]נָעִים The Hebrew word for pleasant is נעים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעים-1.m4a” /]. But whereas in English pleasant isn’t such a common word, Hebrew’s נעים appears in all kinds of common expressions. For instance, you may recognize נעים from the equivalent of nice to meet you – literally, very pleasant – נעים מאוד[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעים-2.m4a” /]. Another common phrase is לא נעים לי[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נעים-3.m4a” /] – it’s unpleasant…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אביר-1.m4a” /]אַבִּיר The chorus of Danny Sanderson’s love song זה הכל בשבילך [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אביר-2.m4a” /] features a woman scolding her love for his naivety, nevertheless assuring him: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אביר-3.m4a” /]כך או כך תישאר האביר שלי. Either way, you’ll remain my knight. The Hebrew word for knight is אביר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אביר-1.m4a” /]. Note that the ב[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/אביר-4.m4a” /] is a…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להפיץ-שמועה-1.m4a” /]לְהָפִיץ שְׁמוּעָה A rumor is something that spreads by word of mouth, so that it makes sense that the Hebrew word for rumor – שמועה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להפיץ-שמועה-2.m4a” /] – derives from the root ש.מ.ע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להפיץ-שמועה-3.m4a” /] meaning hearing. To spread a rumor is להפיץ שמועה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להפיץ-שמועה-1.m4a” /]. The word להפיץ[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להפיץ-שמועה-4.m4a” /], an active-causative verb of…

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 . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תעוזה-1.m4a” /]תְּעוּזָה, הֱעָזָה By its nature, the act of doing something requiring courage may come across as positive or less so: It could be called an act of daring or an act of audacity, which itself could be positive or negative. The Hebrew words for each draw upon the same root – ע.ו.ז[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/תעוזה-2.m4a” /]:…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להעיז-1.m4a” /]לְהָעִיז I attended an all-boys high school – it housed nearly double the testosterone found at a coed school, with the grief caused to staff following a similar proportion. One time, several boys from another class decided to play a daring prank on a teacher: they lifted his car from his normal spot in the parking lot and moved…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/באותו-ראש-1.m4a” /]בְּאֹתוֹ רֹאשׁ To express that two people are thinking in sync, English invokes the metaphor of a book, where among all the pages in the volume, the two people are reading the same one – “we’re on the same page.” English also has an expression that stresses the feeling of connection that comes with such an…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נר-לאחד-1.m4a” /]נֵר לְאֶחָד נֵר לְמֵאָה Last night Jews lit the eighth candle of חנוכה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נר-לאחד-2.m4a” /] – Hanukkah, the last candle of the festival. So many flames look beautiful, but even one candle can provide light to multitudes. This the rabbis of the Talmud observed (שבת קכא עמוד א[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נר-לאחד-3.m4a” /] Shabbat 121A) with their statement, נר…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מואר-1.m4a” /]מוּאָר Ernest Hemingway wrote a short story called “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” The story itself I don’t remember at all, but the title for some reason stayed with me. Something lighted or lit in Hebrew is מואר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מואר-1.m4a” /], a passive form of the active-causative verb להאיר[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/מואר-2.m4a” /] – to light up or to shine. This word להאיר also forms the…