Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

  כַּמּוּת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Ancient Hebrew dialects did not have have a word for quantity.   So what did Modern Hebrew do to supply one? It took the word for how much – כַּמָּה listen and repeat – and appended the abstract-noun-making וּת- listen and repeat ending to it, and yielded the word כַּמּוּת listen…

  חֵץ וָקֶשֶׁת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Though the more prominent tradition of לַ”ג בָּעֹמֶר listen and repeat is the bonfire, Jewish children today and throughout the Diaspora used to go out into the fields and play with bows and arrows, as a reminder of the last stand in the Jewish independence…

  לְהַעֲלוֹת עַל הַכְּתָב  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Some things, such as various pieces of this week’s Torah portion, are difficult to put in writing.  The Hebrew expression for to put in writing is לְהַעֲלוֹת עַל הַכְּתָב listen and repeat – literally, to raise on the writing.   For example:   הוּא לֹא…

  לְהַסְמִיק  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Many Human beings are masters at masking their emotions. Still, there are some involuntary responses that very few are able to control.   One of these is blushing, whose Hebrew word – to blush – is לְהַסְמִיק listen and repeat.    This is an active-causative verb…

  מִשְׁקְפֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for glasses is מִשְׁקָפַיִם listen and repeat, of the root שׁ.ק.פ (sh.k.p) having to do with visibility.   Sunglasses, likewise, are ׁמִשְׁקְפֵי שֶׁמֶש listen and repeat – literally, glasses of the sun.   For example:   מֻמְלָץ לְהָבִיא מִשְׁקְפֵי שֶׁמֶשׁ לְבִקּוּרְכֶם בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל בְּחָדְשֵׁי הַקַּיִץ. It’s recommended…

  עִירוֹנִי  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for city, going back to the earliest books in Bible, is עִיר listen and repeat.    Already in Mishnaic times, Hebrew began employing עיר to describe the then-novel concepts of urban and municipal – as well as an urbanite (city dweller), rendering the word עִירוֹנִי listen and…

  אָכֵן  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Indeed once was a common word in English. Today it’s used more often than not sarcastically or smugly (though sometimes it’s used sincerely as well).   Its Hebrew equivalent, אָכֵן listen and repeat, is used in a similar vein.   For example:   סִיַּמְתָּ אֶת כָּל הָעֲבוֹדָה…

  אֳפָקִים חֲדָשִׁים  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew word for horizon is אֹפֶק listen and repeat.    For example:   אֲנִי רוֹאֶה סְפִינָה בָּאֹפֶק. I (a male) see a ship on the horizon.  listen    אופק refers to the physical horizon, the meeting place of the sky and the earth, as…