Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? מוֹסָד The Mossad – Israel’s premier intelligence agency – is famous for conducting some of the most daring and surprising undercover missions in the world. The word Mossad in Hebrew – מוֹסָד– means institution or institute. Referring to the intelligence agency, we say literally, The Institute – הַמּוֹסָד. For example, educational institutions are מוֹסְדוֹת…

  having trouble seeing the print? בֶּטַח, בָּרוּר, כַּמּוּבָן! highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth   In yesterday’s dose, we touched on the Hebrew word for security – בִּטָּחוֹן. The root of בטחון is ב.ט.ח meaning sureness and security. To say, for sure! or of course! in Hebrew, you’d use one of several terms. Here are three of them: בטח! A less formal…

  having trouble seeing the print? בִּדּוּק בִּטְחוֹנִי This one’s for Rojan and David I’ve had guests visiting from Europe the last few days. For both of them it’s the first time in Israel, and therefore the first time encountering the psychologically-astute Israeli security team at the airport. A security check is a בִּדּוּק בִּטְחוֹנִי.  Let’s break that…

having trouble seeing the print? רֶקַע highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth The word background in English might refer to the visual background of an image or the conceptual background of someone’s past. So too in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for background is רֶקַע. For example: כְּכָל הַנִּרְאֶה, נַחַל עוֹבֵר בָּרֶקַע שֶׁל הַמּוֹנָה לִיזָה. It appears that a riverbed passes through the…

  having trouble seeing the print?   לְהִתְלוֹנֵן, לְקַטֵּר watch video for full lesson! Check Out Our Conversational-Hebrew Program

  having trouble seeing the print? הַפְרָעָה   If you already know some Hebrew, you may be familiar with the word for to disturb – לְהַפְרִיעַ, an active-causative הִפְעִיל verb.   For example:   מוֹרֶה: לֹא לְהַפְרִיעַ בַּשִּׁעוּר! Teacher (a male): Do not disturb (during the) class! The noun form of להפריע, a disturbance, is הַפְרָעָה. And הפרעה is…

  having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְרַכֵּז highly recommended  for further vocabulary growth I learned today from a LinkedIn article that it’s important for a business leader to focus in order to succeed. The truth is, focusing – putting our energy into something – is what makes things move in the world. The Hebrew word for to focus or to…

  having trouble seeing the print?   לְבָרֵךְ watch video for full lesson! Check Out Our Conversational-Hebrew Program

  having trouble seeing the print? לוּחַ Tradition has it that חַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת– the Shavuot festival – marks the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. And the Torah – הַתּוֹרָה– was given on tablets – not the kind you swallow (that’s a כַּדּוּר), but the kind made of stone.   The word the תורה uses for tablets is…

  having trouble seeing the print? לְפַנֵּק This one’s for you, Mom. In many countries all over the world, it’s Mothers Day – יוֹם הָאֵם, in Hebrew. Here’s a song by Arik Einstein dedicated to his mother. I venture to say it might be sung for most mothers. One of the lines in the song is: אִמָּא,…

  having trouble seeing the print?    שֵׁרוּת לָקוֹחוֹת watch video for full lesson! Check Out Our Conversational-Hebrew Program