Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

  having trouble seeing the print? מִסְתּוֹרִי What is Ulpan La-Inyan? Yesterday, we saw the Hebrew root ס.ת.ר (s.t.r) in action, in the word for to conceal – לְהַסְתִּיר. We saw that the Talmud connects the root ס.ת.ר with the name of the biblical heroine of the Purim story, אֶסְתֵּר – Esther. Another application of ס.ת.ר is in the…

having trouble seeing the print? לְהַסְתִּיר Interact with YDDH on Facebook! The Talmud connects the name of the Purim story’s heroine, אֶסְתֵּר – Esther – with the concept of concealment, the root of which is ס.ת.ר (s.t.r). Here’s a Wikipedia article containing various explanations for the name of אסתר. Deriving from the ס.ת.ר root, we have the verb לְהַסְתִּיר –…

  having trouble seeing the print? בְּגִידָה Interact with Your Daily Dose of Hebrew on Facebook! To betray is לִבְגּוֹד, in Hebrew. לבגוד is an active-simple פָּעַל verb, whose root is ב.ג.ד (b.g.d), the same as that for clothing. For example: הַבּוֹגְדִים בִּמְגִילַת אֶסְתֵּר the traitors in the Book of Esther   בְּגִידָה, פֵּרוּשָׁהּ הֲפָרַת אֵמוּן. Betrayal means…

having trouble seeing the print? קָפוּא Interact with YDDH on Facebook! If you’re like me and like warm weather, raise your hand. The Hebrew word for frozen is קָפוּא. קפוא comes from the active-simple פָּעַל intransitive verb to freeze – לִקְפּוֹא. For example: הָאֲגָם קָפָא. The lake froze. and קָפָאתִי מִקּוֹר. I froze from (the) cold. Mind you, that’s to…

  having trouble seeing the print? לְהַעֲלוֹת, לְהָרִים Hebrew courses in just a few days in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Rehovot A raise in (the) salary is a הַעֲלָאָה בַּמַּשְׂכּוֹרֶת. For the rest of the scoop on to raise, watch this week’s video:   Further build your Hebrew vocabulary with… with a special discount for YDDH enthusiasts like yourself

  having trouble seeing the print? חַיּוֹת בַּר Hebrew courses starting Sunday in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Rehovot My recent reading and watching of Life of Pi leaves me inspired to share with you a piece on the Hebrew expression for wild animals: חַיּוֹת בַּר. In Rabbinic literature, חַיָּה (coming from the word חָיmeaning living) refers specifically to a non-domesticated animal, while בְּהֵמָה refers to a…

  having trouble seeing the print? קָצִין Hebrew courses starting Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv I’m taking the day off to attend my cousin’s טֶקֶס סִיּוּם קוּרְס קְצִינִים – officers’ graduation ceremony. That phrase provides a great example of how language picks up from its environment as the generations go by. Here’s the phrase broken down etymologically, in reverse chronological…

  having trouble seeing the print? לְשַׂמֵּחַ Hebrew courses starting Sunday in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv   My professor of Bible and Aramaic at Yeshiva University, Dr. Moshe Bernstein, taught me that 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant declared that it’s worth studying Hebrew for ten years just to read תְּהִלִּים ק”ד– Psalm 104. Jews all over the world read that…

  having trouble seeing the print? מַרְהִיב Ulpan La-Inyan in Jerusalem Last night I watched Academy Award Best-Picture nominee, Life of Pi. I was more impressed with the existential, religious and deeply-human aspects of the film; nevertheless, the special effects were spectacular. One Hebrew word for spectacular is מַרְהִיב. This active-causative הִפְעִיל verb derives from the root ר.ה.ב (r.h.b)….

  having trouble seeing the print? עוֹרֵךְ דִּין, עוֹרֶכֶת דִּין Ulpan La-Inyan in Ramat Beit Shemesh   This week’s video:     Here’s the article from the Academy of the Hebrew Language mentioned in the video. It’s in Hebrew – if you’re up for the challenge, give reading it a shot! If not, use Google Translate.  …