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having trouble seeing the print? שָׂמֵחַ עַד הַגַּג Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program Barack Obama (along with his family) is now over-the-moon ecstatic with joy. A Hebrew expression that befits him now is שָׂמֵחַ עַד הַגַּג. It means, literally, happy to the roof. Bear in mind that joy in Hebrew is a verb (an active-simple…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהַצְבִּיעַ Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program Yesterday we encountered the Hebrew word for elections – בְּחִירוֹת . But just as election and vote are two different words in English, בחירות has a counterpart as well. The active-causative הִפְעִיל verb, לְהַצְבִּיעַ, is related to the word for finger, אֶצְבַּע , the root of both being…
having trouble seeing the print? בְּחִירוֹת Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew word for to choose is לִבְחוֹר , an active-simple פָּעַל verb of the root ב.ח.ר (b.kh.r). Thus a choice is a בְּחִירָה , and choices or elections are בְּחִירוֹת. For example: מָחָר יִתְקַיְּמוּ הַבְּחִירוֹת בְּאַרְצוֹת הַבְּרִית. Tomorrow the elections will take place in the United States. …
having trouble seeing the print? אֹרֵחַ Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program video version! The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world features several models of hosting, from Abraham’s open tent to the gripping story of Sodom and Gomorrah, in which angels disguised as passers-by herald the…
having trouble seeing the print? בֹּשֶׂם Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew word for perfume is בֹּשֶׂם, going back to the Biblical word for a substance giving off a pleasant smell. Cologne is מֵי בֹּשֶׂם (meh-ee BOH-sem), meaning pleasant-smelling water, much like the French eau de toilette. But most Israelis refer to cologne, just…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְפָּרֵק Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program before Hurricane Sandy לְהִתְפָּרֵק is a reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb. It means literally to come apart or to fall apart. For example: הָאַרְמוֹן בַּחוֹל הִתְפָּרֵק. But this word is also used in a non-literal sense to refer to that activity of coming home after a long day at work and… well, collapsing or unwinding: אַחֲרֵי יוֹם…
having trouble seeing the print? טֶלֶפוֹן נַיָּד Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The Hebrew word for mobile – describing something portable or that moves from place to place – is נַיָּד (nah-YAHD). So a mobile telephone is a טֶלֶפוֹן נייד. The word טלפון (TEH-leh-phohn) itself does have a proper Hebrew term invented by the Academy of the…
having trouble seeing the print? נַיֶּרֶת Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program The expression “red tape” refers to the frustrating element in bureaucracy, where people have to wait lots of time for their business to move forward, often due to lots and lots of paperwork. The Hebrew word for “red tape” or simply “paperwork”, נַיֶּרֶת, comes from the…
having trouble seeing the print? עִבְרִית Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program video version! As the Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews (Hebrews) around the world depicts the character of אברהם – Abraham (ahv-rah-HAHM) most prominently, and since this patriarch is referred to in the Torah as אברם העברי (ahv-RAHM hah-eev-REE), now is a…
having trouble seeing the print? מִסְתַּעֲרְבִים Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program This one’s for Shimon K. אֵלִי כֹּהֵן Eli Cohen The Israeli intelligence agencies are among the most effective and notorious in the world. One tactic employed by these agencies is sending an Israeli spy into enemy territory to live as one of them….
having trouble seeing the print? עִמּוּת Check out our world-class conversational Hebrew program With two weeks to go before the 2012 United States presidential elections, the two candidates engaged the other night in the third and final presidential debate in their campaigns. If you enter debate into the Morfix online dictionary, you’ll see several translations of the word into…