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חַיִים אֲרוּכִּים listen to this phrase pronounced This one’s for my friend Zevik in Encino, California. I would give him a call and he’d say, יֵש לְךָ חַיִים אֲרוּכִּים – you (will) have a long life. This is the charm Israelis wish one another if they thus telepathically find one another…
Announcement (your word of the day follows) This Thursday is the final day to register and receive 200 shekels off of Ulpan La-Inyan August-September classes. We’ve got our regular six-week courses as well as a few three-week intensives at a variety of levels, in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Efrat and Raanana. Some testimonials…
לְשׂוֹחֵחַ listen to this word pronounced I did this spiel this morning on the air with Adam. לְדַבֵּר (leh-dah-BEHR) is probably the first word that comes to mind, if you know some Hebrew. That’s the generic word for to talk or to speak. But as widely used as לדבר is, it carries…
שָׂמַחְתִּי לְהַכִּיר listen to this phrase pronounced If you know a bit of Hebrew, you’re almost certain to have used the phrase נָעִים מְאֹד – nice to meet you, or literally, very pleasant (nah-EEM meh-OHD). That’s what one normally says at the moment of introduction to someone new – let’s call her…
מַטָּס listen to this word pronounced I just looked up the sister-entry to this one, turns out it’s been over a year! That took me by surprise… I’m referring to my entry on the flotilla – מַשָּׁט (mah-SHAHT) that tried making its way to Gaza in June 2010. Anyway,…
לְהִזָּהֵר, לָגוּר listen to this word pronounced If you’ve had conversations in Hebrew with children, you probably know how to say, be careful! (literally, caution!) – זְהִירוּת (zeh-hee-ROOT). “Beware! Dog in yard!” To be careful is לְהִזָּהֵר (leh-hee-zah-HEHR). It’s a verb of the נפעל (neef-AHL) variety – not really active or passive, or…
לָלֶכֶת לַיָּם listen to this word pronounced If you know a bit of Hebrew, these words probably aren’t new to you. So consider this a lesson in idiom. In English we talk about going to the beach. If that were translated literally to Hebrew, it would be לָלֶכֶת לַחוֹף (lah-LEH-khet lah-KHOHF)….
נוֹחַ listen to this word pronounced This one’s for Abi S, who asked to know the difference between comfortable and convenient in Hebrew. Truth is, we use the same word for both: נוֹח (NOH-ahkh). For example, you could say either: נוֹחַ לִי עַל הַסַּפָּה (NOH-ahkh lee ahl hah-sah-PAH) – I’m comfortable (literally, it’s comfortable for…
מֵידָע listen to this word pronounced If you know some basic Hebrew, look at the word above and try to spot its root. The שֹׁרֶש or root (SHOH-resh) of the word מֵידַע (meh-ee-DAH) is י.ד.ע (y.d.a), the concept of knowledge. Using that root, מידע means information. In contrast, the word for data is…
אֱמוּנִים, נֶאֱמָנוּת In elementary school at Emek Hebrew Academy, we used to say, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America…” Since today is the independence day of the United States, I think it appropriate to highlight one of the words in that expression. Allegiance to a cause,…
הֲפָקָה listen to this word pronounced Yesterday around the Shabbat table at the absorption center in Beit Alpha, someone asked me whether as a child I dreamed of teaching Hebrew and running an ulpan. I replied that I actually dreamed of becoming a film director. As a kid, I used to…