Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-1.m4a” /]לִשְׁבּוֹת, לְהַכּוֹת Yesterday we saw the Hebrew word for a strike – שביתה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-2.m4a” /]. This noun comes from the active-simple verb לשבות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-3.m4a” /] – to strike or to refrain from work. But what about to strike another person – to hit? That’s the active-intensive להכות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-4.m4a” /]. Here’s an example from the biblical story of Moses: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/להכות-5.m4a”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שביתה-1.m4a” /]שְׁבִיתָה With even the airport closing about once a year due to disgruntled employees, the word for strike is core vocabulary in Hebrew. The word is שביתה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שביתה-1.m4a” /]. You may recognize as its root the word שבת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/שביתה-2.m4a” /] – the Sabbath: שבת is the day of rest, the day when the workers “go on strike.”…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הנחה-1.m4a” /]הֲנָחָה As failing to recognize a discount could mean paying too much for a product, this word is core vocabulary. In Hebrew, a discount is הנחה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הנחה-1.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הנחה-2.m4a” /]הנחה של 50% על כל פריט בחנות! 50% discount on every item in the shop! The root of הנחה is נ.ו.ח[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/הנחה-3.m4a” /] meaning resting…

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-1.mp3″ /] Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep. Flashcards . Scatter . Space Race . Test [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/review-2.mp3″ /]שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-1.m4a” /]נָבִיא, חוֹזֶה, רוֹאֶה The best-known word for prophet in the Bible is נביא[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-3.m4a” /]וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה… (דברים ל”ד, י’) And there never rose a prophet in Israel like Moses… (Deuteronomy 34:10) But other terms exist, including איש א-להים[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נביא-4.m4a” /] – man of G-d, as well as…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראיון-1.m4a” /]רֵאָיוֹן Yesterday, we saw the Hebrew word for idea – רעיון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראיון-2.m4a” /]. Here’s a homophone – a word that sounds the same (in this case almost the same), but has a different spelling and, more importantly, a different meaning: ראיון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראיון-1.m4a” /] means interview. Can you spot the root? It’s ר.א.ה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ראיון-3.m4a” /] meaning seeing…

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/רעיון-1.m4a” /]רַעְיוֹן, מֻשָּׂג The Hebrew word for idea is רעיון[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/רעיון-2.m4a” /]. For example: [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/רעיון-3.m4a” /]יש לי רעיון גדול! I have a great (big) idea! The word first appears in one of the later books of the Hebrew Bible (קהלת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/רעיון-4.m4a” /] – Ecclesiastes), where it means musing. Despite conceptual connections we might draw between רעיון…