Blog – Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

פֵּרוֹת מְיֻבָּשִׁים   Can’t read Hebrew yet? Today in Israel sales of dried fruits will be up by several hundred percent as the country marks the occasion of ט”וּ בִּשְׁבָט  Tu Bishvat, the 15th of the Hebrew month of Shevat – when Jews celebrate the budding of spring.   The word for fruit is פְּרִי (note…

  רַכֶּבֶת תַּחְתִּית  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The word תַּחַת  listen and repeat means below or under, while מִתַּחַת  listen and repeat means underneath (literally, from under) as in:   הַנְּיָרוֹת נִמְצָאִים מִתַּחַת לַשֻּׁלְחָן. The papers are under the table.  listen    תחת also means one’s behind in slang.    תַּחְתִּית  listen and repeat means the bottom…

  הוֹרָאוֹת  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The word תּוֹרָה  listen and repeat comes from the root י.ר.ה (y.r.h) meaning instruction, so that the Torah could also be called the Book of Instruction. Here’s a video about this.   This same root gives rise to the common word for instruction, הוֹרָאָה  listen and repeat,…

  אוֹדוֹתֵנוּ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     Just as English has various words for about – regarding, in reference to, etc – so does Hebrew.   עַל  listen and repeat is the most common word, as in:   אֲנַחְנוּ לֹא מְדַבְּרִים עַל אֹתוֹ אָדָם. We’re not talking about the same person.  listen   …

  מַעְיָן  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The common Hebrew name מַעְיָן  listen and repeat – given mostly to girls but also to boys – means spring or well.   For example:   אֵזוֹר בֵּית שְׁאָן נִקְרָא “עֵמֶק הַמַּעְיָנוֹת.” The Beit Shean region is called “The Valley of the Springs.”  listen    A…

  גָּאוֹן, גְּאוֹנִי  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     If you like Israeli music, you’ve likely come across at least a couple of songs by Yehoram Gaon, such as this one.   The name Gaon – גָּאוֹן  listen and repeat – means excellence or majesty in Biblical Hebrew, but in Modern Hebrew it means genius. …

  נְטִיָּה  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew verb לִנְטוֹת  listen and repeat, of the root נ.ט.ה (n.t.h), means to tend or to be inclined.    For example:   אֲנִי נוֹטֶה לְהַצְבִּיעַ לְמִפְלָגוֹת קְטַנּוֹת. I (a male) tend to vote for a small parties.  listen    Likewise, נְטִיָּה means tendency, as…

  אוֹטוֹ, מְכוֹנִית, רֶכֶב  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     1.    In contemporary English we say car, but way back when, people used to call their cars automobiles.   One of Hebrew’s three words for car is an abbreviation of that word: אוֹטוֹ  listen and repeat.   Take the opening line from this children’s song…

  מָבוֹךְ  listen and repeat Can’t read Hebrew yet?     The Hebrew root ב.ו.כ (b.w.k) means confusion, so that someone who is נָבוֹךְ  listen and repeat (or נְבוֹכָה  listen and repeat if she is a female) is confused or perplexed. נבוך and נבוכה also describe someone embarrassed.    This root also gives rise to the word for maze…