שְׂפַת אֵם Can’t read Hebrew yet? Hebrew has two words for language, and both are named after parts of the mouth: שָׂפָה – the common word, literally lip לָשׁוֹן – the more poetic word, literally tongue, also referring to the study of language Hebrew’s expression for native language or mother tongue uses the lip metaphor: שְׂפַת…
לְהִסְתַּכֵּל עַל חֲצִי הַכּוֹס הַמְּלֵאָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? Is the glass half empty or half full? Conventional wisdom dictates: see the glass as half full. Hebrew joins a slew of languages that translate that important phrase, producing the dictum: צָרִיךְ לְהִסְתַּכֵּל עַל חֲצִי הַכּוֹס הַמְּלֵאָה, וְלֹא עַל חֲצִי הַכּוֹס הָרֵיקָה. Literally –…
לְהִתְמַלֵּא Can’t read Hebrew yet? מָלֵא for something masculine and מְלֵאָה for something feminine mean full, as in filled to capacity. For example: הַמָּקוֹם מָלֵא בַּאֲנָשִׁים. The place is full of people. and הַבֶּטֶן שֶׁלִּי מְלֵאָה. My stomach is full. For something to get filled up,…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? Review, practice and test yourself on this week’s doses of Hebrew! Flashcards Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
מִתְחַשֵּׁק לִי… Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for that basic feeling of desire or the urge to live and enjoy is חֵשֶׁק . אֵין לִי חֵשֶׁק לָצֵאת הַיּוֹם. I don’t have the oomph to go out today. To say I feel like… or I don’t feel like…, you’d use a reflexive-intensive…
לְהַשְׁכִּיב Can’t read Hebrew yet? לִשְׁכַּב means to lie down. For example: בְּשַׁבָּת אַחַר הַצָּהֳרַיִם, אַבָּא שׁוֹכֵב עַל הַסַּפָּה. On Shabbat afternoon, Dad lies down on the sofa. לשכב is an intransitive form (more or lesss) of an active-simple verb, whose root is שׁ.כ.ב (sh.k.b). In order to express the…
*** Yesterday’s dose’s sound files were mislinked, so you may have had trouble hearing them. My apologies. You can hear the sound files now by visiting this page. מַעֲקֶה Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Torah prescribes that homeowners put some kind of fencing or railing on their roofs, so that people don’t…
אָהוּב, אֲהוּבָה Can’t read Hebrew yet? The Hebrew word for love is אַהֲבָה (yep, just like the Dead Sea brand), whose root is א.ה.ב (a.h.b). To love is לֶאֱהוֹב, an active-simple verb. It also means to like. For example: אֲנִי אוֹהֵב פַּסְטָה. I like pasta. In that sentence, אוהב is the action, while…
דּוֹר Can’t read Hebrew yet? Most Hebrew nouns appear masculine in both singular and plural forms, or feminine in singular and plural forms. For example, שָׁעוֹן is a clock, while שְׁעוֹנִים are clocks; and חַיָּה is an animal, while חַיּוֹת are animals. Some words, however, can be deceiving. One of those words…
חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? Review, practice and test yourself on this week’s doses of Hebrew! Flashcards Game Test שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם, וְסוֹף שָׁבוּעַ נָעִים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!
שׁוֹפֵט Can’t read Hebrew yet? We’ve seen that מִשְׁפָּטrefers to that unit of speech or writing called sentence, and that its root is שׁ.פ.ט (sh.p.t) meaning judgment. Likewise, a judge in most courts is a שׁוֹפֵט or שׁוֹפֶטֶת(male and female, respectively). An example from this week’s Torah portion: שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים תִּתֵּן לְךָ…