having trouble seeing the print? תָּפוּר עָלָיו/עָלֶיהָ Sometimes people take on a job or position that fits them like a glove – it’s as if they were born for the task, or that the task is tailor-made for them. In Hebrew, we say, תָּפוּר עָלָיו when referring to a male. It means, literally, it’s tailored…
having trouble seeing the print? מָקוֹר Our popular Hebrew classes start next week around the country! Spots are still available. The Torah portion to be read this Shabbat by Jews around the world is the first in the Torah, בְּרֵאשִׁית (beh-reh-SHEET) – Genesis. It tells the story of how the world…
having trouble seeing the print? לֶאֱסוֹר Our popular Hebrew classes start next week around the country! Spots are still available. לֶאֱסוֹר, an active-simple פָּעַל verb, means to forbid. Its origin goes back to Biblical Hebrew, where it means to bind someone or something or to tie up. Here’s a Modern-Hebrew example: אָסַרְתִּי עָלָיו לַחְצוֹת אֶת הַכְּבִישׁ…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהַרְשׁוֹת, לָתֵת ל… Our popular Hebrew classes start next week around the country! Spots are still available. For such a famously legalistic text, the Hebrew Bible doesn’t have proper words for to allow or to forbid. So Modern Hebrew borrows from Mishnaic root for permission and authority,…
having trouble seeing the print? לְהִתְפַּקֵּעַ מִצְּחוֹק Our popular Hebrew classes start next week around the country! Spots are still available. Laughing is one of the most enjoyable of all human activities. To crack up, to fall off one’s seat, to die of laughter – these all have equivalents in Hebrew, though the most…
having trouble seeing the print? חַג הַסֻּכּוֹת Dear Ktzat Ivrit enthusiast, I am minimizing the amount of work I’m doing during the Sukkot festival – חג הסוכות, so there will be no new posts until next Tuesday. In the meantime, enjoy this heartwarming film about the people of Haredi Jerusalem and חג הסוכות, and learn…
having trouble seeing the print? סְתָו There’s still room in our post-holidays classes. What’s your conversational-Hebrew level? Some places in the world have four distinct seasons: summer, fall, winter, spring. But in regions such as Israel, there really was no need in ancient times for four names, since there were times when it…
having trouble seeing the print? דִּבּוּר, נְאוּם There’s still room in our post-holidays classes. What’s your conversational-Hebrew level? Truth is, the appropriate word for speech in Hebrew depends on what you mean. Speech, as in the gerund form of the word speak – the act of speaking, is דִּבּוּר (dee-BOOR). But if you are referring to speech in the elegant,…
having trouble seeing the print? נְיַר דֶּבֶק There’s still room in our post-holidays classes. What’s your conversational-Hebrew level? Most Israelis are still likely to use the British-English word for American scotch tape – סֶלוֹטֵייפּ – sellotape. But the proper Hebrew term that has become more and more popular is נְיַר דֶּבֶק (neh-YAHR DEH-vek)…
having trouble seeing the print? פְּתִיחוּת What’s your level of conversational Hebrew? Correction to last entry: The Hebrew word for stability – יציבות – should be vocalized this way: יַצִּיבוּת (yah-tsee-VOOT), not יְצִיבוּת (yeh-tsee-VOOT). Thank you, David G, for pointing that out. Today’s entry: יוֹם כִּפּוּר – Yom Kippur – (yohm kee-POOR) is a time of…