מֻגְבָּלוּת If you’ve read some of the Hebrew Bible or have followed the peace process listening to Israeli news, you’ve probably come across the word for border – גְּבוּל (ge-VOOL). A border is something that separates two things, or limits them one from the other. To limit something is לְהַגְבִּיל (le-hahg-BEEL). It’s a causative הפעיל…
כְּפוֹר This word isn’t very widely used, especially since we don’t get too much frost here in Israel. Nevertheless, I think it’s a nice tidbit with which you might be able to strike up a friendly conversation with your Israeli neighbors or to adopt an alternative expression to it’s cold!!! when you shiver walking down the…
בִּן לַיְלָה The online front page of one of Israel’s major newspapers, יְדִיעוֹת אַחֲרוֹנוֹת (ye-dee-OHT ah-khah-roh-NOHT) reads: יְצִיאַת תּוּנִיסִיָּה: “הָפְכָה לְעִירַאק בִּן לַיְלָה” (ye-tsee-AHT too-NEE-see-yah: “hahf-KHAH le-ee-RAHK been LAH-ee-lah”) – Exodus from Tunisia: “Turned into Iraq overnight.” Here’s the article. To say that something occurs overnight, you’d use the expression, בִּן…
לְהִתְקָרֵב Earlier this week, we saw the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), meaning closeness, used in a variety of forms. We saw לְהַקְרִיב (le-hahk-REEV) – to sacrifice, give something up or to bring something close – and its passive form, מֻקְרָב (mook-RAHV). These are the causative forms (הפעיל and הופעל). We saw לִקְרָב (leek-RAHV) – to draw…
שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה This one’s for ליאת (Liat). If you’ve got some Hebrew, the first word that may have come to mind for scandal is סְקַנְדָּל (skahn-DAHL). But there’s another word: שַׁעֲרוּרִיָּה (shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH). This word appears in Biblical Hebrew and is derived from the adjective שֹׁעַר (SHOH-ahr), meaning vile. For example… אֵיזוֹ שׁערורייה! (EH-ee-zoh shah-ah-roo-ree-YAH)…
Today at noon, Israel time… …I’m on the radio for my weekly hour of Israeli music explained. Today I’m playing some of the regulars, some of Israel’s greats: Arik Einstein Shlomo Artzi Ehud Banai The Idan Raichel Project …and many more Check out the show between 12 and 1 Israel…
לְהַקְרִיב The other day, we had the word לְקָרֵב (le-kah-REV), to draw someone/something close. For example, הוּא קֵרֵב הַרְבֶּה אֲנָשִׁים (hoo ke-REV hahr-BEH ah-nah-SHEEM) – He drew many people close. To say, I was drawn close – to be the recipient of the action – you’d use the passive version of the פיעל (pee-EL), the פועל…
מַסָּע If you know a little Hebrew, you’re probably familiar with the word for to travel – לִנְסוֹע (leen-SOH-ah). A journey or trek is a מַסָּע (mah-SAH). This is not a journey in the sense of driving in your convertible from Tel Aviv up the coast to Netanya. Rather, this is the type of journey knights used…
לְקָרֵב Yesterday we saw the simple usage of the root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b), with the verb, לִקְרַב (leek-RAHV) – to draw close. An example would be הוּא קָרַב אֵלֶיה (hoo kah-RAHV eh-LEH-hah) – He drew close to her. לִקְרַב is a “simple” (“קל”) usage of the root. Today I’ll introduce you to a more intensive usage…
לִקְרַב The Hebrew root ק.ר.ב (k.r.b) is the concept of closeness. It’s one of a handful of verb roots that have meaning when used in all seven Modern Hebrew verb forms (בִּנְיָנִים – been-yah-NEEM). Today I’m introducing you to the first one; the others I’ll introduce throughout the week. In the simple form (קַל…
חֲגוֹרַת בְּטִיחוּת Perhaps this entry would have been more timely last week, on New Years Eve. But I guess better late than never. A belt in Hebrew is חֲגוֹרָה (khah-goh-RAH). Safety is בְּטִיחוּת (be-tee-KHOOT). It comes from the same root as security, trust – בִּטָּחוֹן (bee-tah-KHOHN) and insurance – בִּטּוּח (bee-TOO-ahkh). A safety belt is…