יום רביעי, ט״ז תמוז תשפ״וWednesday, July 1, 2026
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If you follow the Hebrew news, a key word you need to know currently is "kidnapping."
אָדָם מֻפְנָם, אָדָם מֻחְצָן listen and repeat Some of us are naturally quiet, while others can be heard from a kilometer away. Introverts tend to keep their feelings and experiences inside, while Extroverts tend to be outgoing and expressive. The Hebrew term for introvert is אָדָם מֻפְנָם listen and repeat - literally, an introverted person. מופנם listen and repeat, an adjective deriving from the passive-causative […]
עִם מַבָּט קָדִימָה listen and repeat While the close of a year is a time to look back, the start of a new one is a time to look ahead. The Hebrew expression for looking ahead is לִהְיוֹת עִם מַבָּט קָדִימָה listen - literally, to be with a gaze forward - though the to be part is rarely used. […]
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פְּעִילוּת listen and repeat Some of us like grammar, and some of us don't. The word verb excites some of us, while daunting others or making them drowsy. But most of us know that a verb is a word that indicates action. In Hebrew, this is easy to remember, since the very word for verb itself - פֹּעַל ( listen […]
מוּטָב מְאֻחָר מֵאֲשֶׁר לְעוֹלָם לֹא listen and repeat Yesterday my great-uncle had his בַּר מִצְוָה ( listen and repeat) - Bar Mitzvah. Yes, my great uncle. He's 82. Because when he was 13, he was in Auschwitz, where they didn't do בר מצווה ceremonies. En route, I told the cab driver about the event. He made his comment […]
בְּיַחַד listen and repeat Today is ט"וּ בְּאָב ( listen and repeat) - the 15th of the Jewish month of Av - which is the Jewish day of love. The Hebrew word for together is בְּיַחַד ( listen and repeat) (alternatively and more formally, יַחַד ( listen and repeat)). For example: טִיַּלְנוּ בְּיַחַד בַּמִּזְרָח. We traveled together in the east. listen You […]
פְּשָׁרָה listen and repeat An important tool for conflict resolution is compromise. The Hebrew word for a compromise is פְּשָׁרָה ( listen and repeat), while to compromise is the reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb, לְהִתְפַּשֵּׁר ( listen and repeat). (To compromise in the sense of compromising safety is לְסַכֵּן ( listen and repeat) - also to endanger.) The root of these two is clearly פ.שׁ.ר (p.sh.r)... but exactly how […]
לְאַיֵּשׁ listen and repeat If you read the title of this post and didn't quite understand what I'm getting it, you're probably not the only one. The word לְאַיֵּשׁ ( listen and repeat) doesn't really have a direct translation into English. The best I could come up with is to man and to staff, but these don't quite do this word justice. It […]
לַעֲבוֹר דִּירָה listen and repeat In English, we talk about moving from one residence to another. The Hebrew word for residence is דִּירָה ( listen and repeat) - which is also the word for apartment or flat. But to move is literally, לָזוּז ( listen and repeat), and that's not what we say in Hebrew. The Hebrew expression is לַעֲבוֹר דִּירָה ( listen and repeat) - […]
חִלּוֹנִי, חִלּוֹנִית listen and repeat In yesterday's dose of Hebrew, we saw the root for profane or not sacred is ח.ל.ל (kh.l.l). This is the root of the Modern-Hebrew term referring to someone or something secular or non-religious - חִלּוֹנִי ( listen and repeat) in the masculine and חִלּוֹנִית ( listen and repeat) in the feminine. For example: תֵּל אָבִיב הִיא לָרֹב עִיר חִלּוֹנִית. Tel […]
חוֹל listen and repeat Last week, I wrote a post on the Hebrew term for mermaid and how that relates to the name of the Israeli coastal town, בַּת יָם ( listen and repeat) - Bat Yam. Here's a post about sand, which inspired the name for Bat Yam's next-door neighbor town, חוֹלוֹן ( listen and repeat). The Hebrew word for sand is […]
שָׁנוּן, שְׁנוּנָה listen and repeat If you're familiar with Jewish prayer in its original Hebrew, you probably know the phrase וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ ( listen and repeat) - and you shall teach them to your children. The root of ושננתם ( listen and repeat) is שׁ.נ.נ (sh.n.n) meaning learning by repetition. It's also the root of the word מִשְׁנָה ( listen and repeat) - […]
אֶהְיֶה יוֹתֵר חָכָם, אֶהְיֶה יוֹתֵר חֲכָמָה listen "When will the videos be ready?" "I'll know better once I manage to find all the right images."In Hebrew, instead of saying I'll know better, we say, אֶהְיֶה יוֹתֵר חָכָם when a male is speaking and אֶהְיֶה יוֹתֵר חֲכָמָה when a female is speaking. Broken down: אהיה - I will […]
בַּת יָם, בְּתוּלַת יָם listen There's a city just south of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, nicely situated on the coast, called Bat Yam - in Hebrew, בַּת יָם ( listen and repeat). The name means literally, daughter of (the) sea. When those sitting in the local council gave the city its current name in 1937, they were inspired to […]
תִּינוֹק, תִּינוֹקֶת listen The Hebrew word for baby boy is תִּינוֹק ( listen and repeat), while the word for baby girl is תִּינוֹקֶת (listen and repeat).When speaking of multiple babies, it's תִּינוֹקוֹת ( listen and repeat), regardless of gender. These words derive from the root י.נ.ק (y.n.k), which means nursing. They first appear in Mishnaic Hebrew. For example, I wish to congratulate […]
נָשִׂיא listen and repeaRight now the fifth Israeli Presidential Conference is taking place in Jerusalem. נְשִׂיא מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, מָר שִׁמְעוֹן פֶּרֶס President of the State of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres listen The word for president is נָשִׂיא (listen and repeat). In the original Biblical Hebrew, נשיא referred to a person of stature and leadership in a […]
מִבְרֶשֶׁת שִׁנַּיִם listen and repeat A tooth is a שֵׁן (listen and repeat), while teeth are שִׁנַּיִם (listen and repeat) (a double form, even though many teeth are spoken of, not just two).A brush is a מִבְרֶשֶׁת (listen and repeat), though when the word was created in the 19th century, it may have been intended to be מִבְרָשָׁה (listen and repeat) (Wiktionary). […]
שַׁגְרִיר, שַׁגְרִירָה Visit Ktzat Ivrit .
כָּל יוֹמַיִם, כָּל שֵׁנִי וַחֲמִישִׁי listen The literal meaning of every other day in English is every two days. Its Hebrew equivalent is כָּל יוֹמָיִם listen. But there's another meaning, one seldom used, to the expression every other day as well, more along the lines of all the time or very frequently. Here every other day is used with a tone […]
אִי-וַדָּאוּת Human beings have a need for clarity and organization - we seek certainty in order to relax and go about our day. While certainty, in Hebrew, is וַדָּאוּת (listen and repeat), uncertainty is אִי-וַדָּאוּת (listen and repeat). For example: קָשֶׁה אָבָל הֶכְרֵחִי לִחְיוֹת עִם אִי-וַדָּאוּת. It's difficult but necessary to live with uncertainty. listen A lack of certainty is […]
שׁוֹבֵר לְבָבוֹת, שׁוֹבֶרֶת לְבָבוֹת There are heartbreakers, and there's everybody else. Sometimes there's crossover. The Hebrew term for heartbreaker when referring to a male is שׁוֹבֵר לְבָבוֹת (listen and repeat). Referring to a female, it's שׁוֹבֶרֶת לְבָבוֹת (listen and repeat). שובר (listen and repeat) and שוברת (listen and repeat) come from the active-simple פָּעַל verb, לִשְׁבּוֹר (listen and repeat) - to break. לבבות (listen and […]
לֵהָנוֹת Every season has its perks. But with the arrival of summer in the northern hemisphere, now's the time that people are really starting to enjoy themselves. The Hebrew word for to enjoy is the same as that for to benefit - לֵהָנוֹת (listen and repeat). Here's an example using ליהנות in the sense of to enjoy: […]
קְרֶם הֲגָנָה, קְרֶם שִׁזּוּף As it's warming up in the northern hemisphere, now's the time to get some sunscreen. The Hebrew term for sunscreen means literally, protection cream: קְרֶם הֲגָנָה (listen and repeat). The second word, הגנה (listen and repeat), is the noun form of the active-causative הִפְעִיל verb to protect - לְהָגֵן (listen and repeat). Another term means […]
מַה נִּשְׁמַע...? In English, we've got many ways of asking someone how they are feeling, what they are doing, etc, such as how are you? how's it going? what's up? how are you going (Australian)? how are you doing (American)? what's going on? what's happening? etc. In Hebrew, we've also got a bunch of ways […]
I've known this for a long time, but not its full meaning - until I just researched it to present it to you.
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לְפַנֵּק In many countries all over the world yesterday it was Mothers Day - יוֹם הָאֵם, in Hebrew. Here's a song by Arik Einstein dedicated to his mother. I venture to say it might be sung for most mothers. One of the lines in the song is: אִמָּא, אִמָּא אַתְּ פִּנַּקְתְּ אֹתִי Mom, mom, you […]
June 26, 2026 
