Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, and have a nice weekend!

פֶּצַע If you look at the word פצע – wound, cut, bruise – you’ll see that the first two letters are פ and צ.  Hebrew roots that start with פ.צ have to do with splitting of some kind, for example לפצל – to split off, לפצח – to crack open, etc. Here’s פצע in context: שרית, אל תגרדי את […]

לְגָרֵד The word לגרד means both to scratch and to itch. For example: דוד, אל תגרד את הגלד. David, don’t scratch the scab. and העור שלי מגרד וזה מציק לי. My skin itches and it bothers me. לגרד is an active-intensive פיעל verb.

לְהָצִיק להציק, also means to poke, but its main usage is to pester. For example: הוא אלוף בלהציק לאחותו. He’s excellent at pestering his sister. להציק is an active-causative הפעיל verb of the root צ.ו.ק. Note that להציק – literally to pester – means here pestering, though הצקה also means pestering. This is the case with all verbs, where the […]

אַלּוּף The Hebrew word for a military general is אלוף. For example: אורנה ברביבאי היא האלופה הראשונה בצה”ל. Orna Barbivai is the first (female) general in the IDF. אלוף also means champion, extended in slang to refer to someone who is really good at something. For example: הוא אלוף בשחמט. He’s really good at chess.

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material Can’t read Hebrew yet? You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.  Flashcards . Scatter . Gravity . Test שבת שלום, וחג שמח! Shabbat Shalom, and happy holiday!

שְׁכוּנָה, רֹבַע The Hebrew word for neighborhood is שכונה, as in: הוא גר בשכונה הירושלמית מקור חיים. He lives in the Jerusalem neighborhood Mekor Haim (Source of Life). The root of שכונה is ש.כ.נ meaning dwelling, the same as that of the word שכינה – divine presence. A synonym of שכונה is רובע, quarter (think […]

שִׁעוּר The Hebrew word for lesson is שיעור. It comes from the root ש.ע.ר meaning measure: a lesson is a measured portion of a greater course. For example: יש אצלנו 20 שיעורים ברמה. We have at our (school) 20 lessons in a level. You might think that שיעור is related to the word for gate […]

רָמָה The Hebrew word for level is רמה, as in: היא רוצה להירשם לקורס רמה שלוש. She wants to register for the level 3 course. רמה also means height, as in רמת הגולן – the Golan Height(s), and the name of kibbutz adjacent to Jerusalem, רמת רחל: השגרירות ממוקמת בשכונת ארנונה, לא רחוק מרמת רחל. […]

שַׁגְרִירוּת The Hebrew word for ambassador was coined by former Prime Minister of Israel, Moshe Sharett. He took the Biblical-Hebrew root ש.ג.ר meaning offspring or offshoot, used his imagination and came up with שגריר – someone sent off to another country to represent his/her own. And embassy? That’s שגרירות. For example: העברת שגרירות ארה”ב לירושלים מעידה על כך שירושלים תחת […]

רִבּוֹנוּת What does a rabbi have to do with sovereignty, a nation’s stake to a piece of land? Look at the words for both: ריבונות – sovereignty, and רב – rabbi. The root of both is ר.ב.ב meaning greatness. Here’s ריבונות in context: ירושלים המאוחדת עברה לריבונות ישראל ב-1967. The united Jerusalem passed to Israeli sovereignty in 1967.