Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

לְנַסּוֹת Hebrew has a few words for to try, depending on the type of trying. להשתדל (a התפעל verb) and לעשות מאמץ mean to make an effort. But the most generic word for to try is the פיעל verb לנסות. For example, you might say to a boy or a man: תנסה לישון קצת. Try to sleep a little. […]

חֹמֶר לְשִׁנּוּן Review Material You spent time on your Hebrew this week. Use these review materials to make it yours to keep.      To take full advantage of the review material, click on “Choose a study mode” in the bottom right corner of the box above. שבת שלום, וסוף שבוע נעים! Shabbat Shalom, […]

Audio Recording of Webinar Word Visualization

מַעְפִּילִים This is a term with no real English equivalent: מעפילים (the closest translation I found was internee, but who knows what that is). The Modern-Hebrew term refers to Jews, mostly displaced persons after the Holocaust, trying to break the blockade of the British Mandate before the State of Israel was established. Here’s the term in context: […]

עֲלִיַּת הַנֹּעַר With a Germany of the 1930s becoming more and more hostile towards Jews, a woman named Recha Freier took action and launched a movement called עליית הנוער – youth aliyah, or immigration of the youth to the Land of Israel. Here’s the term in context: הרבה יהודים ניצלו מהשואה בזכות עליית הנוער. Many Jews survived the […]

עוֹלֶה חָדָשׁ Mind you, this special term refers specifically to new immigrants to Israel. An עולֶה (a male) or an עולָה (female) is someone who has made aliyah – immigrated to Israel (literally, one who ascends). Thus an עולה חדש or an עולה חדשה is a new immigrant. For example: פעם היינו עולים חדשים, אבל היום אנחנו אזרחים […]

אֶזְרָחוּת The word אזרח appears already in Biblical Hebrew, where it refers to a person native to a particular land or people. Today a person can become an אזרח or אזרחית – a citizen of a country (male and female, respectively), without having been born there. And citizenship? That’s אזרחות. For example: יש לה שני דרכונים כי יש […]