Your Daily Dose of Hebrew

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 […]

דַּרְכּוֹן You may hear some Israelis still saying פספורט in reference to this important document, but the proper Hebrew word for it is דרכון. So that at the airport, you may be requested: דרכון וכרטיס עלייה למטוס, בבקשה. Passport and boarding pass, please. This modern-day document דרכון takes the Biblical word דרך – path or way, and […]

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, […]

סִפּוּר כִּסוּי When I say cover story I’m not referring to a front-page article – that’s כתבת שער. I’m talking about an alibi, a fictitious story meant to cover up one’s true actions. The Hebrew term for this is סיפור כיסוי – literally, a cover story. For example: יש לנו סיפור כיסוי מאוד משכנע. Both סיפור and […]

לְשַׁכְנֵעַ To succumb or to surrender, in Hebrew, is the נפעל verb להיכנע. For example: אנחנו לא ניכנע! We will not surrender! להיכנע appears in Biblical Hebrew, where it means to humble oneself, which is what one does when surrendering. The word’s root is כ.נ.ע. But since the causative הפעיל usage of this root was already taken with the […]

בְּקַלּוּת You may know the Hebrew word for easy or light: קל. Ease or lightness is קלות, so that with ease (or easily) is בקלות. For example: היום בקלות אפשר להגיע מירושלים לתל אביב עם הרכבת המהירה. Today (one) can easily get from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv with the fast train.