L’sha-na toh-va – Tishrei תִּשְׁרֵי

For those of you who celebrate Rosh Ha-shana, I would first like to wish you Shana tova filled with happiness, joy, health, love and peace. Shana m’leh-aht o-sher, seem-kha, b’ree-oot, ah-ha-va v’shalom. שנה מלאת אושר, שמחה, בריאות, אהבה ושלום.

Rosh = head – ראש

ha-sha-na = the year – השנה.

You may have heard people greeting one another with: L’shana tova – לשנה טובה = for a good year – which doesn’t really make sense, does it? It is not a full sentence and it is being used, as far as I know, only in the USA. Let me clarify the origin of this incomplete thought. The traditional blessing for Rosh HaShana is: l’sha-na to-va tee-ka-te-voo v’te-kha-teh-moo = לשנה טובה תכתבו ותחתמו. (more precisely it is used between Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur) = You shall be inscribed (in the Book of Life) and sealed FOR a good year. Literally: For a good year you shall be inscribed and sealed. Since it is a tongue twister to say the full wish, people in Israel just say: Shana Tova and elsewhere you would hear: L’shana tova.

Rosh HaShana is a celebration of the new Jewish year which start with the 1st of the month of Tishrei – תשרי – The origin of the word Tishrei is: surru that in Akkadian means: beginning.

So, I wish you all a wonderful תשרי.

Ruti Yudovich

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A Tale for Yom Kippur

Shalom! This is a beautiful tale with a good message.

יום כיפור A native villager, born and reared in an obscure rural environment came to a big city for the first time and obtained lodging at an inn. Awakened in the middle of the night by the loud beating of drums, he inquired drowsily, “What’s this all about?”

Informed that a fire had broken out and that the drum beating was the city’s fire alarm, he turned over and went back to sleep.

On his return home, he reported to the village authorities: “They have a wonderful system in the big city; when a fire breaks out the people beat their drums and before long the fire burns out.” All excited, they ordered a supply of drums and distributed them to the population.

When, sometime later, a fire broke out, there was a deafening explosion of the beating of drums, and while the people waited expectantly for the flames to subside, a number of their homes burned to the ground.

A sophisticated visitor passing through that village, when told the reason for the ear-splitting din, ridiculed the simplistic native: “Idiots! Do you think a fire can be put out by beating drums? They only sound an alarm for the people to wake up and take measures to extinguish the fire.”

Said the Maggid [preacher] of Dubno, “This story applies to those of us who believe that beating the breast during the Al Chet (confessional), raising our voices during worship, and blowing the shofar, will put out the fires of sin and evil that burn in us.

They are, the Maggid remarked, only an alarm, a warning to wake us up in order to resort to soul-searching), so that we may merit the favor of God. The Maggid probably had in mind Maimonides’ interpretation of the shofar sounds: “Awake all you who sleep, rouse yourselves all you who slumber and search your deeds and repent; remember your Creator.”

Maimonides (1135-1204 C.E.) Codifier and philosopher (more…)

He Asked for Water she Gave Him…

יעל This is a story of a courageous woman named יָעֵל. She was definitely very effective – מוֹעִילה and brought substantial benefit תּוֹעֶלֶת to the Israelites. יָעֵל (also means ‘mountain goat’; Ibex) was from a nomadic tribe, some of whom lived in close proximity to the Israelites.

She killed Sisera סִסְרָא (an enemy general who was leading his troops against Israel) to deliver Israel from the troops of King Jabin יָבִין — the king of Canaan that under his rule, the Israelites had suffered for twenty years.

How did she do it? ?אֵיךְ הִיא עָשְׂתָה זֹאת

Sisera fled and found refuge, he thought, with Yael (whose husband was in good terms with him). Yael יָעֵל welcomed him into her tent and gave him milk to drink when he asked for water “מַיִם שָׁאַל – חָלָב נָתָנָה” But when Sisera fell asleep she drove a tent peg through his head and killed him.

שָׁאַל – means ‘to ask for’ = בִּקֵּשׁ

“מַיִם שָׁאַל – חָלָב נָתָנָה” is an expression that means to be overly generous; to give more that was asked for.

Now you see why her name means: helpful, useful, beneficial, effective.

to make something effective you would say: לְיָעֵל – l’ya’el.

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If you have learned one new thing from this blog then I have done my job.

Leheetraot in the next blog. להתראות בבלוג הבא.

Ruti Yudovich רותי יודוביץ

Shavuot – 10 Things to Know About

It is one of the three pilgrimage שְׁלֹשֶׁת רְגָלִים – shlo-shet r’galeem – to the holy temple in Jerusalem: פֶּסַח Pesach (Passover), שָׁבוּעוֹת Shavuot and סֻּכּוֹת Sukkot. Pilgrimage is a mitzvah mentioned in the Torah:
In English, the holiday is called Pentecost from the word ‘penta’ – 50. Counting from the first day after Passover 7 weeks and on the 50th day we celebrate Shavuot.
This holiday is also called: חג הַקָּצִיר – khag ha-ka-tzeer – the festival of the harvest. This time of year the wheat is being harvested. It began with the harvesting of the barley during Passover and ended with the harvesting of the wheat at Shavuot.
It is also called: The Time of Giving the Torah. זְמָן מַתָּן תּוֹרָה – Zmahn Matan Torah . It is believed that at that time, children of Israel received the Torah at Mount Sinai – הָר סִינָי – har Si-nai. The Torah tells us that the seven-week Counting of the Omer (an ancient Hebrew dry measure, that Hebrews had to bring to the Temple), beginning on the second day of Passover, to be immediately followed by Shavuot. This counting of days and weeks is understood to express anticipation and desire for the giving of the Torah.
It is also called יוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים – Yome ha-bee-ku-reem – the Day of the First Fruit. The word בִּכּוּרִים comes from the root ב.כ.ר – which means ‘first’. In modern Hebrew, it is used to denote the first born – בְּכוֹר, בְּכוֹרָה. The בִּכּוּרִים were brought from the Seven Species שִׁבְעַת הַמִינִים – sheev-aht hameeneem – for which the Land of Israel is praised: wheat – חִיטָה – kheeta, barley, – שְׂעוֹרָה – s’o’rah, grapes – גֶּפֶן – gefen, figs – תְּאֵנִים – t’e-neem, pomegranates רִימוֹנִים – ree-moh-nim, olives – זֵיתִים – zey-teem and dates – תְּמָרִים – tma-reem. (Deut. 8:8).
During Shavuot, the custom is to eat dairy. Why? there are several explanations. 1. When the Children of Israel went back down to their ‘homes’ after receiving the Torah they did not have time to prepare meat dishes that require slaughtering, waiting for the blood to dry etc. so they prepared food that was faster to make, ie., food containing dairy. 2. As the mother gives milk to her child, so God gave the Torah to his children. 3. The Torah is compared to milk by King Solomon, who wrote: “Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue” (Song of songs 4:11).
The night of Shavuot is called Tikkun Leil Shavuot – תִּיקוּן לֵיל שָׁבוּעוֹת where men stay all night and read from the Torah and especially from the Book of Ruth. Why? The explanation is: the night before the Torah was given, the Israelites retired early to be well-rested for the momentous day ahead. They overslept and Moses had to wake them. That is why today they are making up the damage (תִּקּוּן – repair) for not being ready on time, by studying all night long.
The gematria (a Kabbalistic method of interpreting the Hebrew scriptures by computing the numerical value of words, based on those of their constituent letters) of the Hebrew word Khalav (חלב‎, milk) is 40, corresponding to the 40 days and 40 nights that Moses spent on Mount Sinai before bringing down the Torah.
Why are we reading from the Book of Ruth? Because the story of Ruth (the grandmother of King David) is told during the season of the harvest.
The decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery – יֶרֻק‎ – Yerek. Why? According to the rabbis, Mount Sinai suddenly blossomed with flowers in anticipation of the giving of the Torah on its summit.

The holiday of Shavuot שָׁבוּעוֹת (lit: weeks) is a religious and an agriculture holiday – חָג – khag.

Wishing you a Happy Shavuot.

Ruti Yudovich

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Head and Shoulders Above the Crowd

Ever heard the saying “Head and shoulder above the crowd? Well… this phrase described King Saul, הַמֶּלֶךְ שָׁאוּל, the first king of the Hebrews. In Hebrew, this phrase is translated to מִשִּׁכְמוֹ וַמַעְלָה, it literally means ” שֶׁכֶם -from the area between his shoulders (under the nape) and above מַעְלָה.” This expression is used today in modern Hebrew to denote one who is way above the rest; one who has remarkable abilities and qualities. It can also be said for a woman מִשִׁכְמָה וַמַעְלָה.

שָׁאוּל was from the tribe of Binyamin בִּנְיָמִין – son of my right. He had 4 sons and 2 daughters: הָיוּ לוֹ אַרְבָּעָה בָּנִים וּשְׁתֵי בָּנוֹת. His sons’ names were: Yonatan יוֹנָתָן – God gave, Avinadav אָבִינָדָב – father contributed, Malkisua מַלְכִּשׁוּעַ – king of salvation, Ish-boshet אִישׁ בֹּשֶׁת – a man of shame. His daughter’s names were: Michal מִיכַל – brook (who was King David’s wife), and Merav מֵרַב – maximum, the most of.

I have very deep sentiment to the name Saul שָׁאוּל as that was my father’s name and like King Saul, he was handsome, imposing and majestic. In my memoir, I Hate to Say Goodbye I relive the tragic end of King Saul from a viewpoint of his armor-bearer (but of course this is just a small section of the book…).

The name שָׁאוּל literally means ‘be asked; borrowed’. King Saul הַמֶּלֶךְ שָׁאוּל was asked by the prophet שְׁמוּאֵל, Samuel, (via God) to be king. From a simple life of a shepherd, שָׁאוּל was forced into a life of politics, wars, and intrigues only to satisfy the incessant pleading of the Hebrews to have a king.

From the name שָׁאוּל, we construct the following words:

To ask a question: לִשְׁאוֹל; a question: שְׁאֵלָה

Examples: I have a question .יֵשׁ לִי שְׁאֵלָה

He asks many questions. .הוּא שׁוֹאֵל הַרְבֵּה שְׁאֵלוֹת

To borrow: לִשְׁאוֹל

Example: I don’t have a car. I have to borrow it from a friend.

.אֵין לי מְכוֹנִית. אני צָרִיךְ לִשְׁאוֹל אוֹתָה מֵחָבֵר

To lend or to loan: לְהַשְׁאִיל

Example: My friend does not have a computer. I am lending it to him.

.לְחָבֵר שלי אֵין מַחְשֵׁב. אני מַשְׁאִילָה לוֹ אוֹתוֹ

questionnaire – שְׁאֵלוֹן

If you have learned one new thing, then I have done my job. 🙂

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B’shalom

Ruti Yudovich ‘רוּתִי יוּדוֹבִיץ

Adam – What’s behind the Name?

th-3 A while ago I started a series of blogs about Hebrew names, their meanings, and words that derived from them. I am continuing this series as I think that it is a wonderful way to expand your Hebrew vocabulary and an easy way to remember words.

General knowledge of Hebrew names: You’ll find many names that end with ‘EL’ such as Gabriel גַבְרִיאֵל Yisrael יִשְׂרֵָאֵל, Aviel אָבִיאֵל, Amiel עָמִיאֵל. The suffix ‘EL’ means ‘God’.

Then there are names that end with ‘YA’ such as Aviya אָבִיָה, ah-da-ya עֲדַיָה; Bat-ya בַּתְיָה. The suffix ‘YA’ also means ‘God’.

Many Hebrew names are after animals such as Deer אַיָּל, gazelle צְבִי, wolf זְאֵב , lion אָרְיֵה, bear דֹב, (young) sheep רָחֵל.

Many Hebrew names are after flowers and trees such as oak אָלוֹן; bud נִיצָן; willow הָדָס, young rose וֶרֶד, young plant נֶטַע.

And of course, there are many Biblical names.

The Biblical name for this blog is the name of the first man mentioned in the Bible – Adam אָדָם.

אָדָם in Modern Hebrew means a man, a person, a human being, someone, somebody

הָאָדָם – mankind, humanity. Lit: The man

Words derived from the name אָדָם are as follows:

אָדָמָה – a-da-ma – soil, land, earth, soil; ground (noun); plot (land)

אָדוֹם – a-dome – the color red

אָדַם – a-dahm – (verb) became red

אֲדַמְדַּם – a-dahm-dahm (adjective) Redish; redlike

אָדֶמֶת – a-de-met – the disease rubella, German measles

מַאְדִּים – the planet Mars is called

אַדְמוֹנִי – ahd-mo-nee – (esp. of someone’s face) having a ruddy complexion; ruddy; red

אַדְמוּמִיּוּת – ahd-moo-mee-yoot – redness, ruddiness

הֶאֱדִים – he-eh-deem – became red, reddened; to blushed

From this root, we get the word for blood – דָּם – dahm

See you in my next blog.

P.S. If you would like me to write about a certain name, please let me know.

Le-heet-ra-ote לְהִתְרָאוֹת – see you!

Ruti רוּתִי

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5 Tips to Learn Hebrew Verbs

th-1 The hardest part of learning Hebrew as a second language is the conjugation of verbs.

If you live in Israel and hear Hebrew 14 hours a day either by listening to people talk, listening to the radio, tv, talking to people, learning Hebrew songs you may get by and not learn the formal rules of verb conjugations and… after three years or so you’ll be able to formulate most of the verbs by just hearing them over and over again.

For those of you who do not live in Israel and live and breathe the language every day and all day long, there’s, unfortunately, no short cut. If you’re looking for one and jump from present tense to past tense to future from one family to another without building a sound foundation of the verbs you most likely fall into a dark pit and will be quite frustrated.

In order to have a smooth sailing and easy climb, you have to understand the overall idea behind the verbs and their various families, they way they look and their characteristics. I’ve been teaching Hebrew to all ages for many years noticing the frustrations students expressed when we got to the conjugation of verbs. No matter how well was my teaching, they studied it robotically without understanding the meaning behind each of the SEVEN FAMILIES (I followed the book I was instructed to use). That behooved me to come up with a way that illustrates the characteristics of each family and how to differentiate between regular and irregular verbs for each of the Seven Families (binyanim – בִּנְיָנִים = structures/buildings) to a point where anybody could study and understand it with ease.

I put together all my successful actions in a book called: Hebrew Binyanim Made Easy, The Missing Link I can’t recommend it enough.

Here is what I suggest in learning verb conjugations:

Start learning the simple conjugations of the Present Tense first. Get the feel of the language and don’t think too much. Just know how to say them.
Once you speak and know how to form basic Hebrew verbs in the Present Tense, learn how to form the infinitive of each of the groups. At this point, you would want to choose a model, or the book you use may suggest it, such as my series: Speak Hebrew For Real Primer and Beginner level. (Sorry if don’t sound too humble but I DO know that this series is fantastic for building up confidence in conjugations of verbs and more).
When you know how to conjugate the infinitives now you’re ready for the Past Tense. All you have to know is first: the suffixes (ending) for each pronoun in the Past Tense. Once you got this out of the way, you’ll be learning how to conjugate only the Third Person first (he, she, they), and there’s a reason why you would start with these pronouns. Only after you have learned to conjugate the Third Person, you’ll learn the First and Second Person. If the book is a good book it will teach you the past tense of the easiest family first and only ONE verb that thereafter will serve you as your MODEL.
Continue to the next group or subgroup the same way. Third Person and then First and Second Persons while remembering to concentrate on the model for each group.
The book should tell you what makes a verb an irregular verb and how to recognize it. Once you know how to recognize it (it is not too difficult once you get the rules) all you have to do is conjugate the model first and then replace it with the new verb.

It may sound too complicated but if you follow this route you’ll end up winning, and will not be frustrated anymore. Yes, it takes work and a lot of repetition but you’ll be getting a wonderful fishing pole and would not need to resort to more books as you’ll become a professional fisherman/woman.

I wish you good fishing. דַיִג טוב!

Ruti Yudovich

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Sure, Of course

Shalom,

There are quite a few words in Hebrew that express the idea of sure, of course, certainly, obviously, naturally, decisively, definitely. I thought it would be a good idea to learn them all whether you adopt them, or hear other use them and understand what they say. All the following words can be simply translated to Sure/of course. But I will be giving you the more precise translation of each one of them.

All of the following words can be simply translated to sure/of course. But I will be giving you the precise translation of each one of them.

בֶּטַח – beh-tahkh : of course, sure. (colloquial)
בְּהֶחְלֶט – beh-hekh-let : decisively ( a bit more formal)
בְּוָדָאי – beh-vah-dahy : definitely; certainly (a bit more formal)
בָּרוּר – bah-roor : naturally; obviously (slang) lit: clear
כַּמוּבָן – kah-moo-vahn: of course; naturally, lit: as understood
לְלֹא סָפֵק – l’lo sah-fek: certainly, lit: without a doubt (formal)

Example:

Question: Are you going to visit Israel this year? ?אַת הולֶכֶת לְבַקֵר בישראל השָנָה

Answer: בֶּטַח or: בְּהֶחְלֶט or: בְּוָדָאי or: כַּמוּבָן or: לְלֹא סָפֵק or: when you really want to emphasize that it is SO obvious and how come that person even thought of asking such a question, you would answer with: בָּרוּר extending the second syllable.

I hope you learned something new.

B’shalom

Ruti Yudovich

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10 Things You may want to know about Hanukkah.

Hanukkah; Chanukah; Hannukah etc. חֲנוּכָּה, comes from the Hebrew word: חָנַךְ – khanakh – which means: dedicate, from the sense: formally open or unveil (a building or memorial). The Maccabees cleanse the Temple after it was defiled by the Assyrian Greeks and on the 25th of the month of Kislev, כ”ה בְּכִּסְלֵו – kaf hey bekislev – they formally opened (unveiled) the temple בֵּית הַמִּקְדָשׁ – beit hamikdash.
Maccabee – The nickname that was given to Judah, the high priest Mattathias first son. Maccabee comes from the word: מַקֶבֶת – ma-ke-vet that means a hammer, a word which describes the strength and power of Yehuda who was the leader of the Jewish Army.
The war that was waged against the oppressive Greek rulership started on 167B.C. The Maccabees fought for religious freedom.
It was an untrained and unequipped Jewish army of about 12,000 against at least 40,000 trained and a well-equipped Assyrian-Greek army.
After three years of wars that mainly took place in the mountains, the Maccabees army won, took over Jerusalem and cleanse the temple.
Hanukkah gelt: Judah the Maccabee minted gold coins to commemorate the victory over Jerusalem and the rededication of the temple and gave the coins as a gift to the residents of Jerusalem. Hence, the custom to give Hanukkah gelt (money in German/Yiddish) mainly to the young generation.
It took twenty-five years of wars for the Greek to finally sign a peace agreement with the last surviving son of the high priest Mattathias (מַתִּתְיָהוּ הַכֹּהֵן), Simeon, and to return the sovereignty of the region to the Jews.
We eat food cooked in oil. When Judah and his followers finished cleaning the temple, they wanted to light the eternal light, known as the N’er Tamid, נֵר תָּמִיד which is present in every Jewish house of worship. Once lit, the oil lamp should never be extinguished. Only a tiny jug of oil was found with only enough for a single day. The oil lamp was filled and lit. Then a miracle occurred as the tiny amount of oil stayed lit not for one day, but for eight days. We eat Jelly doughnuts סופְגָנִיוֹת (sufganiyot); latkes (Yiddish: potato pancakes) לְבִיבוֹת – levivot, etc.
8 Days of Hanukkah. We celebrate Hanukkah eight days because of the miracle of the jug of oil. See #8.
We play the dreidel – spinner (in Yiddish – סְבִיבוֹן (s’vivon). A small four-sided spinning top with a Hebrew letter on each side (נ,ג ה פ – N,G,H,P) a great miracle happened HERE. נס גדול היה פה – nes gadol haya po. The letters on the dreidel anywhere but in Isreal has these four letters: נ.ג.ה.ש – N.G.H.SH – a great miracle happened THERE – נס גדול היה שם – nes gadol haya sham. It is a game the Hebrews played when pretending they were playing while they studied Torah (an activity that was forbidden at that time by the Assyrian-Greeks who wanted all the Jews to give up Judaism and convert to their beliefs. Anyone disobeying the decree executed.

And as a conclusion. Hannukah, is my favorite holiday, not only because of the delicious traditional food, but because of the message that one should fight for his freedom! Freedom of religion. One should never agree for any authority to decide what one should believe in. And that life without faith and a belief in the Supreme Being is life without hope.

I wish you all Chag Sameach (Khag Sameakh) Happy Holiday.

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It Just Sounds Better

shfr-series When I first came to live in the USA, good American friends would correct my grammar. One time when I said: “I read that book”. My friend told me that it was more correct to say: “I have read that book”. “But why?” I asked. “Both are in the past, why do I have to say: I have read? How come you guys have so many ways to say the Past Tense when Hebrew has only one way?” After some hesitation she said: “It just sounds better.”

“But how would I (an Israeli) know that it sounds better? I was not born here, haven’t heard English 18 hours a day for the past 30 years. How would I know if it SOUNDS better or not?” Needless to say, I was very frustrated. Does this sound familiar to you? You, who are learning a foreign language? Well, after a long time of groping in the dark I picked and OLD English grammar book (The OLD books are the best). Sat down and studied it. I was so thrilled to find the reasons behind the “It sounds good” explanation. Anyone telling you,”this is how you say it” without the grammar explanations, please don’t buy it. There IS a grammar explanation to almost anything. All you have to do is to find the correct books that don’t just teach you to repeat phrases like a robot but tell you the reasons behind it so that you would then be able to think WITH it and APPLY it every time.

If you never liked grammar at school, unfortunately as a student of a foreign language you will have to revisit it. Learn the Parts of Speech in your OWN language first and then you’ll find that you are having a much easier time in learning a foreign language.

Since I’m very familiar with the barriers that a student of a foreign language has to face, I ensured that all my books (except for the Primer) have a fantastic glossary with grammar terms that are defined and explained simply and clearly.

Wishing you easy learning.

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I Have Snot?

Have you ever heard someone saying: I have snot? For sure not in the USA nor in England or any other English-speaking countries, as it is quite vulgar. Instead, you would hear something like: “I have a runny nose.” or: “My nose is running.”

Hahaha, again, this is not a sentence you would want to translate word for word to Hebrew. Do not say: הָאָף שֶׁלִי רָץ, as by that, you say that your nose is running SOMEWHERE. It is quite funny to hear it said in Hebrew. It is as if you would say: My nose is traveling somewhere.

As you can see again and again: Hebrew is a VERY literal language.

So, how do you say: “I have a runny nose” or “My nose is running” in Hebrew?

Funny enough, you WOULD say: I have snot.

נַזֶּלֶת = snot = nasal mucus

So, in Hebrew, you can either say: I have a cold: אני מְצוּנָן or for female: אני מצוּנֶנֶת

Or you would say: I have a runny nose; My nose is running. יֵשׁ לִי נַזֶּלֶת = I have snot.

It is considered children’s language to say יֵשׁ לִי נַזֶּלֶת. Or when the doctor wants to know exactly what is happening with your body, you can then say, יֵשׁ לִי נַזֶּלֶת.

But generally, it would be sufficient to say אני מצוּנֶנֶת to describe your physical condition.

I hope you are healthy and should not worry about how to say it in Hebrew, but just in case someone else was saying it to you… 🙂

Have a fantastic week! Shavua Neef-lah !שָׁבוּע נִפְלָא

And to learn about other phrases, idioms, slang in English that do not translate word for word in Hebrew, I suggest you get: Hebrew, When to Say What?

Hebrew, When to Say What?