Hebrew Language Blog

General elections will be held in Israel this month, on April 9th. Elections (בְּחִירוֹת) in Israel are held every four years, always on Tuesday (since 2003). Election day (יוֺם בְּחִירוֹת) in Israel is a sabbatical day (יוֺם שַׁבָּתוֹן), except for security forces, health services, and other essential services as transportation, communications and gas. The statutory…

The International Day of Happiness (יוֺם הָאֹושֶׁר הַבֵּינְלְאוּמִּי) is celebrated worldwide every March 20th. According to the international 2018 Happiness Report Israelis are pretty joyful: the report ranked Israel as the 11th happiest country in the world.  And yet Israeli magazines and websites are filled with lists of tips about how to be happier. (For advanced Hebrew reading check…

A special feeling accompanies the weekends in Israel. After a long week of work and duties, the Israeli weekend is all about rest and fun. Shabbat (שַׁבָּת) is a holy day in Judaism. ‟And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made… And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it…

Hebrew verbs are composed of roots and verbal stems. The basis of every verb is the root, which is comprised of three letters. The verbal stems – the בּׅנְיָנׅים (bin-ya-nim) – are the patterns that shape the roots into actual words. בִּנְיָן (bin-yan) is a firm structure of prefix, suffix and punctuation, into which the…

The Hebrew language consists of patterns: verbs (called בנינים) and nouns (called משקלים). Those fixed patterns – בניינים and משקלים – form a frame to the numerous Hebrew roots. The prefixes and/or suffixes of the patterns are permanent, and the root just integrated into it. Some of the patterns also attribute meaning to the word…

Eilat is Israel’s southernmost city, located far away from the country’s main population centers. Situating on the Red Sea shores, Eilat is a popular resort town. The mountainous desert landscape, the beautiful bay, and the summer sun that shines all through the year attract more than 2 million visitors every year. Most of them are…

Cost of living = יֹוקֶר הַמִּחְיָה Israel’s high cost of living (יֹוקֶר הַמִּחְיָה) has been a major concern in recent decades. It sparked several large scale protests (מְחָאוֹת) over the years, drove Israelis to leave the country and try their luck abroad, and became a top issue during every government election. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem…