Hebrew Language Blog

A new Israeli song, called שֵׁבֶט אָחִים וַאֲחַיּוֹת (A Tribe of Brothers and Sisters) was released in April this year and immediately became a huge hit. The song (שִׁיר) was produced through the initiative of the popular Galgalatz radio station (תַּחֲנַת רַדְיוֹ) operated by Israel Defense Forces Radio, in an appeal to encourage unity and consolidation. The producers…

Colors’ names are very useful in daily spoken language, they are among the first words every language learner memorizes. Today we’ll delve into three basic colors: black, white and gray. שָׁחֹור (black), לָבָן (white) and אָפֹור (gray) are the singular masculine forms of these colors. The Hebrew language has a grammatical gender. Every noun and…

Israelis love food (אֹוכֶל). They love to eat, they enjoy cooking, they spend most of their family time around the dining table (שֻׁלְחָן), and they eat out a lot. But in the last couple of years, more and more dining businesses (עֲסָקִים) are closing down. The Israeli culinary scene is still vibrant. Tel Aviv Eat, the…

The first month in the Hebrew calendar is always busy. Tishrei, the first month in the Hebrew calendar, is full of festivals. Four holidays are observed in less than one month. The first day of the month is the first day of the year, in which we celebrate the New Year. Ten days later is…

Five months after Israel legislative elections (בְּחִירוֹת), the country heads towards elections again. Israel second election in 2019 will be held on September 17th. A couple of hours after the April election results were published, two parties’ leaders delivered a victory speech (נְאוּם נִצָּחוֹן). Both Likud and Blue and White won a large number of…

School year (שְׁנַת הַלִּמּוּדִים) in Israel opens on September 1st. More than 2 million students aged 3-18 will wake up next week to the first day of שְׁנַת הַלִּמּוּדִים תש”פ. School year in Israel opens every year on September 1st according to the Gregorian calendar, but named according to the Jewish calendar. The month of…

Every year on the 15th day of Av (the eleventh month in the Hebrew calendar) Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Tu B’Av (this year on August 15, 2019). Tu B’Av (ט”ו באב) is the most mysterious Jewish festival (חַג). We don’t know exactly how early it began. The first mention of this date (תַּאֲרִיךְ)…