Getting Around Israel: Riding the Rails Posted by Sean Young on Apr 29, 2014
When driving in Israel – either in the city or between cities, you may come upon heavy traffic quite often. Or you just don’t feel like driving or taking a bus between cities. Because of this, travel by train is a great way to get around Israel. Israel Railways (רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Rakevet Yisra’el) is…
Today’s Israel: The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Posted by Sean Young on Apr 29, 2014
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; Hebrew: צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל – Arabic: جيش الدفاع الإسرائيلي) were founded following the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948 and the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the army, air force, and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli…
Exploring Israel – Acre Posted by Sean Young on Apr 25, 2014
The city of Acre (עכו) in Hebrew and عكّا in Arabic) lies in northern Israel on the Bay of Acre. This city possesses a long history dating back to the time of the Pharaoh Thutmose III (1504-1450 BCE) where Israelite, Greek, Roman, Arab and Ottoman cultures put their mark in the city. Even Napoleon…
Let’s do something together Posted by Sean Young on Mar 25, 2014
When you get together with a group of your friends, what kind of activities do you enjoy doing together? Last week some of my friends got together and we went לְשַׂחֵק כַּדּוּרְסַל and afterwards had פיצה וקוקא קולה at one of the guy’s house. It was a great time. So let’s find some activities to…
Conversational Hebrew: A place to start the morning Posted by Sean Young on Mar 10, 2014
Leah and Miri are sitting in a cafe in Jerusalem having breakfast. Daniel comes and asks if he can sit at the table and strikes up a conversation. דָּנִיאֵל: אֲנִי רוֹאֶה אֶתְכֶן כָּאן לְעִתִּים-קְרוֹבוֹת.אַתֶּן בָּאוֹת לְכָאן כָּל יוֹם? מִירִי: כֵּן, זֶה מָקוֹם נֶחְמָד לְהַתְחִיל בּוֹ אֶת הַבֹּקֶר. דָּנִיאֵל: גַּם אֲנִי אוֹהֵב לִקְנוֹת קָפֶה בַּדֶּרֶךְ…
Going to the Dentist Posted by Sean Young on Feb 28, 2014
Initial Vocabulary רוֹפֵא שִׁנַּיִם – dentist הרדמה – anesthetic חוֹר – cavity נִיב – canine tooth צַד שְׂמוֹל – left side לְמַעלָה – upper jaw סְתִימָה – filling זְרִיקָה – injection מַקדֵחָה – drill (noun) The other day I had an appointment with the רוֹפֵא שִׁנַּיִם. As I’m sitting in the chair and my mouth…
Recipe: The Hamantashen Cookie Posted by Sean Young on Feb 20, 2014
In three weeks is the celebration of Purim! And as always, Hamantashen cookies are always present. For those who do not know about the story of Purim, I wrote an article about it about two years ago. Click here to read it (it will open in a separate window). Now let’s take a look…