Insight into Hebrew: Shalom! Posted by Sean Young on Mar 29, 2013
Shalom is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, prosperity, and welfare. It can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye and it can refer to either peace between two entities, or to the well-being, welfare or safety of an individual or a group of individuals. Shalom by itself is used in Modern Israeli…
Video: How are you? Posted by Sean Young on Mar 28, 2013
Our first video for learning Hebrew. In this one we’ll be asking after someone’s health and how to reply. The vocabulary we need is: מה – what שלום – peace / welfare טוב – good, well תודה – thank you מאוד – very And we’ll be learning the phrases מה שלומך? – how are you?…
Israeli Poet – Tuvya Ruebner Posted by Sean Young on Mar 25, 2013
Tuvya Ruebner (טוביה ריבנר) was born in 1924 in Bratislava, Slovakia. He was 17 years old in 1941 when he fled Slovakia to Mandate Palestine and joined a kibbutz. His parents, sisters and grandparents were sent to Poland and were killed in the Holocaust. Following the Israel War of Independence, he became a member of…
Passover Preparations – The Seder Plate Posted by Sean Young on Mar 23, 2013
Preparing the Seder plate is not just putting the required foods on the plate. It takes advanced preparation and cooking. In order to prepare all the seder foods on time, you’ll need other members of the household to help out. Every item on the Seder plate abounds in meaning and allusion. So I’m going to…
Passover Preparations – Choosing the Seder Wine Posted by Sean Young on Mar 19, 2013
Question: What’s the difference between kosher wine and kosher for Passover wine? Answer: As with anything to be considered kosher, it must be created under a rabbi’s supervision, and only Sabbath-observant Jewish males are allowed to handle the grapes through the entire process. Because chametz is forbidden at any time during Passover, this also applies…
Passover Preparations – Baking Matzah Posted by Sean Young on Mar 17, 2013
This article is about the traditional, kosher preparation of baking matzah for Passover. I have attached a PDF at the end if you want to make them in a non-kosher way. Matzah and Passover כָּשֵׁר – kosher מַצָּה – matzah חָמֵץ – chametz (leaven) סֵדֶר – seder פֶּסַח – Passover תְּסִיסָה – fermentation As we…
The Dead Sea Posted by Sean Young on Mar 12, 2013
The Dead Sea (יָם הַמֶּלַח) is a large body of hypersaline water bordering Jordan, Israel and the West Bank. Its surface and shores are 423 metres (1,388 ft) below sea level making it the lowest elevation on earth. The Dead Sea is 377 m (1,237 ft) deep, 55 kilometres (34 mi) long and 18 kilometres…