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The Revival of Hebrew
The transition from Medieval to Modern or Israeli Hebrew came about slowly, over several decades. According to some experts, a new phase of the language had already begun in the 16th century. Among its...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of the Hebrew Alphabet
Judaism has always regarded Hebrew as a sacred language, the medium of divine communication. For millennia, its sages and mystics have taught that the letters are no ordinary expression. Indeed, the...
View ArticleThe Vitality of the Hebrew Language
How was the Hebrew language able to exist and function as an effective instrument of creative self-expression and intercommunication for about 2,000 years, without such an essential ingredient for...
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Shalom: Peace in Hebrew
The Hebrew word for peace, shalom (שׁלום) is derived from a root denoting wholeness or completeness, and its frame of reference throughout Jewish literature is bound up with the notion of shelemut,...
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Why Hebrew is of Central Importance in Judaism
Hebrew is one of the oldest spoken languages in the world and the sacred language of the Jewish people. It is the only language ever to be revived as a spoken language — nearly 2,000 years after it...
View ArticleWhy There Are Different Ways of Pronouncing Hebrew
Like any language spoken over centuries and in many different regions, Hebrew has different pronunciation systems. Some have retained features that fell away in others as communities developed their...
View ArticleWhat Does Mazel Tov Mean?
The Hebrew phrase mazel tov (also spelled mazal tov, or mazel tof) literally translated means “good luck.” In practice, mazel tov is usually said to mean “Congratulations!” In modern Israeli...
View ArticleJewish Languages 101
Language and land are intricately connected. Indeed, languages and dialects tend to get their names from the regions where they are spoken. What happens, then, when a people has no land of its own? For...
View ArticlePraying in Hebrew
Praying in Hebrew, reciting words that are familiar but untranslatable, helps reinforce the sense of prayer’s being an emotional-aesthetic experience rather than a rational-intellectual one. A friend...
View Article7 Things You Should Know About Hebrew
Hebrew is the language of the Bible, Jewish prayer and — since the early 20th century — a modern language spoken in Israel. Below are seven important things to know about this storied language.1) The...
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Hebrew Literature in Translation: A Reader’s Guide
Approximately 5,000 books are published annually in Israel. Considering that Hebrew books are from a small country and in a relatively obscure language, they are often translated into English at an...
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Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the Making of Modern Hebrew
When Eliezer Ben-Yehuda arrived in Palestine in 1881, Hebrew had not been the spoken language of the Jewish people since the time of the Bible. Yet, thanks to Ben-Yehuda, by 1922 enough Jewish pioneers...
View ArticleHow to Greet Someone in Hebrew
Hebrew is the language of the Jewish Bible and the modern state of Israel. Jews have traditionally referred to it as lashon hakodesh, the holy tongue — the language of God and the angels. Jewish...
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How To Read the Hebrew Alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet, or the Aleph Bet, consists of 22 letters. The Aleph Bet is also used to write other Jewish languages, like Yiddish, Ladino, Aramaic, Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Arabic. In Hebrew, the...
View ArticleWhy is Hebrew Written from Right to Left?
Most languages are, like English, written from left to right. Hebrew, like some other languages from the Middle East (most notably Arabic) is written in the opposite direction. No one knows for sure...
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Guide to Jewish Food Terms
Whether you’re stepping into a Jewish deli for the first time, shopping at a kosher supermarket or going to a friend’s house for a traditional Shabbat dinner, here are some useful words to know. Many...
View ArticleHow to Learn Hebrew
At no point in history have there been more ways of learning Hebrew. Thanks to modern technology, there are many, many options out there, even for those with limited budgets, schedules and mobility —...
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A Guide to Jewish Acronyms and Abbreviations
For centuries before text-messaging and emailing birthed ubiquitous linguistic shorthand terms like LOL, TTYL and IMHO, Jews were not just the People of the Book, but the People of the Acronym.Acronyms...
View ArticleWhat Is the Meaning of Chai?
Chai (חי) is the Hebrew word for life. The word, consisting of two Hebrew letters —chet (ח) and yud (י)— is a Jewish symbol, frequently appearing on pendants and other jewelry.Unlike the Indian tea...
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Similar Jewish Words You Don’t Want to Mix Up
It can be hard to pronounce and keep straight the myriad Jewish words and phrases in common parlance. Especially because for those of us who are not native Hebrew or Yiddish speakers (or who have the...
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