Shofar

This coming week is the festival of Rosh HaShanah and the sounds and smells of this festival are already amongst us. Every family has it's own special food; Grandma's recipe for fish, Dad's sweet Challah and the most tasty desert from Mum. (My husband makes the best Challot in the world and together with the best fish from my sister you can crown the festive meal at ours as the most festive meal!) But the truth, for a change, is that I don't want to speak about food rather about the sounds of the festival. We are all already waiting to hear the sound of the shofar; the sound of the opening of the gates of heaven. The shofar has many symbolic meanings in Judaism, such as the binding of Isaac, the sound of standing at Mount Sinai, the ceremony of the kingdom of kings and more.

But, from where is the word "shofar "שופר? What is the root of it's symbolism?

Eliezer Ben Yehuda refered to the root ש-פ-ר when he created the word מנשר (manifest):

"אל חכך שפר כנשר על בית ה'..." Set the horn to thy mouth. As a vulture he cometh against the house of the LORD (Hosea 8:1)

In his newspaper "the light", Ben Yehuda wrote " Did you ever see a vulture blow the shofar? There is in Arabic (with the root נ-ש-ר) another meaning: to publish, to notify to the masses something new, a new gospel." This idea fits well with our topic but unfortunately the understanding of Ben Yehuda wasn't accepted because it was lacking the complete root of the word.

Probably the word shofar is connected to the verb "לשפר to improve". The shofar, that is the method that man uses to express himself towards the firmament, is the symbol of the desire of man to leave the physical realm and the materialistic world where he is found and to improve his deeds and his world to greet the great new year.

At the moment there is a new historical shofar exhibit beginning in the Bible lands museum. You can hear a few interesting stories also here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIfLbkx4ZIM&feature=youtu.be

I wish everyone a happy and sweet new year, a peaceful, tranquil, health, success and love and of course a year of improvement in Hebrew!

Osnat

Shalom Le Kulam!

As August draws to a close I have begun to reflect on what has been one of our busiest summers so far. We had students from all the corners of the earth including Argentina, Tanzania, South Africa, and Australia along with copious amounts of Europeans and Americans. We truly received a world tour as through each student we learn not only about their life but also about the culture from which they originate. 

The end of August brought with it the month of Elul symbolizing the end of the Jewish year and the lead up to the High Holiday period. Before we know it Rosh Ha Shannah the Jewish New year will be upon us and along with the overflowing tables of food, Rosh Ha Shannah is a time for repentance and reflection. In the month of Elul prayers of requests for forgiveness (Slichot) are sung in synagogues and each individual takes upon himself to assess his deeds and analyse any wrong doings from the past year.

The word in Hebrew for repentance is Teshuva:

תְּשׁוּבָה

Teshuva is formed from the root, Shuv (Shin- Vav- Bet). As with so many words in Hebrew, looking at the root of a word can give us a deeper understanding of the meaning. So what is the connection between returning and repentance?

To repent is to demonstrate a desire to return to the right path in life but there is another interesting connection to this root which can be found in Maimonides' writings on repentance. He writes that one can only fully have repented when one is faced with the same situation and chooses a different course. So just as in the film Groundhog day (where the same day is repeated over and over again), if you return to the same environment and this time you decide not to do the same mistake, then you can say you have truly repented. 

I wish you all a meaningful week and check back next week for some more Ulpan insights!

Osnat

Hello all

This week in Israel, although it is only August, the heat has subsided (don't worry, it is due to return and with strength)! And even though it is hard to believe, it is really nice to be able to stroll along the streets of our country. If I am permitted to be proud of our beautiful city for a moment, since the renovations Rechov Yafo has been transformed into one of the most inviting and bustling streets in the day and at night. It is a lot of fun to go out, with the night breeze, to stroll in the streets of central Jerusalem, to stop for coffee in a quaint coffee shop and to have fun here where there are no more fumes from buses to destroy your lovely burekkas (incidentally- highly recommended). This is really fun, it is really something something. 

משהו – משהו: Something something!

I know that in translating to English this does not sound good, but if you want to be in Israel and sound Israeli, this is how Israelis talk. It happens a lot that we repeat the same word twice in order to emphasize the point like "this is a really true statement". 

And to give some examples:

אח שלי הוא גבר-גבר, הבורקס ב"אמא" הוא לא סתם בורקס, הוא בורקס – בורקס! חכה, לאן אתה ממהר? לאט- לאט!

My brother is a gever- gever, a manly man. The burekkas at "Ima" are not just burekkas, they are burekkas burekkas! Wait, where are you hurrying to? Slowly Slowly!

Indeed it does sound very Israeli to speak like this, with repeated words, but to be clear, this is not just an Israeli thing; it is also a phenomenon evident in the past, as far back as the bible and also in the Talmud. This phenomenon to repeat words is apparent also in the slang of many other languages such as English: "easy-easy", Arabic: "Shwaye-shwaye" and many more examples in other languages. From these languages then it was very easy for it to enter Israeli slang! And so we have not totally invented this phenomenon but have warmly embraced it opening up a wealth of possibilities and opportunities for usage. 

And here we come to the end of this blog,

סוף- סוף Finally! 

Hello all!

Two weeks ago I spoke about the structures and forms in Hebrew and we mentioned the form of illnesses. Today I want to expand on this in speech.

As it is known, the basis of Modern Hebrew is from Biblical Hebrew. Biblical Hebrew is the foundation of Modern Hebrew but does not comprise of enough words to complete our linguistic needs. Together with the emergence of cultural changes and technology we are lacking additional words that cannot be found in the bible. Words like newspaper, ice cream and more. These words could not be found in the bible because their objects were not yet in existence. When the Hebrew language began its reawakening, together with the nation of the Jewish people, there was no choice but to create new words. But how? 

The changes that were made by Ben Yehuda were made according to the rules that began in the bible. For example, the word "Ee-ton", newspaper, is comprised of the word "Et" meaning time and the ending "On" which signifies order (like "rishON"- first, "AcharON"- last e.t.c.). The newspaper arrives at a certain time. These two parts are combined together to make a new word formed from the bible. 

In the book of Deutoronomy, G-d says to the people of Israel

"And I will smite you with consumption, fever and infection" (Deutoronomy, 28:22). 

"יַכְּכָה ה' בַּשַּׁחֶפֶת וּבַקַּדַּחַת וּבַדַּלֶּקֶת" (דברים כח)

From this sentence we learn the structure of illnesses in Hebrew (all the Hebrew words have the same structure as mentioned previously). In the rest of the world, illnesses move and diminish, only in Israel there are more and more illnesses that have never before been mentioned in the Doctor's books. Since the origins of the Hebrew language, new illnesses have begun to be publicized such as that of "Daberet", talkativeness, "Patpetet", Chattyness and "Hanemet", for people who give too many speeches. 

But it is not just these illnesses that have appeared. In other arenas new illnesses have appeared, have you heard of the illness of "Nayeret", the paperwork illness that infects everyone that works in government offices? And if we are already talking about government offices, have you ever had to queue for documents and the person at the counter has "Sachevet", "foot-dragging"?

And it goes on…. Just use your imagination.

We will meet in the next post, until then, only in good health,

Kol Tov,

Osnat. 

Hello! I hope that this blog reaches you in a good and summery spirit!

Summer, it's hot. We, here in Israel are thirsty for water and a little breeze but despite this it is great to see all the tourists that come to Israel in order to experience a true Israeli summer. The heat, the humidity, the protests, the societies that have arisen at the last moment (because of the heat? the holiday?) This hasn't deterred the people that love the summer; the sea, the blue sky and the golden sand that we have here in Israel. 

And for a proportion of the tourist season, also Ulpan Aviv benefits from seeing all the tourists that come to visit our country. We get to meet people from all over the world- from England, America, Portugal, Canada, France, Holand Italy and more. Many of them enjoy exploring Jerusalem during their studies, together with their teacher, to experience the interesting sites that we have here (of course in Hebrew). They learn about the holy places like the old city, ancient synagogues and more. But also, they learn about modern Jerusalem- Yemin Moshe, Rechavia and the shuk. All these sights and sounds can be taken as an indication that indeed it is the time of redemption, like the prophet Zecharia said in the Old testament:

"Thus said the L-rd of hosts: There shall yet be old men and women sitting in the streets of Jerusalem. And the man will have a stick in his hand for his great age. In the streets of the city, they will be filled with boys and girls playing in their streets." (Zecharia 8:4-5)

And we have already been reminded of the children playing in the streets of Jerusalem (and also in our new branch in Tel Aviv) because of the success of our children's courses which continue to grow and grow! This is in addition to the countless number of young (or young at heart) faces which arrive each morning to our Ulpan also with big smiles on their faces! Between the work that they do together with the teachers here at our school, they also have a packed schedule, trips to the zoo, to the science museum, to new neighborhoods and of course lots and lots of icecream, choco, falafel and a great atmosphere.

Just like we said, an Israeli summer!

Someone asked for Felafel? Until next time…..

Osnat

Creative writing

Everyone who ever learns the meaning of the rhythm and the structure of the Hebrew language knows how crucial pronunciation is in the Hebrew language and in understanding the complete sentence. 

"Just a second, he said Aleph with a kamatz or tzerei (two of the Hebrew vowel sounds)?"

"He said that his daughter has the colour Adom (red) or Ademet (rubella)?"

Also we, as Hebrew teachers, often encounter things that surprise us in their wisdom and simplicity. Furthermore, sometimes we even surprise ourselves. It was not long ago that a revelation surprised me and changed the way I viewed teaching the Hebrew language. 

It began when I paid attention to the fact that on the one hand we tell students how simple Hebrew is and yet on the other hand we enthuse about the brilliance of the language and its depth. Truthfully, who else apart from us Hebrew teachers can really see this "simplicity" which causes so many of you to run from all your previous Hebrew classes as if someone had let a bear into the room! Never had I thought about this in depth until a student, a very special one, searched for the "soul" of the Hebrew language. "Soul, what soul", I thought. "Hebrew is pure, pure mathematics, sublime beauty, but a soul? Are you going to search algebra also to find this soul?"

The search for a soul puzzled me, but honestly, if we stop for a moment and think about this, there is a soul. There are ideas. There is a wonderful world of culture, wisdom and philosophy that can be found within the simple mechanics of the roots and the rhythms of the language. 

So what did I discover this week? Why am I so excited? Simply, I explained to her the significance of the structures of the language. I explained the correct verb conjugations and "Pa'al" the simple verb, "Pial" the intensive verb and "Hifil" the causative verb. "Simply", I said, "pure mechanics". But this was just the beginning (I said she was a special student). She immediately asked me to show her why "L'lamed", to teach, was not in Hifil. 

What could I say, it was an excellent question! And so I took a moment to think. The problem was that in the same moment I was in the middle of a class, midsentence and that question hung in the air, "really why?" I wasn't able to take enough time to think about this and so, my mouth begun to speak before I could think about what I was going to say: "You know when you are learning for a very hard test with friends and you ask your friend to pay attention to what you are teaching him; why do we do this? Because teaching is in its essence intensive learning- it is a two way process."

SCORE!

What was most beautiful was the journey that that question took us on and the thoughts that it inspired. Did I not say that Hebrew is a simple and brilliant language?

Until the next blog,

Best wishes,

Osnat

Autumn

Did you think that there was no autumn in Israel? Or maybe you thought that it only begins in December? Well, we have news for you: we have autumn and it's already here!

On my way to the ulpan, I drove on the windy road between the Jerusalem mountains and I was surprised to see the "Khatzav" plant, an Israeli plant which only blooms in the autumn, amongst the dry plants which cover the land at the end of the summer. But the "Khatzav" is not alone. With the "Khatzav" comes the cool winds and clouds.

The animals also realize that autumn has arrived and it is the time to collect food and find shelter from the rain. The ants are scurrying from place to place, collecting flecks of food and plant seeds that remain from the hot summer. The snail, a winter animal, begins to awaken from its summer hibernation.

And also the birds are already here. Approximately half a million storks fly during Autumn in the skies of Israel. The stork leaves cold Europe in time for the beginning of Autumn and flies to the hot countries of Africa (we sayלחרוף    to spend the winter). In a short time they will fly through the skies of Israel, many cranes, buzzards, pelicans and many more types of birds. To all those who are currently in Israel, this is the time to tiyul to the Achula lake in the north and to see all the birds that stop to rest and eat in the nature reservation. And to those who really are thinking about taking a tiyul, it is recommended to arrive in the morning hours but also to check first whether there is a mist/fog.

The weather is also becoming more bearable for my friends who travel far and wide in Israel. Naomi Shemer, the famous poet, wrote a lovely and simple song about this.

I have a friend by Naomi Shemer

I have a friend in Jerusalem

I have a friend in Ramat Aviv

I have friends in Rosh HaAyiin

And also in Gesher HaZiv

I am going to trek

In all the land of Israel

With my sick and my bags

In the evenings of the day

Of course I will find a place

Amongst these friends of mine.

I have a friend in Kfar Ha Horesh

And in Ashkelon and Atlit

I have a friend in Hof Machmoret

And in Afula Illit.

I am going to trek….

I have a friend also in Be'er Shva

I have a friend in Kerem Shalom

I have in Nahal and in Geva

And I even have in Sdom

Movie

Shalom Le Kulam!

As August draws to a close I have begun to reflect on what has been one of our busiest summers so far. We had students from all the corners of the earth including Argentina, Tanzania, South Africa, and Australia along with copious amounts of Europeans and Americans. We truly received a world tour as through each student we learn not only about their life but also about the culture from which they originate. 

The end of August brought with it the month of Elul symbolizing the end of the Jewish year and the lead up to the High Holiday period. Before we know it Rosh Ha Shannah the Jewish New year will be upon us and along with the overflowing tables of food, Rosh Ha Shannah is a time for repentance and reflection. In the month of Elul prayers of requests for forgiveness (Slichot) are sung in synagogues and each individual takes upon himself to assess his deeds and analyse any wrong doings from the past year.

The word in Hebrew for repentance is Teshuva:

תְּשׁוּבָה

Teshuva is formed from the root, Shuv (Shin- Vav- Bet). As with so many words in Hebrew, looking at the root of a word can give us a deeper understanding of the meaning. So what is the connection between returning and repentance?

To repent is to demonstrate a desire to return to the right path in life but there is another interesting connection to this root which can be found in Maimonides' writings on repentance. He writes that one can only fully have repented when one is faced with the same situation and chooses a different course. So just as in the film Groundhog day (where the same day is repeated over and over again), if you return to the same environment and this time you decide not to do the same mistake, then you can say you have truly repented.

I wish you all a meaningful week and check back next week for some more Ulpan insights!

Osnat