Free Hebrew lessons – December 2010 – Training – Day 48

Shalom le’kulam (Hi everyone),

In our previous lesson we talked about the websites I build and I taught you some useful sentences in Hebrew. On the same day (last Thursday), a big blaze started in Israel and killed 42 people. Five million trees went up in flames.

My brother (a^ sheli) who lives very near (she’gar meod karov) took some photos (tsilem kama tmunot). Here is one of them:

If you (plural) would like to see more photos (im atem rotsim lirot od tmunot), click here: Moments. 

Today, we will talk about happy things. 

Today’s menu: Holidays and Days Off

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

We use the word holiday to describe time we spend touring or for national or religious events:

I went on holiday to Israel last year. Businesses were closed during Yom Ha’atsmaut (Independence Day), which is a national holiday.

In Hebrew “holiday” is ^ag, but when you say “I went on holiday,” you should say “yatsati (I went) le’^ufsha.”  Hey, where is the word ^ag?

What we can learn here is, that when we say “holiday,” the simple translation is ^ag, but when you use it to describe a time you spend traveling and sightseeing, the word you want to use is ^ufsha.

In other words, ^ufsha is a vacation.

We use days off to talk about time we use for things other than work:

I am taking a couple of days off to visit my parents.

In Hebrew “day off” is yom ^ufsha and “days off” is yemey ^ufsha

Most Israelis say it incorrectly.
For “day off” they say yom ^ofesh and for “days off” they say yemey ^ofesh.

The word ^ofesh means freedom…
Maybe because the Israelis think a lot about freedom, they use it incorrectly when they just take a day off.  Although… a day off from work is definitely a sort of “freedom.”

Happy Holidays!

Lehitraot in lesson 49…

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You know there is no lesson today because of the holiday… BUT, I would like to invite you to check out the tremendous Black Friday Sale on Goood. 

Some of the items are marked down as much as 50%, for just 24 hours, on Friday, November 26th 12:01 A.M.
 
Enjoy your day off and take advantage of the opportunity to start your holiday shopping at Goood.
 
Lehitraot on December 2nd.

Free Hebrew lessons – September 2010 – Training – Day 38

Shalom ^averim (Hello friends),

Since you have learned some Hebrew during our Heblish course, I thought you might be interested in knowing a bit more about our tradition.

As you know, last Thursday was the first day in the Hebrew calendar, Rosh Ha’shana. 
Yom Kippur will be this Saturday.

The ten days between Rosh Ha’shana and Yom Kippur are called “The (Jewish) High Holidays,” – in Hebrew: Ha’yamim Ha’noraim. The literal meaning of “Ha’yamim Ha’noraim is “The Terrible Days.”  Why “terrible?”  Because, according to the Jewish faith, during these 10 days God decides who will live and who will die during the next year…

So, ten days after Rosh Ha’shana we have a fast day (25-26 hours) called Yom Kippur. It’s not just a fast day. It is the holiest day of the year.  On this day, the Jewish people are suppose to suffer, or afflict their souls and bodies, through prayer, fasting, and denial of some “comforts,” as they seek atonement and forgiveness for their sins of the past year.

Most modern Jews use the “fast” as a symbol of their suffering. I’m sure some of you can relate to this idea of “suffering” if you think about skipping your next lunch.

The meaning of Yom Kippur is “Forgiveness Day.” On this day we don’t eat, we don’t work, we don’t turn the lights on or off or use fire of any kind (to light a cigarette, fireplace, etc.), and we don’t drive… so we have a lot of time to pray to God and ask Him to “sign” us, to place His signature on us, that we may live through the coming year. Actually, in my family (and in a lot of other families I know) we play chess, monopoly, cards or maybe ride bicycles… but at the end of the day, before 3 stars have risen in the sky, we go to the synagogue to hear the sound of the Shofar (ram’s horn).

That’s it, in brief:  Rosh Ha’shana, Ha’yamim Ha’noraim and Yom Kippur.

Shana Tova and lehitraot for an important lesson next week, lesson 39 …

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