Peace

Free Hebrew lessons – February 2011 – Training – Day 54

Shalom,

The last 10 days have not been easy, to say the least, in our area – the Middle East.
Thousands, hundred of thousands and even millions of Egyptian citizens went out to the streets in Egypt and called for President Mubarak to resign. Also, King Hussein of Jordan dissolved his cabinet and asked for a new government to be formed, making this the third government collapse in the Middle East, including Tunisia, in recent months.  Why am I telling you about this in our Heblish lesson? The answer will not tarry to come…

In our previous lesson we learned about “at” and “on”, and I showed you that a translation between languages is not always like comparing apples to apples.

After two complex lessons, today we have a short lesson.

Today’s menu: Peace

Attention: The underlined letters represent the accent.

Most of the leaders in the Middle East are tyrants. Except in Lebanon, all the other countries around Israel are dictatorships.

Is that bad?

Most of my students live in a democratic country, and it will be easy for them to answer “yes” to this question.

But, most of us don’t take into account the people in those countries, the culture, and radical Islam. To be a democracy is not like just pushing a button. It’s a long process. In Turkey it took 85 years(!) of military regime to achieve a democracy. But even if it could be a short process (like an election), no one can guarantee that the side which wins the election won’t be cruel to its people, like we see, for example in Iran.  Hopefully it will work out better in Egypt.

A lot of people in Israel are afraid now, and ask “what will happen to the peace agreement we have with Egypt?” No one has an answer and I won’t talk about politics, today. I just want to say that most normal people want peace. The Hebrew word for peace is… someone can guess?

Meanwhile, here are some new words:
- President Mubarak – Ha’nasi Mubarak (president – nasi)
- King Hussein – Ha’mele^ Hussein (king – mele^)
- The Middle East – Ha’mizra^ ha’ti^on.

Well, the answer for my last question is that in Hebrew, the word for peace is shalom.

I already taught you that we say shalom for “hi” and “hello,” but now you know that there is another meaning for the word “shalom,” which is peace.

In Hebrew “hi, hello and peace” are blessings – blessings for good life, which is pronounced in only one word – shalom.

Some expressions with the word “shalom“:

- Peace dove – Yonat shalom
- Peace agreement – Heskem shalom
- Peacekeeper – Shomer shalom
- Peace-maker – Ose shalom
- Peace process – Tahali^ shalom

That’s it for today… short, but under the current world circumstances, a very timely lesson. 

Peace can be as simple as having all your kids under the roof with you, safe and happy, or as complicated as neighbors who have thousands of years of animosity between them, trying to figure out how to live in peace with each other, and prosper. 

Today, I pray for shalom in the Middle East, and in the every corner of the world where man reaches for something better than his ancestors had…

Lehitraot in lesson 55…

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Homework

Free Hebrew lessons – September 2010 – Training – Day 39A

Happy Succot – Succot samea^,

I am really proud of you! I received many e-mails from you and most of the answers were perfect.

Here are the completed tables for lesson 39. 

Break – shover

Count – sofer

Drive – noheg

Close – soger

Sell – mo^er

Wear – lovesh

Lehitraot next Thursday

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Holidays

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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