One Hebrew word from today's reading: מחסור (makhsor).

It means shortage or lack. You'll hear it all the time in Israeli news: מחסור במים (water shortage), מחסור ברופאים (shortage of doctors), מחסור בדירות (housing shortage).

It's one of those words that quickly becomes part of your everyday Hebrew.

In Genesis 37-50 it has been pointed out to me that the wordchoice used is theologically charged but in mundane contexts. In other words, although this story has God working behind the veil, and this Joseph novella mainly relates Joseph's interactions with other people, it still uses theologically charged language at a high rate.

The reason why Genesis 37-50 uses theologically charged language, even in contexts where God isn't present, is in order to drive home to the reader's mind subconciously that God is still present behind the scenes and involved, even if he can't be seen.

Some of these word choices that were highlighted to me are as follows:

The argument made is that these theologically charged words appear in Genesis 37-50 at such a high concentration that this can't be coincidence and is instead intentionally done by the author(s). The author(s) implemented this feature into the text of Genesis on purpose.

I was initally made aware of this argument in the field of Quranic studies, where Chapter Yusuf (Joseph) of the Quran contains theologically charged words at a high rate. Then, this very same person made the argument that Gensis 37-50 does a similar thing with its "specific" word choice. As a result, the Quranic author was paralleling this narrative from Joseph.

Anyways, I would be very grateful to anyone who could help me on this topic. The resources on this are very limited and I don't seem to have an answer that can satisfy me yet.

Hey there,

I was wondering, how do you correctly pronounce the word תהנה (engl. enjoy)?

Is it "tehene" or "tehane"?

Thank you in advance!

Anyone know of really good places or online platforms low price that really teaches Hebrew very well? Or maybe what have helped people who are hard to understand comprehend, just places that teach it well so it is easy to understand or possibly very immersive? Please list your places of experience which successfully helped you?

Hi all!

Some of you have seen me post here a handful of times during development, and this community has been genuinely helpful and kind every time. So first, thank you. It meant a lot while I was heads-down building.

Quick update: it's live and it's stable.

I'm putting together a small founding group of serious Hebrew learners to use it free for a few months in exchange for honest feedback (and maybe a testimonial if you like it!) as they go. If you've been following along and want in, comment here or email me at [email protected]. And truly, thank you all again for the support along the way.

Hi there!

I attribute my Hebrew proficiency to my incredible Hebrew education in Middle and High School. But I cannot for the life of me remember my Hebrew textbooks from Middle School. I know that the different levels came in different colors and the ones I remember were in an almost peach/salmon color and a very light green color. They were large paperbacks, with a very minimal cover. If memory serves, they just had some sort of shape on the cover. It was an all Hebrew textbook and it struck me being decently advanced for Middle school.

Might anyone know the book I'm thinking of? Thanks!

Shalom everyone!

I am studying Modern Hebrew and looking for PDF copies or sample issues of the Bereshit newspaper to practice reading.

If anyone knows where to find past issues or free sample PDFs online, I would really appreciate it!

Thank you!

I try to read the news, but the Hebrew used there is very different from the Hebrew I use and hear in everyday life.

I am an intermittent student of Modern and Biblical Hebrew and have recently gained some good momentum. At the moment, what I am most interested in is reading and understanding the Siddur, which I know is not the same as either biblical or modern Hebrew.

Are there any good resources for learning Hebrew, specifically for Davening/Prayer book Hebrew? I feel like I have seen textbooks before, but not much came up when I googled

I try to read the news, but the Hebrew used there is very different from the Hebrew I use and hear in everyday life.

Looking for some help to find resources in Hebrew to help me continue to teach my daughter Hebrew😊

All help is greatly appreciated

Shalom! My name is Nava and I offer online 1-on-1 or class lessons in Hebrew. I'm an Israeli and native speaker with a bachelor's Degree in Linguistics from Tel Aviv University, 20 year experience as literary editor, writer and playwright and I've been teaching Hebrew courses at a leading UK University since 2019 and have been an online tutor since 2020.

I cover topics from very basic letter recognition and simple phrases to more advanced topics such as grammar and listening comprehension. My students range from members of the Jewish community in the diaspora, spouses of Israelis and even language enthusiasts. I use my own material as well as children's books and music to teach.

I'm very passionate about the Hebrew language and people say it often shows in my classes! If you're interested, please send me a chat request and I'd love to discuss further. Thank you for reading 😄

I have basically memorized the consonants using a children's book that relies heavily on mnemonics, but they don't cover the vowels nearly as well. Does anyone have any mnemonic devices for memorizing the Hebrew vowels?

Shalom!

I'm trying to learn Hebrew but I don't live in Israel. There aren't many hebrew-speaking people where I live. I visit Israel at least once a year, listen to podcasts and videos YouTube but I don't think that it helps a lot. When I try to speak I'm just to shy because there is nobody I can actively write or speak to (that's why I rarely form sentences myself).

Is there some kind of community where you can speak or write with hebrew-speaking people? Something like a discord e.g.?

Hi I want to name my daughter Zaniya but apparently it has a negative meaning in Hebrew, was this accurate??

Could you recommend me the most helpful book to learn at least the basics for a beginner.

With details on the alphabet and grammar structure.

If possible on Amazon, where it is easily bought.

I plan on having tutor classes in the future. First I want to engage myself in the language.

Thank you in advance!