At Medabaret Ivrit? Do you speak Hebrew?

One of the coolest and most special parts of Israel is our language: Hebrew!

Hebrew is our biblical and ancient language that was revived and is now a thriving language full of literature, culture, and a whole nation speaking it every day. It doesn’t get any more sababa than that.

Hebrew is the official language of Israel (together with Arabic). The Hebrew we speak every day is considered “modern Hebrew” which is different than the Hebrew that you read and hear in the Torah.

So, let’s take a look at this beautiful language, full of history and significance and its role today in Israeli society. Are you ready? Yalla!

The History of the Hebrew language

Biblical Hebrew can be traced back to the 10th century BCE. There are various phases of Biblical Hebrew that reference certain eras in Jewish history. Scholars believe that there were different dialects according to regions and times.

Hebrew is part of the Canaanite languages (it’s actually the only one still used today).

Hebrew was first revived as a literary language. This resulted in the language becoming modernized, as new words and expressions were adopted and added to what we now consider modern day Hebrew. Hebrew borrows many ideas from Arabic, Aramaic and Latin. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda is largely attributed as being the father of modern-day Hebrew and responsible for its ultimate revival.

Hebrew became the official language of British-ruled Palestine in 1921 and of the State of Israel with its founding in 1948.

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Shalom, I’m Maya, a native Israeli (aka sabra) and the founder of Israelibox.
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What’s so special about Hebrew?

 Besides the awesome fact that Hebrew was brought back from ancient times, there are a bunch of distinguishing features when it comes to the Hebrew language:

  • We read Hebrew from right-to-left. But, numbers go from left-to-right (yes, it can be a bit confusing!)
  • In Hebrew, vowel sounds are written with small dots and lines underneath the letters. In reality, they usually aren’t written (expect for when kids learn to read) and therefore speakers must learn to understand how to read each word and its sounds.
  • There’s an official Academy of the Hebrew Language that decides on new words
  • Hebrew has a few special sounding letters such as chet (ח) and resh (ר). If you come to Israel, I’ll try to teach you how to say them!

Hebrew is culture

Speaking Hebrew is way more than speaking a language, it’s a means of portraying our culture and integrating with others!

Hebrew is heavily influenced by Arabic. Many of the most common Hebrew slang words are taken directly from Arabic such as sababa (cool), yalla (let’s go), and mabsut (happy, satisfied). Yidish also plays a role in in Hebrew, with certain expressions commonly used (especially amongst our grandmothers!).

The Hebrew language has been heavily influenced by the Israeli culture and the way that we interact with one another. We like to speak “dugri” (direct) but also with lots of love and “firgun…”

For example, in Hebrew we have a word לפרגן- l’fargen. L’fargen means to give someone credit when it is due in a totally non jealous way. It’s like hey! I’m going to l’fargen you on this awesome achievement! Israelis love to support one another, and Hebrew is the only language in the world with this unique word.

We also love to “bless” people on their achievements and wish them success and happiness in their future endeavors. For this, we say בשעה טובה- b’sha’a tova. It literally means in “good time” but we use it when someone buys a home, when a woman is expecting to give birth and more.

And of course, our expression בקרוב אצלך- b’karov atzlech– “soon with you”. This is all about the Israeli directness and represents our culture so well. When someone has a joyful occasion such as having a baby, getting married, etc., we wish one another “b’karov atzlech”- soon it will happen to you!

Hebrew words you must know when you want to speak with an Israeli!

 Are you ready for my list of top Hebrew words? Here we go

  • Boker Tov – Good morning
  • Erev Tov – Good evening
  • Toda – Thank you
  • Slicha – Excuse me, sorry
  • Ma Shlomcha/Ma Shlomech?- How are you?
  • Ma Nishma? – What’s up?
  • Shalom – Hello, goodbye, peace
  • Machar – tomorrow
  • Hayom – today
  • Kama Ze Oleh – How much does this cost?
  • Efshar Hanacha – Can I have a discount? (Get ready to start bartering if you want to truly speak like an Israeli!)
  • Sababa – cool
  • Yalla – let’s go
  • Sherutim – Bathroom
  • Beit Malon – Hotel
  • Matos – Airplane

Now that we’ve finished our Hebrew lesson, it’s time to get to work on practicing your Hebrew! Don’t worry about your accent – Israel is a melting pot full of people from all over the world and we love accents of all kinds.

Want to learn more about Israeli culture and language? Check out these blogs:

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Want to receive products featuring the Hebrew language straight to your home?

IsraeliBox sends unique products each month from Israeli small businesses and non-profits with an emphasis on products featuring our magical language.

Shalom, I’m Maya, a native Israeli (aka sabra) and the founder of Israelibox.
IsraeliBox is a subscription box that brings Israel closer to you than ever.

I started Israelibox to give you the chance to experience Israel like Israelis do.

Join me in supporting Israel in a unique way while enjoying the great products our small businesses have to offer.

Want to send Israel as a gift?

Check out our gift collection