Last year I read a book by someone very familiar with rabbinic Hebrew and modern Hebrew who ended up studying the King James Bible and

At Genesis 49:21, Naftali is given the following blessing: “Naftali ayalah sheluchah, ha-noten imrei shefer.” Here is the translation in the ArtScroll Stone Chumash: “a

In this week’s parsha, Jacob’s sons return home and tell Jacob that Joseph is still alive and that he rules over the entire land of

This is a question that has been troubling me for decades (along with whether there is a connection between “milchama” and “lechem”!) Both “mishpacha” and

In Biblical Hebrew, most nouns are derived from verbs. So when you see a noun and want to know what it originally meant, the first

This column will address the root “amar.” Am I so desperate for topics that I picked such a seemingly boring one? Please read the entire

Our subject is a word that appears only six times in Tanach, only in the book of Psalms, and only in the first verse each

Reviewing: “Shadal on Genesis” by Daniel Klein. Kodesh Press. 2019. Paperback. 617 pages. English. ISBN-13: 978-1947857308. Samuel David Luzzatto (1800-1865) was the preeminent Italian Jewish

Samuel 13:1 tells us that Saul was one year old when he began to reign: “ben shana Shaul be-malcho.” If you look at the Soncino,

Reviewing: “My Father’s Paradise,” by Ariel Sabar. Algonquin Books. 2008. English. Hardcover. 325 pages. ISBN-13: 978-1565124905. This was one of the most interesting books that

Herzl had not envisioned Hebrew as the language of the Jewish state. In 1896 he wrote: “Who amongst us has a sufficient acquaintance with Hebrew

As part of the Sukkot hoshanot we recite the request “Ani Ve-Ho Hoshiah Nah.” This phrase originates in a statement by R. Judah at Mishnah