Introduction 1 Part 1: Getting Started with Hebrew 7 Chapter 1: You Already Know Some Hebrew 9 Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Hebrew Grammar 27 Chapter 3: Shalom, Shalom!: Meeting and Greeting 45 Part 2: Hebrew in Action 63 Chapter 4: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk 65 Chapter 5: Eat! Eat! You’re So Thin! 81 Chapter 6: Going Shopping 105 Chapter 7: Having Fun Hebrew Style 121 Chapter 8: Enjoying Your Free Time: Hobbies, Sports, and Other Fun Activities 141 Chapter 9: Talking on the Phone 157 Chapter 10: At the Office and Around the House 171 Part 3: Hebrew on the Go 189 Chapter 11: Planning and Taking a Trip 191 Chapter 12: Getting Around: Flying, Driving, and Riding 221 Chapter 13: Money, Money, Money 235 Chapter 14: Handling Emergencies 249 Part 4: Diving Deeper into Hebrew Life 265 Chapter 15: An Introduction to Israel 267 Chapter 16: War and Peace 279 Part 5: Sacred Hebrew 287 Chapter 17: Let’s Get Biblical 289 Chapter 18: Like a Prayer 299 Chapter 19: Sacred Time, Sacred Space 315 Part 6: The Part of Tens 331 Chapter 20: Ten Books on Hebrew You Just Gotta Have 333 Chapter 21: Ten Favorite Hebrew Expressions 337 Chapter 22: Ten Great Israeli Phrases 341 Appendix A: Verb Tables 345 Appendix B: Hebrew–English Mini-Dictionary 355 Appendix C: Answer Key 377 Index 383 Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 How This Book Is Organized 3 Part 1: Getting Started 3 Part 2: Hebrew in Action 3 Part 3: Hebrew on the Go 4 Part 4: Israeli Life 4 Part 5: Sacred Hebrew 4 Part 6: The Part of Tens 4 Appendixes 4 Icons Used in This Book 5 Beyond the Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part 1: Getting Started with Hebrew 7 Chapter 1: You Already Know Some Hebrew 9 Taking Stock of What’s Familiar 10 Speaking Hebrew Like a Native 12 Stressing out (not) 12 Getting out the gutturals 13 Opening your mouth to say “Ah!” 14 Counting in Hebrew 14 Counting objects 15 Counting higher 15 Recognizing Tips to Help You Read Hebrew 18 Figuring out the Hebrew alphabet’s shapes, sounds, and stories 18 Reading and writing from right to left 23 Chapter 2: The Nitty-Gritty: Basic Hebrew Grammar 27 Making Sense of Hebrew Syntax 28 Putting your sentences in order 28 Questioning 29 Recognizing Parts of Speech 30 Naming nouns 30 Perfecting your pronouns 32 Applying adjectives 36 Pinpointing Hebrew verbs 37 Detecting adverbs 40 Spotting prepositions 41 Understanding Gender and Number 42 Chapter 3: Shalom, Shalom!: Meeting and Greeting 45 Greeting and Saying Goodbye 46 Greeting all day long 46 Replying to a greeting 47 Putting a name to a face 49 Making Grand Introductions 51 Introducing yourself 51 Introducing others 51 Getting Better Acquainted 54 Finding out who speaks English 54 Talking about where you come from 56 Chatting about how you feel 57 Extending and Responding to Invitations 58 Asking Questions: The Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How 59 Asking yes or no questions 60 Forming negative questions 60 Part 2: Hebrew in Action 63 Chapter 4: Getting to Know You: Making Small Talk 65 Shootin’ the Breeze 65 Talking About Yourself and Your Family 67 Chatting About the Weather 69 Six Days You Shall Labor: Talking About Work 73 Getting Addresses, Phone Numbers, Email, and Instagram/ Twitter handles 76 Asking and telling where you live 76 Asking and giving a phone number, email address, or Instagram handle 77 Chapter 5: Eat! Eat! You’re So Thin! 81 Jewish Love Means Never Having to Say “I’m Hungry” 81 Quieting a growling stomach 83 Taming a wild thirst 83 Getting Down to Business: Food, Glorious Food! 84 Starting the day with breakfast 84 Enjoying lunch 86 Eating dinner 86 Raiding the refrigerator 87 Going to Shabbat dinner 88 Chefing it up at home 89 Matching Adjectives and Nouns 90 Taking Your Grocery List to the Market 95 Going Out for a Bite 98 Chapter 6: Going Shopping 105 Exploring Places to Shop 105 Selecting the Perfect Outfit 106 Styling Your Clothes around the Seasons 111 Fall fashion 111 The winter look 111 Spring attire 113 Summer wear 113 Sweatin’ it out in the summer 113 Color Me Beautiful 117 The Israeli Fashion Scene 117 Getting More (and Less) Than You Bargained For 118 Making comparisons 118 Speaking in hyperbole 119 Chapter 7: Having Fun Hebrew Style 121 Counting the Hours and Minutes 121 Telling time like an American 121 Knowing the time of day 123 Relating time to the past, present, and future 123 Discovering the Days in a Week 128 Catching Some Culture 128 Visiting museums and art galleries 129 Going to the movies 129 Enjoying live entertainment: Music and theater 130 The Israeli Music Scene 135 The Animals Went on the Ark Two by Two: Visiting the Zoo! 136 Spicing Up Your Sentences with Adverbs 137 Chapter 8: Enjoying Your Free Time: Hobbies, Sports, and Other Fun Activities 141 Chatting About Your Hobbies 141 Amassing an amazing collection 142 Creating things with your hands 142 Playing and Watching Sports 146 Kickin’ to score in soccer 146 Shooting for three in basketball 147 Swinging away at baseball 147 Taking a dip in the pool 149 Working up a sweat playing other sports 149 Venturing Outdoors for Some Fun 152 Boogieing Till You Drop 153 Chapter 9: Talking on the Phone 157 Dialing Up the Basics 158 Finding someone’s number 158 Telling someone to call you 158 Socializing in fake time (also known as social media) 159 Asking for People and Getting the Message 160 Leaving a message 161 Dealing with voicemail and other annoyances 163 Making Arrangements over the Phone 165 Talking About the Past: How Was Your Shabbat? 166 Chapter 10: At the Office and Around the House 171 Finding Your Way Around Your Job 171 Supplying your office 172 Searching for the perfect job 174 Working from Home 178 Hanging Out at Home 180 Looking through the rooms 180 Furnishing your humble abode 181 Residing in an Apartment 183 Hunting for your very own flat 183 Giving your apartment some flair 185 Keeping your apartment safe 185 Commanding People: Do As I Say 187 Part 3: Hebrew on the Go 189 Chapter 11: Planning and Taking a Trip 191 Choosing Your Final Destination (And When You Want to Go) 191 Whittling down your choices — so many places you can go! 192 Finding your way around 194 Packing 195 Booking a trip 196 Traveling internationally 196 Coming and Going: Knowing Where You Are 197 Discussing the Future: Verb Forms and Popular Expressions 199 Finding the Hotel That’s Right for You 200 Making your reservations 201 Asking about the price 203 Checking In: Names, Addresses and Room Numbers 204 Filling out the registration form 204 Settling into your room 206 Checking Out and Paying the Bill 207 Asking for your bill 207 Asking about special charges 208 Leaving the hotel 208 Staying at an Airbnb 211 Making Sure You Don’t Get Lost 212 Giving and Understanding Directions For Lost Souls 215 Keeping North, South, East, and West Straight 218 Chapter 12: Getting Around: Flying, Driving, and Riding 221 Getting Through the Airport 221 Checking in 222 Suffering through the flight 223 Getting your feet back on the ground 223 Renting a Vehicle and a Phone to Go with It 224 Renting a car 225 Understanding the rental contract 226 Navigating Public Transportation 228 Traveling by taxi 229 Watching the wheels on the bus go round and round 229 Traveling on trains and the light rail 230 Reading maps and schedules 232 Being Early or Late 233 Chapter 13: Money, Money, Money 235 Going to the Bank 235 Talking to tellers 235 Counting your change 236 Changing Money 240 Flowing with the Currency 242 Using Credit Cards 243 Using Electronic and Digital Currency 243 Directing Your Objects 243 Chapter 14: Handling Emergencies 249 Tackling Your Uncooperative Car 249 Doctor, Doctor, Give Me the News 253 The knee bone’s connected to the leg bone: Identifying your body parts 253 Describing your symptoms 254 Explaining your unique medical needs 255 Receiving a thorough examination 255 Paying attention to the diagnosis 256 Going to the pharmacy 258 Getting Help After You’ve Been Robbed 260 Part 4: Diving Deeper Into Hebrew Life 265 Chapter 15: An Introduction to Israel 267 Discovering Multicultural Israel 267 Touring Israeli Cities and Towns 269 Starting at the Beginning: A Brief History Lesson 271 Fleeing to and from Europe 274 Wanting to be in charge: Nationalism, self-determination, and the Jewish State 274 Chapter 16: War and Peace 279 The Big Bang 279 War 280 Paths to Peace 282 Environmental Cooperation May Be the Key 284 Part 5: Sacred Hebrew 287 Chapter 17: Let’s Get Biblical 289 Figuring Out the Word Order in Biblical Hebrew 290 Emphasizing When God Really Meant It 292 Wishing, Intending, and Prohibiting 294 Deciphering One-Word Wonders 295 Counting Down the Greatest Biblical Hits 296 Chapter 18: Like a Prayer 299 Blessing: The Basics 299 Deciphering the blessing formula 300 Identifying some basic blessings 301 Spiritually Speaking: Figuring Your Way around the Prayer Book 306 The Sh’ma and her blessings 306 Dissecting the Standing Prayer 310 Concluding prayers 310 Praying for peace 311 Making Prayer Meaningful 313 Chapter 19: Sacred Time, Sacred Space 315 Going to a Synagogue 315 Checking Out Holy Words for Holy Days 316 Shabbat: The Sabbath 317 Rosh HaShanah: The Jewish New Year 318 Yom Kippur: The Day of Atonement 318 Sukkot: The Fall Harvest Festival 319 Sh’mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah: Praying for Rain and Rejoicing in the Torah 319 Celebrating Sigd: The Holiday of Ethiopian Jews 320 Hạnukkah: The Jewish Festival of Lights 321 HaHag shel HaHagim: The Festival of Festivals 321 Tu BiShevat: The Birthday of the Trees 322 Purim: A Jewish Mardi Gras 322 Pesach: Passover 323 Yom HaShoah V’Ha’G’vurah: Holocaust Remembrance Day 324 Yom HaZikaron: Israeli Memorial Day 324 Yom HaAtzma’ut: Israeli Independence Day 324 Lag B’Omer: The 33rd Day of the Omer 325 Shavuot: The Festival of Weeks 325 Tisha B’Av: The Ninth of Av 325 Tu B’Av: The Holiday of Love 326 All My Life’s a Circle: Jewish Life-Cycle Events 326 Brit/Simchat Bat: Welcome to the family 327 B’nai Mitzvah: Coming of Age 327 Kiddushin: Sacred Partnership 327 Baruḥ Dayan HaEmet: End of Life 328 Part 6: the Part of Tens 331 Chapter 20: Ten Books on Hebrew You Just Gotta Have 333 Hebrew Roots Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World 333 Hebrew: The Eternal Language 334 The Tongue of the Prophets: The Life Story of Eliezer Ben Yehuda 334 The Hebrew Alphabet: A Mystical Journey 334 Hebrew Talk: 101 Hebrew Roots And The Stories They Tell 334 Aleph-Bet Yoga: Embodying the Hebrew Letters for Physical and Spiritual Well-Being 335 The Word: The Dictionary that Reveals the Hebrew Source of English 335 How the Hebrew Language Grew 335 The Story of Hebrew 335 Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems 336 Chapter 21: Ten Favorite Hebrew Expressions 337 Mazal Tov 337 B’Karov Etzlehḥ 338 Titchadesh 338 B’Teavon 338 B’Ezrat HaShem 339 Yishar Koahḥ 339 Dash 339 Nu 340 Kol HaKavod 340 L’Ḥaim 340 Chapter 22: Ten Great Israeli Phrases 341 Mah Pitom 341 Yesh G’vul L’Chol Ta’alul 341 Pa’am Shlishit Glidah 342 Im K’var, Az K’var 342 B’Shum Panim VaOfen Lo 342 Stam 343 Betahḥ 343 Hạval Al HaZ’man 343 Hạzak V’Amatz 343 Yehiyeh Tov 344 Appendix A: Verb Tables 345 Appendix B: Hebrew–english Mini-dictionary 355 Appendix C: Answer Key 377 Index 383

Dummies למד עברית עם (Learn Hebrew with Dummies) Do you have the ḥutzpah to get started with Hebrew? Of course you do. And Hebrew For Dummies can take you from complete beginner to intermediate speaker of this beautiful language. You’ll start with basic words and grammar, and work up to making small talk. From there, move on to putting together words and phrases so you can express yourself in restaurants, stores, and tourist destinations. Online audio resources offer the opportunity to practice speaking and listening to Hebrew. With this friendly guide, soon you’ll be ready to travel to Israel, converse with your relatives, and participate in sacred ceremonies. Inside… Basic grammar and greetingsPhrases for travel and workHandling emergency situationsHebrew slang and tech wordsQuick-learning tips and tricksVerb tables and word listsAuthentic audio files onlineHebrew for Israeli and Jewish life