Grant tells the story of Eliezer Ben Yehuda, who revived the use of Hebrew outside of religious contexts. In 1850, no one spoke Hebrew as an everyday household language; now it’s spoken by more than 5 million people. This is part of a complete...
Jew-bonics n.— «Consisting of self-penned compositions such as “(It’s Good to Be) a Jew at Christmas” and “Shiksas Are for Practice,” the duo’s songs have found favor with more than just fellow Jews. Tannenbaum...
God breeze n. a commonplace epiphany or revelation (attributed to divine influence). Editorial Note: A similar word is theopneusty, meaning “divine inspiration” and coming from the Greek word for “God” and “breathe...
caravillot n.— «The government has built 351 prefabricated homes in Nitzan. The “caravillot,” an invented Hebrew word combining caravan and villa, range in size from 60 square meters (646 square feet) to 150 square meters...
shabachim n.— «The youths chuckled at the Hebrew term used to describe them, shabachim, which comes from a government acronym referring to people staying illegally. The same term is used for Palestinians who enter Israel without permits...
balagan n.— «Balagan is a slangy Hebrew word, derived from Russian, used by the Israel Defense Forces to describe what is happening with Sharon’s Gaza disengagement strategy: “chaos; a screw up!”» —“Gaza Disengagement:...