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Mercy, compassion, womb

The sound “cha” in “ra-cha-mim” is pronounced like the Spanish “ja” in the word “Jalapeño.” “Ra-cha-min” is a noun, but it can also be used as a verb, as it often happens in prayer. When it is a verb, we say: “ra-chem” for “have mercy.” It is amazing that the emotion...

Ray, horn, corner, fund, glow

Besides having all the meanings above, “Ke-ren” is also a beautiful female name, both in Hebrew and English. It’s hard to tell which of these meanings inspired the giving of this name, but it leaves each Keren or Karen among us an ample spectrum to choose from. It is...

Nefilim, giants

“Ne-fi-lim” is the plural form of the word “Na-fil.” Since Nefilim appears only twice in the Bible, all scientific, linguistic, philological and theological assertions concerning who they were are limited to what we can learn from these two verses. It is almost...

Writer, author, scribe, counting

Can you think of any connection between an author and a bank teller? If you think in English, you probably can’t. The answer is found in Biblical Hebrew – or more precisely – in misinterpreting Biblical Hebrew! As a noun, “so-fer” is an author or a writer, but as a...

Man, person, human being

“Ben ad-am” is made of two words: “ben” means “son” and “a-dam” means “man.” Together, they mean “son of man” which is the Hebrew way to say “a human being.” This word can be used as a colloquial, and as such it means “adult responsible person.” “Adam” is also the...