One of the more surprising things about the war in Gaza is the fact that most Israelis still don’t call it a “war.” In Israeli media, the war is largely referred to as mivtza, which translates as “operation” but is rarely used to mean that in vernacular Hebrew. Outside of referring to military actions, the…
Birthright Israel and the Israeli-American Council will offer a new Birthright program track for Israeli-American young adults called IAC Shelanu. The free trip for children of Israelis, which will be funded by the council, will be conducted in Hebrew. The Birthright program takes Jewish 18- to 26-year-olds on free 10-day trips to Israel. The impetus…
A group of right-wing Israeli lawmakers are proposing a bill to make Hebrew the sole official language of the state of Israel. The bill, which has the support of Knesset members from the Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Jewish Home parties, would break from current law, which mandates that Arabic as well as Hebrew must be…
Charles McLagan writes: “I am curious about the Hebrew numbers shesh and sheva [six and seven] and their other Semitic equivalents. They are clearly related to the English six and seven, and to like-sounding words for these two numbers in additional Indo-European languages. I wonder if you have any idea of how this came to…
(Reuters) — Using tunnels, mines, booby traps and snipers, Hamas fighters have inflicted record casualties on Israeli troops waging an offensive in the Gaza Strip, applying years of training in urban warfare with a new tactical acumen and suicidal resolve. The Israelis say weapons and know-how supplied by Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah make Hamas…
He has part ownership of an Israeli basketball team, sports a yarmulke before games and thinks Shabbat is “awesome.” Now, it seems Amar’e Stoudemire is ready for the next step: learning Hebrew. According to an email making the rounds, the basketball star is looking for a tutor: Please let me know if you have any…
Facebook (JTA) — I just got a text from someone who’s trying to blow me up. “The stupidity of your leaders put all of Israel under fire, and forced all the Israelis to go into shelters,” it said, sent by a user named SMSQASSAM. “We will continue bombing every place in Israel until they answer all…
Facebook It’s no surprise that in 2014, the war between Hamas and Israel is being fought on the Internet and social media front, as well as from the air (and possibly soon on the ground, as well). Both sides of the conflict are trying to get the world to understand and support their case for…
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