As you probably have already noticed, there has been very little activity here in the last year or so. It’s not because I don’t want to keep writing about Hebrew and languages, but because it has become too difficult to keep doing that while also taking care of the technical side of website maintenance. After […]
Hebrew Monk is moving to Substack Continue Reading
The Hebrew poem אָז אָמַר הַשָׂטָן (az amar ha’satan), which literally translates to ‘then said the devil’, is believed to be the last poem written by Nathan Alterman – one of Israel’s most prominent and influential poets. It got published in 1970, shortly after his tragic and sudden death of complications of an intestine illness.
Poem – Then Said the Devil (Az Amar Ha’Satan) by Nathan Alterman Continue Reading
Last week I had the pleasure of attending a Douglas Murray event in Tel Aviv. It was a talk dedicated to the newly published Hebrew edition of his new book ‘The War on the West’ and how it all relates to Israel and everything that has been unfolding in the world since October 7th. As
The Hebrew Spectrum of Law and Justice and the Language Aspect at its Core Continue Reading
Jerry Seinfeld, the cocreator of one of my all-time favorite sitcoms, found himself under the spotlight recently. It all happened after he had tried to take back some comments he’s made in the past about the impact the extreme Left and political correctness have on comedy. Here is the clip of his somewhat awkward retraction
No jokes for you! Come back – ONE YEAR! Continue Reading
Hebrew is a highly gendered language. Hebrew grammar is not only more gendered than that of English and Chinese which barely have any gender elements in their grammar, but it is also arguably more gendered than the grammar of Latin languages such as Spanish, Italian, and French. In recent years we are witnessing a post-modern
The Israeli Left’s attempts to degenderize Hebrew and why it’s working Continue Reading
Sometimes it can be really fun to dissect Chinese character through a Jewish perspective. In the case of the Chinese character 愁 and Yom Kippur, it reveals a surprising semi-coincidental (probably) overlap between the logic of Chinese writing and the Jewish belief system. The Chinese Character for Autumn Meet 秋 (Mandarin pronunciation – qiū) –
Heart Burns – The Perfect Chinese Character for Yom Kippur Continue Reading
I have been carrying in my head the idea for ‘Hey Jew’ – a sad spoof of Hey Jude by The Beatles for several years now, long before the tragic events of October 7th. I came up with a draft of first two verses and the chorus around 2018 but didn’t really do anything with
Hey Jew (the antisemite’s song) Continue Reading
Up until a couple of weeks ago, if you had asked me what my favorite Chinese character was, I would have probably said 忍 which represents the idea of endurance. The character 忍 is both an associative and a picto-phonetic character, and it consists of two parts. On the bottom we have the heart (心)
Etymological Tapestry – Why 經 might be my new favorite Chinese character Continue Reading
People like to say that laughter is the best medicine. Well, I don’t know about the “best” part, but it certainly is a special type of medicine. Because not only is it free, but it is also contagious. And that is nothing short of a miracle in my book. Other than sneezing, laughing is the
Laughing Stock – 10 funny clips to break in case of emergency Continue Reading
For a while now, I have been planning to publish an article about the various methods the Progressive Left in Israel has developed in order to degenderize the grammar of Modern Hebrew (It’s out now and you can read it here). Naturally, I thought that it should open with a short introduction to gender in
Introduction to Gender in Hebrew Grammar Continue Reading
