The Joys of Hebrew

When do you say mazal tov ? What is a get , a golem , a kibbutz , a chalutz ? What four plant species are waved during prayers on the harvest festival of Sukkot ? You'll find answers to these questions and hundreds of others in this remarkable collection of the best known, most loved Hebrew words and phrases in the English speaking world. From Acharon to Zohar , this informative and often humorous dictionary features over six hundred Hebrew words and expressions arranged in alphabetical order (the Roman alphabet is used throughout, as well as Hebrew head words). The first such guide to Hebrew, this volume is more than a mere lexicon--it is a jubilant celebration of Hebrew itself, a treasure trove of Jewish wit, wisdom, culture, and tradition. Lewis Glinert provides a concise definition of each entry, and then illustrates the word's usage with generous passages from the Bible and the Talmud, the prayers and the sayings of famous rabbis, the razor's edge of Jewish humor, excerpts from the work of Elie Wiesel, S.Y. Agnon, Naomi Shemer and other contemporary writers, folklore from all over the Jewish world, and colorful slices of modern Israeli life. In addition, Glinert provides at the back of the book an alphabetical list of familiar biblical names in English, Sephardi/Israeli Hebrew, and Ashkenazi Hebrew.

Lewis Glinert is also author of The Grammar of Modern Hebrew and editor of Hebrew in Ashkenaz: A Language in Exile.