Issue #41 June 2008
	Shalom friends, The state of Israel, in its 60th anniversary decided that it is about time to proclaim a national bird. Our democratic state is very experienced with elections (17 elections to the parliament in its sixty years of existence) and began the process with primaries: 1000 birdwatchers chose a list of 10 bird candidates. The election itself took place via the internet, and ballots were located in shopping and entertainment centers, schools, army bases and even in Israel deputations abroad. The number of voters summed up to 155,000. After much anticipation, President Shimon Peres announced the Hoopoe as Israel's new national bird. In the coronation ceremony he expressed his personal interest in this competition as a person who chose his surname to be a bird's name: means Bearded Vulture. The Hoopoe ( , dukhifat) is a beautiful bird with a crown or crest on top of its head and a very peculiar appearance, behavior and sound. It makes a noise of "hood hood hood" and therefore it is named "hood" in Arabic and "Upupa Epops" in Latin. Her personality reminds us a bit the "average" Israeli. For example, although it has a crown it doesn't act as a "snob" and you may meet it everywhere; in many sources the Dukhifat is referred to as being wise; it has no housing problems - it won't mind nesting on walls and cracks; and gender equality is on its agenda: male and female are equally pretty and take similar responsibilities over their offspring. On this issue, you'll meet all the birds who made it to the final list, some stories and songs about the Dukhifat and Hebrew names related to birds. Lehitra'ot! See you! The Hebrew Online Team.   Sign up for the August semester courses We are happy to say that the last round of courses opened on June 29 with over 100 classes in our various courses. Registration for the next round of courses, which will start in August, is now open. 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CLICK HERE TO RESERVE YOUR COPY *(limited time offer, regular shipping and handling charges apply)   Weekly Hebrew Birds Scientific name English name Transcription   Falco naumanni Lesser Kestrel Baz 'adom Pycnonotus xanthopygos Spectacled Bulbul Bulbul Upupa Epops Hoopoe Dukhifat Carduelis carduelis European Goldfinch Xoxit Halcyon smyrnensis White-throated kingfisher Shaldag leven xaze Gyps fulvus Griffon vulture Nesher mikra'i Hoplopterus spinosus Spur-winged lapwing Siksak prinia gracilis Graceful warbler Pashosh Nectarinia osea Palestine sunbird Tsufit Tyto alba Barn owl Tinshemet Weekly Hebrew Tale Who wore to the Hoopoe a crest of feather? Mi'anad ladikhifat tsitsat notsa? Based on an Arab tale that was retold by our national poet: Hayim Naxman Bi'alik When King Solomon ( ) felt overwhelmed with his royal job, he used to rest in a special pleasure city called Tadmor that he built for this purpose in the middle of the desert. He used to fly there for few days on his personal White Eagle ( ) and when he came back he felt refreshed and ready to rule his people (and animals). On one of his flights the sun shone vigorously and King Solomon almost passed out. The king of the Hoopoes saw him and called his flock to create a bird-cloud to shade the fainting king and rescued him. To thank the hoopoes, King Solomon promised to grant them one wish fulfilled. So, the hoopoes discussed it for a whole day and decided to ask for a golden crest ( ) of feathers. King Solomon told them that if they find out that their wish was futile, he won't resist helping them again. The hoopoes received a golden crest and couldn't feel happier. They began acting arrogantly looking at their reflection in the water all the time. A hunter watched the hoopoes boasting and put a piece of mirror on the ground. When a hoopoe came to watch itself the hunter hunted it and sold its golden crest. When finding out about the "flying treasure" people began hunting the hoopoes wildly to become rich and the hoopoes couldn't rescue themselves. As a last resort, the king of the hoopoes went back to King Solomon begging him to rescue his birds from extermination. King Solomon, understanding that the hoopoes learned their lesson, felt compassion towards them and took the gold off their crest. Since then, the hoopoes are happy with what they have, don't act proudly, but still seems very glorious with their non-golden crest ( ). Weekly Hebrew Song Here is an excerpt from the beginning and the end of a lovely song by Oded Hillel about the hoopoe. The poet rhymed (dukhifat) with (ma 'ikhpat) which means "who cares". Beyom haShabat pagashti dukhifat vesha'alti: - ma shlomekh, ma shlomekh, dukhifat? On Saturday I met a hoopoe and asked: - How are you? How are you hoopoe? - Lo 'ikhpat, lo 'ikhpat, - amra hadukhifat. don't care, don't care, - said the hoopoe. 'uma hasha'a? 'ulay 'at yoda'at? - Lo 'ikhpat, lo 'ikhpat, - amra hadukhifat. -And what's the time, do you know? don't care, don't care, - said the hoopoe. ... Az ma besofo shel davar 'ikhpat lakh ve'ikhpat? So what after all do you care about? - 'ani le'atsmi, 'ani hadukhifat Me'od me'od 'ikhpat! - me, the hoopoe I very much care about! 'amra hadukhifat ukmo she'amra parxa bevat 'axat. Velama? Ki xatul ra'ev hetsits ba min hatsad. Said the hoopoe and as she said she flew away at once. And why? Because a hungry cat glanced at her from the side. Weekly Hebrew WordSearch Print game board See if you can find all of the words below in the puzzle: Weekly Hebrew Names Name: Zipporah (Tsipora) Gender: Female Time of Appearance: The Biblical Era Meaning: The name is derived from the word (tsipor, "bird") History: Zipporah, the daughter of Reuel, was Moses' wife Citation: "And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter." Exodus 2, 12 Category: Zoological names Name: Shahaf (Shachaf) Gender: Female, Male Time of Appearance: The Modern Era Meaning: Seagull Categories: Names Related to the Ocean Zoological names HebrewOnline Newsletter - Readers' Feedback Some words about our last newsletter... " Shalom from Australia I arrived in Tel -Aviv in March 2008. I loved it, I loved the sights, the sounds and the smells. I walked to Jaffa and wandered through a little flea-market that had many interesting things. I also went to Carmel markets and I loved the fresh sqeezed juice stands and the fresh fruit & vegetable stalls. I bought some strawberries which were the biggest and sweetest I have ever had. I bought lots of souvenirs, I enjoyed eating at some beautiful restaurants. I was there for Purim and so I enjoyed walking along Ben Yehuda St and watching the shows and dancers, singers and performers. It was very crowded but I enjoyed watching the faces of many different people, families enjoying the day together, people dressed up for Purim. It was a fun and entertaining time. On my last weekend I felt beautifully relaxed and at peace on the beach watching the sunset over the Mediterranean. I may be an Australian but my heart is in Israel and I am counting the days till I can go again " - Lynda Moore, Australia " Having been in Tel Aviv is one of the best experiences of my life. It is a city I did not expect to find in Israel. I can imagine what it means really: Kol ha olam: Our travelling group went along the beach to have pleasure by talking with people, giving them books for free, about interesting things of life in Israel. This is our way to get into contact with people. I was too late because I stayed too long on the art market, the midraxov naxalat Benjamin, yes so many interesting art things , as artist I like it so much, we hed also great conversations with some artists, was tired now, so I set myself in the sand after the long walk, and tried to amuse myself in the shadow and lay down for a nap before I should swimm in the bright sea (Yammie ( : ) I did not sleep actually but heard two voices pretty nearby.. it was one of the friends of the group I hear talking loudly. She is blind actually, she talked excitedly with a lady about the most important things in life and she had strongly overcome the disappointment of being blind for this outreach: of not having the possibility to walk along the beach reaching out the books for free at the people. But now she realised had the best of us all: the lady that started to sit besides her. She had a great conversation from heart to heart to a woman of her age from a very other country but living in Israel already for years. I felt blessed to hear their excited voices and the nice talk they had, they were like friends for ever.. They were friends already indeed! WAUW. People not looking down on her blindness.. This can happen in Tel Aviv better then anywere else. The air is spiritually open , people share their life so easily with each other like friends, it is amazing. It is SHALOM. I went with them for a swim afterwards of course. " - Lydia Kool, Rotterdam Do you have any bird stories - please, share it with us and we may publish in on our next newsletter. HebrewOnline Students' Feedback " I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW HAPPY I AM WITH HEBREW ONLINE... I'M ON MY THIRD SEMESTER AND I'VE LEARNED QUITE A LOT, AND EVENTHOUGH I STILL DON'T SPEAK FLUENTLY, I DO UNDERSTAND QUITE A LOT OF THINGS. I ENJOY EVERY MINUTE OF MY CLASS AND LOOK FORWARD TO IT EVERY WEEK. 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