|
|
|
| |
The registration for the March semester is open!
Enroll in the March Modern Hebrew course, starting March 22. Hone, improve and develop your Hebrew skills.
The Biblical course starts March 22nd. We have a limited number of places available, so don't be left out.
|
|
| |
|
| |
Or call us - USA & Canada: 1-888-640-1319, UK: 0845-869-7519,
Worldwide: 972-3-7554141
|
|
|
|
Shalom friends,
In Purim we read the Scroll of Ester
מְגִלַּת אֶסְתֵּר) – a fascinating story describing the salvation of the Jewish people by Queen Ester. But, before we tell the story, let's meet the "stars":
 |
Achashverosh (אֲחַשְׁוֵרוֹשׁ) – The King of 127 countries, from Hodu to Cush.
|
|
Vashti (וַשְתִּי) – The first Queen.
|
|
Haman (הָמָן) – The villain advisor of King Achashverosh.
|
|
Mordechai (מָרְדְּכַי) – A Jewish man who lived in the Capitol Shushan. He was originally from Jerusalem but was expelled by Nevuchadnetzar, King of Babylon. He is the foster parent of his cousin, Ester.
|
|
Ester (אֶסְתֵּר) – An orphan Jewish girl, raised by her cousin Mordechai, who became the Queen. Also known by her Hebrew name Hadasa (הֲדַסָּה).
|
The story of Megilat Ester:
Three years after becoming the King of Persia, King Achashverosh made a big feast to show off the rich treasures of his kingdom. The celebration lasted six months!!! When the King called Queen Vashti to show off her beauty she refused to come. Haman advised him to get rid of his insubordinate wife and to find a better one in her place. The King's agents were sent to all the countries of the Kingdom to search for beautiful young girls as candidates for the role of the Queen. Ester was chosen by the King to become the new Queen of Persia. She followed Mordechai's advice and didn't tell the King that she was Jewish.
In the meantime, Mordechai overheard that two of the King's servants became angry with the King and planned to kill him. He told Ester about the plot and she told it to the King. The servants were hanged and the story was written in the King's private record book.
Achashverosh's advisor, Haman, became the most important officer of the King and therefore everyone had to bow to him. Mordechai refused to do so and it made Haman so angry that he decided to kill Mordechai and all his people, meaning all the Jews in the entire kingdom of Achashverosh.
Haman made a PUR (פּוּר, lottery) to choose the day to kill the Jews. The chosen date was the 13th day of the month of Adar (י"ג אֲדָר). Haman had a very easy task in persuading Achashverosh to support this act and the orders to destroy the Jews and steal their property were sent throughout the kingdom.
Esther, Millais, 1865
|
Mordechai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes as a sign of public mourning. He asked Ester to go to the King, to beg him, and to plead with him for her people. The problem was that if someone (including the Queen) approached the King without being called, he or she was sentenced to death unless the King pointed his gold scepter at that person. Ester asked Mordechai to gather the Jews in Shushan and fast for her for three days before she went to the King against the law. When Achashverosh saw Queen Ester, he was pleased with her and pointed his scepter toward her. Ester asked the King and Haman to come to a party she had prepared and at that party she asked them to join her at another party on the following day.
|
On his way home from Ester's party Haman met Mordechai and the latter did not even move to show his respect to the high officer. The furious Haman consulted with his friends and family and decided to make a gallows to hang Mordechai on it.
That night the king couldn't sleep so he asked his servants to read for him from his private record book. He was read about Mordechai who revealed the plot to kill the King and realized that Mordechai was not rewarded. As Haman was in the palace (to ask the King's permission to hang Mordechai), Achashverosh decided to consult with him about the reward. Haman, thinking that the King wanted to reward him, suggested that one of the King's highest officers should dress the man with royal robes and crown and lead him on a royal horseback through the city square calling "This is what is done for the man whom the King wants to honor." Instead of hanging Mordechai, Haman ended up dressing Mordechai in royal robes and leading him on the horse through the city square.
Assuerus, Haman and Esther, Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, 1660
|
On the following day Achashverosh and Haman went to Ester's second party. Achashverosh asked Ester to tell him her request promising to fulfill it. Ester revealed her secret Jewish identity and requested for her life and the lives of her people. She pointed at Haman as the "brain" behind the plan to destroy her people. The furious King ordered to hang Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordechai. Achashverosh gave Mordechai the role of Haman as second in command to the King.
|
The orders to kill the Jews were called off and the Jews were permitted to join together and defend themselves. On the day that the Jewish Nation was to be destroyed, the Jews celebrated their victory over their enemies and all of Haman's sons were hanged.
Mordechai set the 14th and 15th days of Adar as a holiday called "Purim" (from the word PUR) to be celebrated every year. Those were the days when the Jews rested from their enemies, and that was the month that had been changed for them from sorrow to gladness and from sadness to a holiday. These days are days of feasting and gladness, and of sending food to friends and gifts to the poor.
Read more about Purim in our last year's Newsletter.
חַג שָׂמֵחַ!
Xag Same'ax (Happy Holiday)
Shira Cohen-Regev
The HebrewOnline Team
|
|
|
|
|
מִשְׁתֶּה
Transliteration: mishte
Part of Speech: Noun, masculine
Literal Meaning: feast, banquet
|
|
|
מִשְׁלוֹחַ מָנוֹת
Transliteration: mishlo'ax manot
Part of Speech: Noun, masculine
Literal Meaning: Purim gift (a gift of food that people give each other in Purim).
|
|
|
(מֶלֶךְ (ז) מַלְכָּה (נ
Transliteration: melex (m) malka (f)
Literal Meaning: king, queen
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
" כָּכָה יֵעָשֶׂה לָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הַמֶּלֶךְ חָפֵץ בִּיקָרוֹ "
|
Transcription: "kaxa ye'ase la'ish asher hamelex xafets biykaro"
Translation: This is what is done for the man whom the King wants to honor.
Mordecai is led through the city by Haman,
Azor masters, 1430
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See if you can translate all the English words into Hebrew and place them in the puzzle above:
Right-Left
2. The Hebrew month of Purim
4. King
5. Queen
7. King of Persia
8. Ester's cousin
9. Lottery
|
|
Up-Down
1. Purim gift
2. The Persian name of Hadasa
3. The Queen who refused to come to the king's feast
5. Feast, banquet
6. The villain advisor of Achasverosh
|
|
Esther and Mordechai, Aert de Gelder, 1685
|
| Print... |
|
|
|
| הֲדַסָּה |
|
|
Name:
|
Hadassah (Hadasa)
|
|
Gender:
|
Female
|
|
Time of Appearance:
|
The Biblical Era
|
|
Meaning:
|
Myrtle.
|
|
History:
|
Hadassah is the first name of Queen Esther, King Ahasuerus's wife.
|
|
Citation:
|
"And he brought up Hadassah, that is, Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had neither father nor mother, and the maid was fair and beautiful, whom Mordecai, when her father and mother were dead, took for his own daughter." Esther 2, 7
|
|
Category:
|
Botanical Names
|
|
|
|
| אַדָּר |
|
|
Name:
|
Addar (Adar)
|
|
Gender:
|
Male, Female
|
|
Time of Appearance:
|
The Biblical Era
|
|
Meaning:
|
A name of a settlement in the land of Judah: "And ascended up on the south side unto Kadesh-barnea, and passed along to Hezron, and went up to Adar" (Joshua 15, 3).
In the modern pronunciation of Hebrew, the name "אַדָּר" sounds like the name of the sixth Jewish month: "אֲדָר".
|
|
History:
|
Addar was one of Benjamin's offspring.
|
|
Citation:
|
"And the sons of Bela were Addar, and Gera, and Abihud." 1 Chronicles 8, 3
|
|
Category:
|
Names of Places
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
|
|
| HebrewOnline blog - Share your personal story with us! |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Send us your story about traveling to Israel, making Aliya or any other story you wish to share with us.
You are more than welcome to add along a picture or a movie.
Your story will be published in our HebrewOnline blog.
Send to Blog@HebrewOnline.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| HebrewOnline Newsletter - Readers' Feedback |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Shalom,
Thank you so much about all Hebrews newsletters I do enjoyed and have learned lots,God bless
Toda Raba,
|
| - Tupua Loa |
Dear Hebrewonline,
I thank, praise and worshi God 4 your wonderful, amazing website. God is so great all the time and I do pray that more power and more and more men will discover your website. Praise God haleluja
|
| - Julie T de Villa of the Philippines |
Thank you very much for the lessons that you've sent me ,actually I love learning languages,I'll be waiting for the next lesson
Kind regards
|
| - Uvaldo |
|
| Tell us about your HebrewOnline experience. We wil be happy to post your feedback here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| HebrewOnline Students' Feedback |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hallo!As requested, I just want to verify that I have finally received my package, and I must say it was well worth the wait! Thanks for such a high quality product! I look forward to conducting business with you again in the future.
|
| - Elsa Townsend (USA) |
|
Shalom! thank you very much for all the issues of the Newsletter. It is for me a great help and an excellent supplement, as I am an eTeacher student. I am luxuriating all the parts, the up-to-date information's, the grammar, the songs, ect.
What about the Eteacher course, I must express my complete satisfaction. Especially the teaching method of the language is superb! I learned many languages from a lot of schoolbooks, I learned ivrit from different textbooks, published in Europe, the USA and also in Israel. But only now I understood many things from the grammar. Till now I had problems with the conjugation, now it is very easy for me. This is only one example. I speak highly of the course. Also the teacher is excellent, and if there are sometimes some technical problems, the technical support people are very willing to eliminate promptly the flaw. However I graduate the "beginners", I am would like to continue the second level.
Thank you once more! sincerely
|
| - Katarina B. |
|
| Tell us about your HebrewOnline experience. We wil be happy to post your feedback here. |
|
|
|
|
Contact us
Feedback
Sign up for a trial lesson
or call us:
- USA & Canada: 1-888-640-1319
- United Kingdom: 0845-869-7519
- Worldwide: +972-3-7554141
Send this newsletter to a friend
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Hebrew letters and Transcription |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Transliteration rules used on the newsletters
|
|
|
|
|
|
