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Hebrew is one of the official languages of the State of Israel, as well as Arabic. Hebrew is spoken in Israel and in many Jewish communities around the world, and you are likely to find Hebrew speakers where there are large Jewish communities, for example in the USA (where there are more than 5 millions Jews), France (approximately 490,000 Jews) and Canada (approximately 375,000 Jews).

The Hebrew language found in the Bible (with the other language found in the Bible being Aramaic) is considered Classical or Biblical Hebrew 听注讘专讬转 拽诇讗住讬转 [ivrit klasit]. This language evolved towards the end of the 19th century, into a language used for daily life - Modern Hebrew 听注讘专讬转 诪讜讚专谞讬转 [ivrit modernit]. It is this Modern Hebrew that is now spoken around the world, while Classical Hebrew is still used for prayer.

There are many names which come from the Bible and are widely used as English names, such as Adam 听讗讚诐, Benjamin 听讘谞讬诪讬谉, Daniel 听讚谞讬讗诇 etc. Other commonly used words come from Biblical Hebrew, such as amen 听讗诪谉, literally so be it; Babel 听讘讘诇, from the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel; hallelujah 听讛诇诇讜讬讛, literally praise the Lord.

If you have seen any recent Hollywood comedies you will recognise words such as 听诪讝诇 讟讜讘 [Mazal tov], which literally means good luck but is used as 鈥榗ongratulations鈥�, and 听砖诇讜诐 [shalom] meaning literally peace and used as 鈥榟ello鈥� and 鈥榞oodbye鈥�.

Most new words, commonly added due to advances in technology, are similar to English, such as 听讗讬谞讟专谞讟, internet and 听讟诇驻讜谉, telephone. Russian speakers will be familiar with some words, such as 听讚诪拽讛 [damka] 鈥� backgammon; 听讞诇讟讜专讛 [chaltoora] 鈥� a sideline, moonlighting, shoddy work or low quality performance; 听驻诇拽讟 [plakat] - a placard.

It could be difficult to learn the Hebrew alphabet, which contains 22 characters. Unlike in most European languages, words are written from right to left.

As with most Semitic languages, there are certain sounds that will be new and difficult to pronounce. These are mostly created at the back of the throat. For example, in the word 听讞讘专 [chaver], friend the sound of the first syllable 'cha' is a very similar sound to the one uttered for the 'ch' in the word 鈥榣och鈥� in Scotland.

The pronunciation of the R sound in Hebrew is a guttural sound, much like in French. The Hebrew version of the famous 鈥淭he rain in Spain鈥�, 听讘专讚 讬专讚 讘讚专讜诐 住驻专讚 [Barad yarad bidrom sfarad], literally Hail fell in southern Spain, is a good example for practising this sound.

Verbs take a different form depending on whether the subject of the sentence is male or female. For example, a man would say 听讗谞讬 诇讗 诪讘讬谉 [Ani lo mevin], I don鈥檛 understand, whilst a woman 听讗谞讬 诇讗 诪讘讬谞讛 [Ani lo mevina], which is the feminine form of the same sentence.

砖专讛 砖专讛 砖讬专 砖诪讞

[Sarah shara shir sameach]
Sarah sang a happy song

讙谞谉 讙讬讚诇 讚讙谉 讘讙谉 讚讙谉 讙讚讜诇 讙讚诇 讘讙谉

[Ganan gidel dagan ba鈥檊an. Dagan gadol gadal ba鈥檊an]
A gardener grew rye in the garden. Large rye grew in the garden

谞讞砖 谞砖讱 谞讞砖

[Nachash nashach nachash]
A snake bit a snake

讗谞讞谞讜 诇讗 诪讛诪诪讛专讬诐 讗谞讞谞讜 诪讛诪诪讛专讜转

[Anachnu lo mehamemaharim, anachnu mehamemaharot]
We are not from the group of rushing men, we are from the group of rushing women.

Hebrew jokes are found on a variety of subjects. There are self-deprecating jokes that will play up to Jewish stereotypes and there are political jokes that will make fun of political leaders in Israel. In addition, you will find the broad range of in-laws, wives, and region-specific jokes, with Israelis often the punch line of these.

Some jokes are also a bit silly or based on play on words:

讗讬砖 讗讞讚 讞诇诐 讘诇讬诇讛 砖讛讜讗 诪转. 讛讜讗 拽诐 讘讘讜拽专 讜专讗讛 砖讝讜 讗诪转.

[Ish echad chalam balaila shehoo met. Hoo kam baboker veraa shezo ehmet.]

A man dreamt that he was dead, only to wake up in the morning to find out that it is true. In Hebrew, the masculine singular form of 'dead', 诪转 [met] rhymes with 'truth', 讗诪转 [ehmet], giving rise to this surreal play on words.

讗讬砖 讗讞讚 砖讗诇 讗转 谞讛讙 讛讗讜讟讜讘讜住 讗诐 讛讜讗 讬讻讜诇 诇注诇讜转 诇讗讜讟讜讘讜住 注诐 讻诇讘讜. 讛谞讛讙 注谞讛 砖讗住讜专 诪讜转专 讗讱 诪讜转专 讗住讜专.

[Ish echad shaal et nehag haotoboos im hoo yachol laalot laotoboos im kalbo. Hanehag ana sheasoor mootar ach mootar asoor.]

A man asked a bus driver whether he can board the bus with his dog. The driver replied: "Chained is allowed, unchained is prohibited." In Hebrew, 'chained' and 'prohibited' are the same word: 讗住讜专 [asoor]. The same is for 'allowed' and 'unchained': 诪讜转专 [moosar].

讬砖专讗诇讬 谞讻谞住 诇诪住注讚讛 讘谞讬讜 讬讜专拽 讜诪讝诪讬谉 注讜祝. 讛诪诇爪专 讗讜诪专 砖讗讬谉 讬讜转专 注讜祝 讘转驻专讬讟 讜注诇 讻讱 注讜谞讛 讛讬砖专讗诇讬 砖讛讜讗 讬讜讚注 讗转 讝讛.

[Israeli nichnas lemisaada benew York oomazmin off. Hameltsar omer "Chicken is off" veal kach oneh haisraeli shehoo yodeaa et ze.]

An Israeli tourist walks into a New York restaurant and orders a chicken dish. "The chicken is off", says the waiter. "I know", replies the tourist. The punchline to this joke is due to a play on words: in Hebrew, 注讜祝 [off] means 'chicken'.

诪讛 讗诪专 讟专讝谉 讻砖专讗讛 驻讬诇讬诐 专爪讬诐 讘诪讜专讚 讛讙讘注讛?
讛谞讛 驻讬诇讬诐 专爪讬诐 讘诪讜专讚 讛讙讘注讛.
诪讛 讗诪专 讟专讝谉 讻砖专讗讛 驻讬诇讬诐 讘诪砖拽驻讬 砖诪砖 专爪讬诐 讘诪讜专讚 讛讙讘注讛?
砖讜诐 讚讘专, 讛讜讗 诇讗 讛讻讬专 讗讜转诐.

[Ma amar Tarzan keshera鈥檃a pilim ratsim bemorad hagivaa?
-Hineh pilim ratsim bemorad hagivaa.
Ma amar Tarzan keshera鈥檃a pilim bemishkefei shemesh ratsim bemorad hagiva鈥檃a?
-Shoom davar, hu lo hikir otam.]

What did Tarzan say when he saw elephants running down the hill?
- Here are elephants running down the hill.
What did he say when he saw elephants wearing sunglasses running down the hill?
- Not much, he could not recognise them.

Hebrew shares similarities with other Semitic languages, such as Aramaic and Arabic.

You will find similarities with the vocabulary, especially with regards to numbers. For example, 听讗讞讚 [ehad] in Hebrew and 賵丕丨丿 [wahad] in Arabic both mean one. Similarily, 听注讜诇诐 [olam], means world, the same as the Arabic 毓賭丕賱賭賲 [alam]. In Hebrew, peace is 听砖诇讜诐 [shalom], whilst in Arabic 爻賱丕賲鈥� [salam]. However, even if there are similarities in the way in which the two languages sound, they use two completely different alphabets.

As with most languages, embarrassment is most often found in mispronunciation. If you tell someone you are wearing khaki trousers
听 讗谞讬 诇讜讘砖 诪讻谞住讬 讞讗拽讬 [Ani lovesh michnesei khaki] they may well think you have soiled yourself, as khaki means faeces in Hebrew, though in Hebrew the word is pronounced with the 'ch' sound mentioned above.

The English word 'me' sounds like the Hebrew 听诪讬, which actually means 'who'. If you point at yourself and repeat "me" over and over, a Hebrew speaker might think you're having an identity crisis!

Just like in any other places of worship, remember to wear appropriate clothes when visiting a synagogue or mosque. As a general rule, cover your arms and legs. In a synagogue, men should always cover their head. The traditional cap worn by men in a synagogue is called 听讻讬驻讛 [kippah].

If you meet an Orthodox Jewish man or woman and you are a member of the opposite sex, do not try to shake hands with him/her, as according to their beliefs a man and a woman should not touch each other unless they're married.

Theodor Hertzl, the man who pioneered the movement towards a Jewish state in 19th century, said 听讗讬谉 讚讘专 讛注讜诪讚 讘驻谞讬 讛专爪讜谉 [Ein davar ha鈥檕med bifnei haratson] meaning There is nothing that stands in the way of your will, a Hebrew variant of the classic, "Where there is a will, there is a way".

Rabbi Hillel, renowned within Judaism as a sage and scholar who lived in Jerusalem in the 1st century, also gave a Hebrew account of the well known as "What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow": 听诪讛 砖砖谞讜讗 注诇讬讱 讗诇 转注砖讛 诇讞讘专讱 [Ma shesanoo aleicha al ta鈥檃seh lechavercha].

While Shakespeare may have made popular the phrase "All鈥檚 Well That Ends Well", this proverb can also be found in the 转诇诪讜讚Talmud (a central text of the oral Jewish law) in the Hebrew form of 听住讜祝 讟讜讘 鈥� 讛讻诇 讟讜讘 [Sof tov 鈥� hakol tov]. Literally: "When the end is good, it is all good".

One of the earliest records of written Hebrew dates between 1200BC and 587BC and consists of 20 of the books included in the Bible. After this period and up to 70AD, there was a large literary output which included the writings of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The well known word 听砖诇讜诐 [shalom], meaning peace, is used as both hello and goodbye in conversation.

In Hebrew, there is no way to say 鈥業 would like鈥�. Therefore, when asking for things, you use the verb to want, 听专讜爪讛 [rotseh], with the word please, 听讘讘拽砖讛 [bevakasha].