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מְחֻבָּר, מְחֻבֶּרֶת From the Biblical book of Psalms:

יְרוּשָׁלִַם הַבְּנוּיָה כְּעִיר שֶׁחֻבְּרָה לָהּ יַחְדָּו. Built-up Jerusalem is as a city that was joined together with itself. In case we get lost in the obscurity of that statement, the psalm goes on to explain that Jerusalem is the place of gathering for the diverse tribes of Israel. It is also the home of justice. The psalm then implores the reader to seek out the peace of Jerusalem, for the sake of brotherly love – it seems as if brotherly love depends on peace in Jerusalem (see Hebrew and English here).

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The word used to mean it (Jerusalem) was joined is חֻבְּרָה, a passive-intensiveפֻּעַל verb, expressed in the past tense. חוברהalso means it was connected.

To describe someone as connected, you’d use the word מְחֻבָּרin the masculine and מְחֻבֶּרֶתin the feminine.

An example, in the plural:

אֲנַחְנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ מְחֻבָּרִים מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֲנַחְנוּ כֻּלָּנוּ בְּנֵי אָדָם. We are connected since we’re all human beings. Jerusalem is the city of peace. I venture to say that it’s also the city of חִבּוּרconnection.

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Ami Steinberger is founder and director of Ulpan La-Inyan.