רֶקַע The word background in English might refer to the visual background of an image or the conceptual background of someone’s past.

So too in Hebrew.

The Hebrew word for background is רֶקַע.

For example:

כְּכָל הַנִּרְאֶה, נַחַל עוֹבֵר בָּרֶקַע שֶׁל הַמּוֹנָה לִיזָה. It appears that a riverbed passes through the background of the Mona Lisa. and

הִיא בָּאָה מֵרֶקַע דָּתִי. She comes from a religious background. רקע comes from the Biblical active-simple פָּעַל verb לִרְקֹעַ, meaning to stamp out or to spread out. It’s related to the word for firmament, רָקִיעַ.

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הַפְרָעָה If you already know some Hebrew, you may be familiar with the word for to disturb -לְהַפְרִיעַ, an active-causative הִפְעִיל verb.

For example:

מוֹרֶה: לֹא לְהַפְרִיעַ בַּשִּׁעוּר! Teacher (a male): Do not disturb (during the) class! The noun form of להפריע, a disturbance, is הַפְרָעָה. And הפרעה is also the word for disorder, such as in the Hebrew term for ADHD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) – הַפְרַעַת קֶשֶׁב וְרִכּוּז (literally, Disorder of Attention and Concentration).

To call someone disturbed, you’d use מֻפְרָעfor a male and מֻפְרַעַתfor a female. מופרע and מופרעת derive from the passive-causative הֻפְעַל verb form.

For example:

מְבַצֵּעַ הַטֶּבַח בַּבַּנְק בִּבְאֵר שֶׁבַע הָיָה אָדָם מֻפְרָע.
The perpetrator of the massacre at the bank in Beer Sheba was a disturbed person.
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לְהִתְרַכֵּז

I learned today from a LinkedIn article that it’s important for a business leader to focus in order to succeed. The truth is, focusing – putting our energy into something – is what makes things move in the world.

The Hebrew word for to focus or to concentrate is לְהִתְרַכֵּז. The root of this reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb is ר.כ.ז (r.k.z). It’s the same root as the word for center – מֶרְכָּז.

An example:

הִיא מִתְרַכֶּזֶת כְּשֶׁהִיא עוֹבֶדֶת.
She focuses when she works.

Concentration or focus is רִכּוּז, while focused is מְרֻכָּזin the masculine and מְרֻכֶּזֶתin the feminine.

For example:

בְּרֶגַע זֶה אֲנִי לֹא מְרֻכָּז, אָבָל אֲנִי בְּאֶמֶת רוֹצֶה לְהַקְשִׁיב לָךְ.
At this moment I’m not focused, but I really do want to listen to you (a female).

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לְבָרֵךְ

לוּחַ Tradition has it that חַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת- the Shavuot festival – marks the anniversary of the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

And the Torah – הַתּוֹרָה- was given on tablets – not the kind you swallow (that’s a כַּדּוּר), but the kind made of stone.

The word the תורה uses for tablets is לֻחוֹת, with one tablet being a לוּחַ – a masculine noun, despite its looking feminine in the plural form.

Modern Hebrew takes the word לוח and uses it to mean board, such the one teachers write on.

So we’ve got:

פַּעַם, הַמּוֹרָה הָיְתָה כּוֹתֶבֶת עַל הַלּוּחַ עִם גִּיר. It used to be (literally, once), the (female) teacher would write on the board with chalk. Here are modern varieties of the educational לוח:

לוּחַ מָחִיק erasable board (a whiteboard) לוּחַ חָכָם smartboard לוח has many other meanings, including control panel, calendar and wooden plank. I said that לוח’s meaning in Biblical Hebrew is tablet. The kind of tablet pictured to the left, however is called, in Hebrew, a טַבְּלֶט

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לְפַנֵּק In many countries all over the world yesterday it was Mothers Day – יוֹם הָאֵם, in Hebrew.

Here’s a song by Arik Einstein dedicated to his mother. I venture to say it might be sung for most mothers. One of the lines in the song is:

אִמָּא, אִמָּא אַתְּ פִּנַּקְתְּ אֹתִי Mom, mom, you pampered me פינקת comes from the active-intensive פִּעֵל verb, לְפַנֵּק, which also means to indulge someone.

Other forms of this root:

לְהִתְפַּנֵּק- to indulge oneself – a reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb מְפֻנָּק, מְפֻנֶּקֶת- spoiled person, overly-indulged (referring to a male and female, respectively) – an adjective deriving from a passive-intensive פֻּעַל verb. לפנק has its source in Biblical Hebrew.

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שֵׁרוּת לָקוֹחוֹת Please enjoy the following video on the Hebrew term for “customer service,” filmed on Friday before Shabbat (apologies for the effects of the wind).

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).

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 חִבּוּר- connection.

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