The words of Purim

A fun activity that we do on Purim and also for other festivals is the “he and she”- הִיא והוּא quiz. The “he and she” quiz is a game that tries to teach the student Hebrew words in Masculine Singular and Feminine Singular.

Let’s learn new words in Hebrew! Some of them are related to Purim, so it’s of double benefit for you!

The myrtle in Hebrew is Hadas-הֲדַס and the second name of Esther is הֲדַסָּה- Hadassah.
The capital of the Persian Empire was Shushan- שושן- and the Hebrew word for rose is שׁוֹשַׁנָּה – Shoshana.

The army of Israel is called the IDF or “tsahal“- צה”ל. However, when you want to speak in Hebrew about rejoicing you would say the word-צָהֳלָה – tsahala.

When you are in the field at harvest time and you need to use a sickle, in Hebrew you would say maggal -מַגָּל. One of Purim’s customs is to read the scroll of Esther; in Hebrew its מְגִלָּה – megillah.

If you want to know what the opposite of punishment in Hebrew, it’s the word prize- פְּרָס – prass. When you speak about a horses’ hoof, in Hebrew it’s פַּרְסָה – parsah.