July in Israel is not a month. It is an oven setting. 🥵🇮🇱

We are talking 13 hours of blazing sun a day, zero rain, humid Tel Aviv afternoons, and the Dead Sea area pushing past 40 degrees. Israelis do not just endure this. We have an entire survival system, and it comes with its own vocabulary.

In an Israeli summer, certain words stop being words and become lifelines. The signs you scan for on every street. The things you ask for the moment you walk in somewhere.

In today’s video I teach you the exact Hebrew words to look for when you are out and about and the heat is winning. Learn them, and you will navigate an Israeli summer like a local.

How hot does it get where you live? 🌡️👇

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #Israel #IsraelTravel #SummerVibes

@guardian

#HPsCommentary
#WarInGaza #Palestine #GeoPol

(1/n)

As I was saying a year ago:

"👉This abominable deed will haunt them for generations to come👈 (probably less than the instigated murder of #Christ by the #Roman invasion force at the behest of the #Jerusalem elite, but still.)"

https://mastodon.social/@HistoPol/114999539193193621

In other words:

"There is a popular #Hebrew phrase which states, "maaseh avot siman lebanim", meaning 👉"the deeds of the fathers are portents for the children." 👈

It is used...

I say this with love because I see it every day. People spend years memorizing vocabulary, collecting thousands of flashcards, and still cannot hold a real Hebrew conversation.

Because words alone will never get you there.

The real skill is building your own sentences. Saying exactly what you want to say with the right words, in the right form, naturally and confidently.

That is what you master inside “Practically Speaking Hebrew.”

Here’s the part that surprises people: I give away vocabulary for free every week. The sentence building system that transforms those words into real conversation? That is what we build together inside the program.

If your goal is to truly speak Hebrew, stop investing in more words. Invest in the skill that makes every word count.

https://hebrewbyinbal.com/immersion

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #ChristianLife

Today we enter the month of Av.

In the Hebrew calendar, Av carries the heaviest memories of our people. Loss. Destruction. Things that fell apart.

And yet, look at the name. Av. “Father.”

That’s not an accident. That’s the whole lesson of this month.

Because Av doesn’t end in grief. Just days after its lowest point comes Tu B’Av, the holiday of love. The same month that holds our deepest sorrow also holds our greatest celebration of the heart.

Av teaches something we all know from our own lives: breaking is not the end of the story. It’s the middle. What falls can be rebuilt. What was lost makes room for what’s coming. And comfort doesn’t arrive instead of pain. It arrives through it.

So this month, if something feels broken or unfinished, remember what Av whispers: hold on. Love is already on the calendar.

May this month turn your heaviness into strength. 🤍

#JewishLife #HebrewCalendar #TuBAv #Hebrew #Jewish

English words that mean something COMPLETELY different in Hebrew. 🇮🇱

They are called “FALSE FRIENDS”

Some will make you laugh. One will make you gasp. 🤣

Check out the full list on my Substack. 👇
https://open.substack.com/pub/hebrewbyinbal/p/learn-hebrew-words-that-mean-something?r=2at7n8&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

July in Israel is a whole different world. 🇮🇱☀️

Film festivals under the stars, dancing in the streets, music everywhere, and the Mediterranean summer in full swing. In today’s video I take you through the top events that light up Israel every July, what they are, and exactly how to pronounce them like a local.

Consider this your insider’s calendar. Watch, learn, and tell me which one you would love to experience in person. 👇

COMMENT “166” for the link or CLICK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-DLIJPwOsA

#Israel #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #SummerTime #JewishLife

There are English words that mean something COMPLETELY different in Hebrew. 🇮🇱

Some of them will make you laugh. At least one will make you gasp. And a few are so surprising that you will never hear these words the same way again.

They are called false friends, words that sound identical in both languages but mean entirely different things. This Tuesday I am handing you a long, useful, occasionally hilarious list of them.

It publishes Tuesday at 8:30am Eastern. Subscribe now so it lands in your inbox the moment it drops. 👇
https://substack.com/@hebrewbyinbal

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

July in Israel is a whole different world. 🇮🇱☀️

Film festivals under the stars, dancing in the streets, music everywhere, and the Mediterranean summer in full swing. In today’s video I take you through the top events that light up Israel every July, what they are, and exactly how to pronounce them like a local.

Consider this your insider’s calendar. Watch, learn, and tell me which one you would love to experience in person. 👇

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-DLIJPwOsA

#Israel #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #IsraelTravel #JewishLife

2,400,000 views. 🤯

https://www.youtube.com/hebrewbyinbal

My YouTube channel just crossed 2.4 million lifetime views, and I have been sitting here trying to actually picture that number. I cannot.

What I can picture is one person. Someone at their kitchen table pressing play, wanting to understand their grandmother, or read a prayer in the original, or finally feel at home in Israel. Behind this number, that person showed up 2.4 million times.

When I filmed my first Hebrew lesson, I dreamed of reaching a few people who needed it. I never imagined millions of clicks from every corner of the world.

To every one of you who ever watched, learned, commented, or shared, this milestone belongs to you. Thank you for learning Hebrew with me.

Here is to the next million, together. 💙🇮🇱

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #YouTube #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

On the Israeli ‘Married at First Sight’, a husband told the therapist he was waiting for certainty before letting his guard down.

Her answer belongs on billboards. It won’t happen in that order. You let your guard down first. That’s the only way it can come in.

Every big thing that changed my life happened in the “wrong” order. I jumped before I felt ready.

Ready doesn’t come first. It comes after.

Shabbat Shalom 💙

#ShabbatShalom #Shabbat #MarriedAtFirstSight #Hebrew

Hebrew Isn’t Faster!

Click to Join the Conversation or Comment “FAST” for the link 🏃🏻‍♀️

https://youtu.be/MAyUfFuik4Y?is=pPLv0--Uc98VHJYQ

#Jewish #Language #Hebrew #LanguageVideo #LearnHebrew

Confession time. For years, growing up in Israel, I was completely certain John Travolta was named Jontra Volta. First name Jontra. Last name Volta. 😂

Nobody hands you a little marker in the middle of a sentence that says this word ends here and the next one starts there. It is all just sound, and your brain fills in the gaps however it can.

And here is the thing. If Hebrew ever feels like one long wall of sound flying past you, you are experiencing the exact same thing I did with English. It is not a hearing problem. It is not a you problem. And it is completely fixable.

I made a full video breaking down why this happens and exactly how to overcome it. Watch it, and Hebrew will never sound quite so impossible again. 👇
https://youtu.be/MAyUfFuik4Y?is=HwBOuaFVKe8KdIUh

#JohnTravolta #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #LanguageLearning #HebrewForBeginners

"When #AlanaSatsukiChandler was growing up their mother made #kosher #gyoza with tofu instead of pork and hybrid #okonomi-#latkes, a #Jewish riff on savoury #Japanese cabbage pancakes.

Their #Ashkenazi-Jewish father and Japanese mother created a home in #Chicago that fused cultures, with #food always a big part of that lifestyle.

But #Chandler rarely met other #Jews of colour and rarely saw their experience represented in Jewish environments.

Their desire to find and amplify the voices of Jews with diverse identities and underrepresented experiences was a key reason they created a new #cookbook dedicated to expanding the definition of #Jewishfood.

#Tlaim (#Hebrew for patchwork) is a collection of more than 80 #recipes and #stories from Jewish communities around the world, designed to celebrate the #ethnic and #racial #diversity of Jewish people, and to spotlight historically underrepresented Jewish identities."

https://thejewishindependent.com.au/jewish-food-diversity-tlaim/

What if one simple pattern could unlock hundreds of the most useful everyday sentences in Hebrew?

👇
https://open.substack.com/pub/hebrewbyinbal/p/speak-hebrew-faster-with-infinitive?r=2at7n8&utm_medium=ios

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

The dear Professor and I agree, motivation is unreliable. Everyone who has tried to learn a language alone already knows this. You are inspired on day one, and by week three the app sits unopened on your phone, quietly reminding you of a promise you made to yourself.

Here is the truth nobody tells you. It was never a discipline problem. Motivation was simply never designed to carry you the whole way. What actually gets people to the other side is structure and accountability, a clear path to follow and someone who notices when you have gone quiet.

That is exactly what I built into Practically Speaking Hebrew. A real path, at your own pace, so you always know what comes next instead of guessing. And me, personally, in your corner, so this never becomes something you do entirely alone.

hebrewbyinbal.com/speak

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

What if one simple pattern could unlock hundreds of the most useful everyday sentences in Hebrew?

Not a grammar mountain. Not endless memorization. One easy pattern that lets you say what you want, what you need, and what you wish for, from your very first week.

That is exactly what tomorrow’s new article teaches, and it is the trick beginners always tell me they wish they had learned first.

It drops tomorrow, Tuesday at 8am. Subscribe today and it lands right in your inbox the moment it publishes. 👇
https://substack.com/@hebrewbyinbal

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

“Israelis speak so fast. It’s hard for me to keep up.”

If you have ever said that, or thought it while nodding along to a conversation you lost three sentences ago, today’s lesson was made for you.

This is one of the top struggles I hear from Hebrew learners, and here is the good news. That blur is not a hearing problem, and it is not a you problem. It is a trainable skill, and in the video I show you exactly how to start slowing the blur down until real words come through.

👇
https://youtu.be/MAyUfFuik4Y?is=zI1LprjqkwMUXa5V

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

“Hebrew is too fast. It all sounds like a blur.” 🇮🇱

This is one of the top struggles I hear from Hebrew learners, and here is the good news. That blur is not a hearing problem, and it is not a you problem. It is a trainable skill, and in today’s video I show you exactly how to start slowing the blur down until real words come through.

It airs today, Sunday July 5th, at 12 noon Eastern. Subscribe now and be there when it drops. 👇
https://www.youtube.com/hebrewbyinbal

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

Nobody quits Hebrew because they ran out of words to memorize. They quit because the words never added up to anything.

Hebrew is not a pile of vocabulary. It is a system, a way of thinking, where every word connects to a root and every root opens a door. Your family. Your history. Your prayers. Your everyday life. Learn how the language thinks and one word starts opening entire worlds.

That is the whole foundation of Practically Speaking Hebrew. I do not hand you lists. I hand you the patterns, the meaning, the way it all connects, so speaking and understanding finally happen.

https://hebrewbyinbal.com/speak

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

My gift was never really Hebrew. It was sharing Hebrew. The language was always mine, but it only became a gift the day I started giving it away, to you.

So today I celebrate you. My students and followers. The ones who show up, practice, and remind me every day why I do this. You receiving this gift is what makes it one.

What is your gift, and who are you giving it to? 💙

#Inspiration #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #Gratitude #Community

"Every so often, a discovery comes along that reminds us how much of #Jewish #history still lies hidden on library shelves, in forgotten archives, and within private collections. For collectors, scholars, and anyone fascinated by the world of rare #Hebrew #books and #manuscripts, such moments are exceedingly rare. This is one of them.

An entirely unknown, previously unpublished eighteenth-century #Kabbalistic #manuscript has surfaced from a private collection and has now been officially consigned for sale through #Mizrahi #Bookstore. More than simply another #handwritten volume, this remarkable #codex opens an extraordinary window into the formative years of #Lurianic #Kabbalah in Eastern #Europe, decades before these teachings became widely available in print.

The manuscript is a unique recension of the Lurianic #Kavvanot, the intricate mystical intentions associated with prayer, for #Shabbat and the Jewish festivals. Dated to 1717[...]"

https://jewishpress.com/the-aris-influence-in-18th-cent-eastern-europe/

Did you know there is more than one way to say “4th of July” in Hebrew? In today’s lesson I teach you four of them.

Watch, learn all four, and impress someone at the barbecue this weekend. Which one will you use? Tell me below. 🎆

#FourthOfJuly #America250 #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #LanguageLearning

For a moment I felt transported back to the days of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Then I remembered I was in America, cheering for a knight while holding half a roasted chicken. 😄

By the way, medieval times in Hebrew is *(ye-'mey ha-bey-'na-yeem)* יְמֵי הַבֵּינַיִם

Even a Hebrew teacher needs a night off in another century. Have you ever been? 🏰💙

#MedievalTimes #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #Lifestyle #IsraeliInAmerica

And as an Israeli who has made her home here I wanted to celebrate in the way I know best. Through Hebrew.

Liberty. Freedom. Independence. Three words at the very heart of this nation’s story, and each one has a rich, ancient counterpart in Hebrew, the language of the Bible that helped shape America’s founding ideals.

So ahead of this historic Fourth of July, let’s learn these three beautiful words in Hebrew together. Two nations, two languages, one deep love of freedom.

Happy early 250th, America. 💙🤍🇺🇸🇮🇱

#FourthOfJuly #America250 #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #BibleStudy

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” That is Leviticus 25:10, and the Hebrew word for liberty in that verse is dror. It comes from the biblical Year of Jubilee, a sacred time when debts were forgiven, the enslaved were set free, and everyone returned home.

The man who chose it for the bell in 1752 loved Hebrew so much he taught his own children to read it. He reached all the way back to the Hebrew Bible to find the word that would ring over a new nation.

For those of faith, Jubilee has always pointed to something deeper still, the freedom of the soul.

This Fourth of July, hear the verse in the language it was first written in. 💙

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #FourthOfJuly #BibleStudy #America250

So many people come to me convinced they simply cannot make the Hebrew sounds. The ones that do not exist in English. The ones that feel like they live somewhere in the back of your throat that English never asked you to use.

And here is what I tell every one of them. You are not missing some special ability. You were just never shown how.

Those unfamiliar sounds are not a wall, they are a skill. And like any skill, they break down into small, learnable pieces. That is exactly how I teach them, clearly and patiently, one piece at a time, until what felt foreign starts to feel natural.

No more guessing. No more being misunderstood and not knowing why. Just clear, confident Hebrew that Israelis actually understand.

Those sounds are absolutely within your reach. Let me show you.

hebrewbyinbal.com/speak

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

People often ask me if the hamsa is a Jewish symbol. The answer is one of my favorite things to share because it is so much bigger than any one of us. 🤚

The hamsa is ancient, older than the faiths that carry it today. In Jewish tradition it is the Hand of Miriam, sister of Moses. In Islam it is the Hand of Fatima. In some Middle Eastern Christian traditions it is the Hand of Mary. Different names, different homes, and the very same meaning in all of them. Protection. Blessing. Peace.

In a world that loves to draw lines between people I find something quietly hopeful in a single open hand that Jews, Christians, and Muslims have all held close for centuries. We share more than we are told we do.

What does the hamsa mean to you? 💙

#Hamsa #Israel #JewishCulture #Hebrew #Unity

Judeo-Christian

"Among the many #faiths practiced by millions of #Texas #students, a new statewide required #reading list that includes #biblical passages draws from just two traditions: #Protestant #Christianity and #Judaism.

Yet Texas #rabbis say #Jews had no role in shaping how #Judaism appears in the #curriculum, and they disagree with how the lone #Jewish text is presented. Rather than teaching about Judaism on its own terms, they argue, the lessons filter Jewish texts through a #Christian perspective.

The #readinglist, which is expected to go into effect in 2030, will have #publicschool students across the state reading passages from the #NewTestament and mostly Christian #translations of the #Hebrew Bible alongside #literary classics. Of the curriculum’s six #HebrewBible readings, just one uses a Jewish #translation."

https://forward.com/news/834539/texas-bible-curriculum/

Most people walking past the Liberty Bell have no idea. The words on it come straight from the Hebrew Bible. 🔔🇺🇸🇮🇱

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land.” Leviticus. And the original Hebrew word for liberty runs far deeper than any translation.

But here is what moves me most as an Israeli living in America. This was no accident. Hebrew was taught at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. It still sits on the Yale seal today. The founders studied the Hebrew Bible and built a new nation on its ideas of liberty and law.

The language of my homeland is woven into the foundation of my adopted one. As America turns 250, I made a Fourth of July video about exactly that.

It is live now. Come see the Hebrew hidden in the heart of American freedom. 🎬
https://youtu.be/rs5-GnAvKvI

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #FourthOfJuly #BibleStudy #America250

There is a moment every Hebrew learner dreams about. The moment you stop sounding like a textbook and start sounding like an actual native speaker!

Tomorrow morning I am handing you the shortcut. Ten Israeli slang expressions that instantly make your Hebrew sound natural, the little phrases textbooks never teach but every Israeli uses all day long.

It drops tomorrow at 8am. Subscribe today so it lands in your inbox the moment it goes live. 👇
https://substack.com/@hebrewbyinbal

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewSlang #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

Boker Tov and Shavua Tov, friends. ☕🇮🇱

This is my favorite way to start a week. Early morning, my little nook in the coffee shop, an iced Americano, and my students’ Hebrew filling my ears as I read and listen to your practices.

Side note, the cup says “USA with ALM” instead of iced Americano with almond milk. Very fitting with the Fourth of July around the corner. 😄

Here is to a new week of Hebrew, creativity, and positivity. To every student, artist, writer, and dreamer starting fresh today, I salute you with my coffee. Let’s make it a beautiful one. 💙

#ShavuaTov #LearnHebrew #Hebrew #CoffeeLovers #Creativity

Here is how I measure success in learning a language, and it has nothing to do with grades or grammar drills. 🇮🇱

Success is when you enjoy learning it so much that you do not want to stop.

When Hebrew stops feeling like homework and starts feeling like the best part of your day, you have already won, because that joy is the feeling that carries you all the way.

That is exactly what I built Practically Speaking Hebrew around. Not pressure, not endless lists. Just real Hebrew, taught in a way that makes you want to keep going, with a native teacher right beside you.

If you are ready to fall in love with learning Hebrew, come join me.

hebrewbyinbal.com/speak

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

Every Sunday, after I post my weekly Hebrew video lesson my husband and I set out on a little adventure. We pick a new spot in Charleston for brunch and let this beautiful city sweep us away. 🇮🇱🍳

Today it was finally “Church and Union.” The restaurant lives inside a renovated 105-year-old church, with 60-foot vaulted ceilings and the original stained glass still glowing over the room. And then you look up. The entire text of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” is hand-painted across that ceiling, more than twelve thousand words, with the company’s mantra written large among them: There Is Only We.

This is our ritual. After a full week of teaching Hebrew we step out together, find somewhere new, and wander the historic streets letting the stories of this city wash over us.

What is your version of this? The weekly ritual that brings you back to yourself. 💙

#Charleston #ChurchAndUnion #ExploreCharleston #DateDay #Hebrew

As America turns 250, I made a special Fourth of July video unpacking this beautiful, hidden Hebrew thread woven right into the heart of American freedom.

It is live now. Go watch it, then tell me, did you have any idea the Liberty Bell was carrying Hebrew scripture all this time? 🎬
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs5-GnAvKvI

SEARCH “HEBREW BY INBAL” on YouTube to find it as well.

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #FourthOfJuly #BibleStudy #America250

"The #Samaritans are different. They are a tiny community of around 800 souls, divided between #Holon and #KiryatLuza near #Nablus. They trace their ancestry back to the ancient #Israelites and possess a version of the #Torah that differs only slightly from our own. Their central point of departure from mainstream #Judaism is their belief that #MountGerizim, rather than #Jerusalem, is the divinely chosen place, together with their rejection of the Oral Law and #rabbinic tradition.

As I stood among them, watching ancient rituals performed with immense sincerity, hearing #Hebrew prayers and seeing #Torahscrolls carried with reverence, I could not help feeling that I was encountering not strangers, but long-lost cousins.

Their Torah is, with only relatively minor differences, our Torah. #Abraham, #Isaac, #Jacob, and #Moses are their ancestors no less than ours. Yet somewhere in the distant past, our paths diverged."

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-900393

This is where her story turns. And after everything in this series, you already know the truth: it was never you. It was the what, and the how.

The real fix, learning Hebrew the way your brain actually thinks with someone guiding you so you never quietly get stuck is exactly what my program Practically Speaking Hebrew is built for.

If you're ready to finally get there, comment SPEAK and I'll send you where to start. Or go straight to hebrewbyinbal.com/speak.

No rush, no pressure. It'll be here whenever you are.

#LearnHebrew #LanguageLearning #BibleStudy #Jewish #Hebrew

Here is something most people walking past the Liberty Bell never realize. The words inscribed on it come straight from the Hebrew Bible. 🔔🇺🇸🇮🇱

“Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” That line is from Leviticus, and the original Hebrew word for liberty carries a meaning far richer than most translations capture.

As America turns 250, I made a special Fourth of July video unpacking this beautiful, hidden Hebrew thread woven right into the heart of American freedom.

It lands tomorrow, Sunday at noon Eastern, on my YouTube channel. Set a reminder and meet me there. 🎬

https://www.youtube.com/hebrewbyinbal

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #FourthOfJuly #BibleStudy #America250

Want to see for yourself how quickly you can start speaking Hebrew? I made you something, and it is completely free. 🇮🇱

My free Hebrew speaking guide hands you my proven method, my 5 key steps, and my syllable breakdown technique. Apply it and you will learn 50+ words and build 150+ different sentences in Hebrew, speaking like a true Hebrew speaker.

No catch. Just a real taste of what learning Hebrew the right way feels like. Download it here. 👇
https://hebrewbyinbal.com/pages/free-resources

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #FreeLessons

Save this one.

It is the test you can hold up to any way of learning Hebrew, before you spend another dollar, or another year, on the wrong one.

Send it to someone who is about to start over. Follow for the rest. 👇

#LearnHebrew #Hebrew #HebrewForBeginners #LanguageLearning #JewishLife

"A remarkable discovery has recently emerged from among a group of rare #books and #manuscripts consigned to my shop: an unrecorded eighteenth-century #Hebrew autograph manuscript penned by #Rabbi #YekutielGordon, one of the most fascinating and consequential members of the inner circle of Rabbi #MosheChaimLuzzatto, the #Ramchal.

Hidden from public view for centuries, this extraordinary #manuscript came to light only through careful examination of a collection entrusted to the shop for sale.

The manuscript itself is modest in size – approximately 4.5 by 6.5 inches – but immense in significance. Consisting of one hundred surviving double-sided folios, it preserves what appears to be a previously unknown work entitled #MarehKohen, together with a section of #MarehMussar, a work already known to scholars and associated with Rabbi Yekutiel Gordon.

Mareh Kohen focuses largely on the themes of #Elul, #teshuvah, the #YamimNoraim, and the profound symbolism of the #shofar."

https://jewishpress.com/a-manuscript-by-a-student-of-the-ramchals/