Thursday was Hebrew Day.
If you don't know what that is, stay with me - because what Israelis chose around Hebrew Day tells you everything about what it means to be Israeli right now.
Every year on the 21st of Tevet (כ"א בְּטֵבֵת) - the Hebrew calendar birthday of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda - Israel celebrates Hebrew Day.
This year it fell on Shabbat, so it was moved to Thursday, the 19th of Tevet (י"ט בְּטֵבֵת).
Who's Eliezer Ben-Yehuda?
The man who revived Hebrew from an ancient holy language into the modern, everyday language millions of Israelis - and you - are using, learning, and loving.
If you want the full fascinating story of how far Hebrew goes back, and how it rose from the ashes against all odds, watch this video I made all about it.
But here's what I want to talk about today:
Every year for Hebrew Day, the Academy of the Hebrew Language invites Israelis to vote for their Word of the Year (leading up to this day).
And if you don't know the Academy, let me tell you: they're one of my favorite organizations to follow. Not just for the obvious reasons (I'm a Hebrew educator, of course I follow them), but because of how they do things. They're actually cool. At least for Hebrew geeks like myself.
This year's voting results? They depict Israeli life so accurately it'll give you chills.
Let me walk you through the top 10 words Israelis chose - because together, they paint a picture of what it means to live, survive, and thrive in Hebrew right now.
10th PLACE: טְרַאוּמָה /t-'ra-oo-mah/ - TRAUMA
Yes, that's the English word "trauma".
There is a Hebrew word for trauma, but 99.9% of Israelis don't know it and don't use it. We use the English word. And you should too.
We pronounce it /t-'ra-oo-mah/ instead of the English /traw-muh/.
I'm skipping the actual Hebrew word because literally no one uses it.
9th PLACE: גִּיּוּס /gee-'yoos/ - ENLISTMENT
This word means enlistment.
It covers 18-year-olds starting their mandatory army service AND reserves being called up to serve - which most Israelis do in times of peace, and even more in times of war.
When this word makes the top 10, you know what kind of year it's been.
8th PLACE (TIE): חֲקִירָה /kha-kee-'rah/ - INVESTIGATION
This word means both "interrogation" and "investigation".
I believe Israelis chose it for the latter - thinking of the investigation around Oct 7.
The disbelief of how it happened. How so many people were left defenseless for so many hours, allowing evil to take over and do whatever it wanted.
People want answers. Hence: חֲקִירָה /kha-kee-'rah/.
8th PLACE (TIE): שִׁקּוּם /shee-'koom/ - REHABILITATION
Both physical and emotional rehabilitation.
Never in my lifetime have there been so many people on the streets of Israel suffering from PTSD and physical disabilities from Oct 7 and the war that followed.
It is literally a nation in need of rehabilitation.
7th PLACE: שָׁבִים /sha-'veem/ - THOSE WHO RETURNED
This word became painfully common after Oct 7.
It literally means "those who returned" - referring to people who came back from being held hostage.
This is the word Israelis use in plural for those who came back alive.
The fact that we needed a common word for this breaks my heart.
6th PLACE: נִרְמוּל /nee-r-'mool/ - NORMALIZATION
This is such an interesting linguistic phenomenon happening in Israel right now.
Hebrew is significantly affected by English, and we're seeing many words that are combinations of English and Hebrew.
נִרְמוּל /nee-r-'mool/ is how Israelis say "normalization" - taking the English word "normal" and placing it into the Hebrew pattern י...וּל /ee-...ool/.
Other Hebrew words using this pattern:
- שִׁכְפּוּל /shee-kh-'pool/ - duplication
- תִּפְעוּל /tee-f-'ool/ - operation/functioning
These two examples above are actual Hebrew words, all the way, unlike Normalization נִרְמוּל /nee-r-'mool/ which is an English word taking on a Hebrew grammatical pattern.
This pattern turns words or verbs into nouns describing the process of doing something - think of English "-tion" or "-ing" endings.
So what got normalized? Things no country should have to call "normal":
Rockets as part of daily life. Sirens interrupting dinner. Shelters as routine. Parents deployed while kids go to school. Israelis and Jewish people being targeted for who they are. And the list goes on and on.
Because this is what Israelis do - we don't just survive the impossible, we keep living through it.
5th PLACE: עַם כְּלָבִיא /am ke-la-'vee/ - PEOPLE AS A LION
This is the name of Israel's 12-day war with Iran that took place June 13-24, 2025.
Every war and military operation in Israel gets a name.
עַם כְּלָבִיא translates to "People as a Lion" and comes from Numbers Chapter 23, verse 24, in the Bible.
It expresses strength and courage, describing a people rising up like a lion.
3rd PLACE: תִּקְוָה /tee-k-'vah/ - HOPE
The word for Hope is pronounce /tee-k-'vah/.
It's also a woman's name, then usually pronounced /'tee-k-vah/.
And of course, our national anthem is הַתִּקְוָה /ha-tee-k-'vah/ - "The Hope" - or more colloquially pronounced /ha-'tee-k-vah/.
2nd PLACE: בִּינָה מְלָאכוּתִית /bee-'nah me-la-khoo-'teet/ - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
It's used as commonly in Israel as saying "AI" in English.
בִּינָה /bee-'nah/ is "intelligence"
מְלָאכוּתִית /me-la-khoo-'teet/ is "artificial" (feminine form, matching בִּינָה which is grammatically feminine)
I love that this came in second place.
Because it shows you that alongside surviving - alongside words like rehabilitation, trauma, enlistment - this innovative, cutting-edge tech word came second.
Israel always thrives and innovates while surviving in ways most countries cannot even imagine.
1st PLACE: הַבַּיְתָה /ha-'ba-y-tah/ - GOING HOME / COMING HOME
This is the most important one.
"Home" or "house" in Hebrew is בַּיִת /'ba-yeet/.
We use many prefixes and suffixes in Hebrew to change word meanings, and הַבַּיְתָה /ha-'ba-y-tah/ means "going home" or "coming home" - indicating the movement toward home.
You may know or have heard the classic song הַבַּיְתָה, which became synonymous with the hostages after Oct 7.
This song was originally performed by Yardena Arazi, written by Ehud Manor in 1982, and revived in the context of the hostages after Oct 7.
There is one performance that gives me chills and makes me cry every time I watch it - done right after Oct 7.
It has English subtitles, and I invite you to watch and follow the lyrics.
Every time you see the word "HOME" in the English subtitles, they're singing הַבַּיְתָה /ha-'ba-y-tah/.
Notice how at the end they incorporated the tune from our national anthem הַתִּקְוָה /ha-tee-k-'vah/ into the song.
The original wasn't hard rock, but with these powerful lyrics, I feel this arrangement was done so well.
[WATCH הַבַּיְתָה PERFORMED AFTER OCT 7]
I don't think there are many countries in the world who would choose these words as their Word of the Year.
From trauma to hope to AI to "coming home".
This is Israel in Hebrew. This is what it means to be Israeli, to be Jewish, to be a Hebrew speaker today.
Here's my question for you:
From this list or not - what would YOU choose as your word of the year?
Hit reply and tell me: What's your word for the year that just ended?
Inbal Amit
Hebrew by Inbal
P.S. If you want to be able to live and breathe Hebrew like a true Hebrew speaker - that's exactly what my programs give you. I have two programs, because that's all you need to stand on your own in Hebrew.
[SPEAK & UNDERSTAND] [READ & WRITE]
