Lesson 111: At a Meeting
Working in Hebrew means sitting in meetings — proposing, deciding, and wrapping up. This lesson gives you the brisk, semi-formal register of the conference room.
Running the meeting
נַתְחִיל אֶת הַיְּשִׁיבָה. מָה עַל סֵדֶר הַיּוֹם?
natchil et hayeshiva. ma al seder hayom?
Let’s start the meeting. What’s on the agenda?
צָרִיךְ לְהַחְלִיט עַל הַמּוֹעֵד לַפְּרוֹיֶקְט.
tsarich lehachlit al hamo’ed laproyekt.
We need to decide on the deadline for the project.
אֲנִי מַצִּיעַ אֶת סוֹף הַחֹדֶשׁ.
ani matsia et sof hachodesh.
I propose the end of the month.
מְקֻבָּל. נְסַכֵּם וְנַמְשִׁיךְ הָלְאָה.
mekubal. nesakem venamshich hal’a.
Agreed. Let’s summarize and move on.
Register: the rhythm of a meeting
Meetings run on a handful of fixed phrases. They open and close with the “we” form (cohortative): נַתְחִיל (natchil, “let’s start”), נְסַכֵּם (nesakem, “let’s sum up”), נַמְשִׁיךְ (namshich, “let’s continue”).
The two verbs that move things forward are לְהַצִּיעַ (lehatsia, “to propose”) and לְהַחְלִיט (lehachlit, “to decide”). And the one-word stamp of approval is מְקֻבָּל (mekubal, “accepted / agreed”).
Tip: סֵדֶר הַיּוֹם (seder hayom, “the order of the day” = agenda) and מוֹעֵד (mo’ed, “deadline / set time”) are the two nouns every meeting revolves around.
Vocabulary
The meeting
| יְשִׁיבָה | yeshiva | meeting, session |
| סֵדֶר יוֹם | seder yom | agenda |
| מוֹעֵד | mo’ed | deadline, set time |
| סִכּוּם | sikum | summary |
Moving forward
| לְהַצִּיעַ | lehatsia | to propose, suggest |
| לְהַחְלִיט | lehachlit | to decide |
| מְקֻבָּל | mekubal | accepted, agreed |