Many Israelis live in Germany these days, mostly in Berlin, and feel quite at home, it seems. Modern Hebrew has developed similar verbs for other national conversions, or acquiring a new nationality, such as: hit’amreq, “to become Americanized (in habits, behavior)”; hit’anglez, “to become English (British) as a result of living in England and adopting British manners.”
Even those who stay in Israel may be transformed from one ethnic identity to another: hit’ashknez, “(for Sephardim, especially rabbis, who) behave and dress like Ashkenazi”; and vice versa (less common): histafred, “to behave like Sephardim, especially speaking Hebrew with Sephardic-Mizrahi features.”
In a way, these are a continuation of earlier terms for conversions from one religion to another: hityahed, “to embrace Judaism, pose as a Jew” (Esther 8:17); hitgayyer, “to convert to Judaism”; hitnatser, “to convert to Christianity”; hit’aslem, “to convert to Islam.”
*Here is one example in context: hispaqti lehitgarmen be-berlin, “I managed to feel at home in Berlin.”
Yona Sabar is a professor of Hebrew and Aramaic in the department of Near Eastern Languages & Cultures at UCLA.
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