Letter 5 - Hey Lesson
Shalom I am Rabbi Jim “Yaakov” Becka with Free Hebrew Class and this is Intro to Hebrew Reading & Writing for the Letter Hey
Make sure to download the digital document to follow along and study at your own pace.
Welcome back to Hebrew Alphabet in 30 Days. Today we study the fifth letter of the Hebrew Alephbet — the Hey, a beautifully important letter that carries the soft breathy “H” sound, and also functions as the word “the” at the beginning of many Hebrew words. Let’s explore how Hey works in Scripture and in Hebrew reading.
What is Hey?
The Hey makes the “H” sound, like in horse. It is also used in the Tanakh and Torah chapter headings to represent the number 5.
But here is something essential to remember:
• At the end of a word, the Hey is usually silent.
• At the beginning of a word, Hey commonly means “the.”
This is one of the first grammatical tools students learn when reading Hebrew.
Let’s look at some examples straight from the lesson materials.
1. The word: “the man” — הָאִישׁ
Page 22 shows how Hey gives us the sound “HA”, meaning “the,” followed by “EESH” meaning “man.” So the entire word becomes ha-EESH — “the man.”
2. Psalm 1:1 — “Blessed is the man…”
The verse notes: Ashrey ha-EESH… Again, Hey is functioning as the word “the.”
3. Psalm 1:4 — “the wicked”
The word הָרְשָׁעִים uses Hey at the beginning to mean “the wicked.”
The word for “love”: אַהֲבָה
Hey appears in the middle of the word, giving the soft HA sound. However, if Hey appears at the end of a word, it is normally silent.
The word “this day”: הַיּוֹם
Hey again functioning as “the” — ha-YOM = “the day.”
These examples not only teach pronunciation but also introduce real biblical vocabulary early in the learning process.
We learn to write the Hey with a two-step process:
• Step 1: Draw the top horizontal line.
• Step 2: Draw the vertical left-side line and short leg on the right.
Practice writing it several times to train your hand and your eyes. Repetition leads to recognition.
Here are some important points for the letter Hey
1 Hey makes the “H” sound.
1 At the end of a word, Hey is silent.
1 At the beginning of a word, Hey often means “the.”
1 Always sound the letter first, then the vowel.
You are now able to recognize Hey in Scripture and pronounce it correctly.
Try These Practice Words
A. דָּג — “fish”
From the book of Jonah. Sound it out: DAHG — Dalet + AH vowel + Gimel. (Page 24 gives the explanation.)
B. אוֹר — “light”
From Genesis: “Let there be light.” Hey is not in this word, but the workbook has you identify the first sounds to reinforce reading technique:
• Silent Aleph
• Vowel “OH”
• Resh gives “R” This results in OHR.
Try some of these Hebrew vocabulary words.
• בְּ — BEH (“in”)
• בַּ — BA (“in the”)
• אַבָּא — ABBA (“daddy”)
• אָב — AHV (“father”)
These small words become powerful building blocks as you continue into Hebrew grammar.
Here are some Hebrew words to practice.
בָּא הַדָּג Read right to left: BA — is coming Ha-DAG — the fish
So the full translation becomes: “The fish is coming.”
The page also explains two kinds of dagesh:
• Dagesh Forte — doubles or strengthens a letter
• Dagesh Lene — changes the sound, as in Bet ↔ Vet
Great work today! You learned the Hey, how it works as the word “the,” how it becomes silent, and how to read real Hebrew verses. Continue practicing your vocabulary, writing the Hey, and sounding out full sentences. I’ll see you in the next lesson. Shalom!
Again I am Rabbi Jim “Yaakov” Becka with Free Hebrew Class and this is Intro to Hebrew Reading & Writing
May God Bless You