#13 Kombina (Rerun)

Streetwise Hebrew

TLV1 Studios

Israel, Tlv1, Religion & Spirituality, Language Learning, Education, Language, Judaism, Hebrew, Streetwise

4.9 • 988 Ratings

🗓️ 16 July 2024

⏱️ 6 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kombina is one of the most salient features of Israeli society. In order to survive in this country, one needs to fend for oneself, using all possible means: Contacts, resourcefulness and creative ideas. Some Israelis say we are even ‘Medinat Kombina’, a ‘kombina’ state. So how do you use this word, and how can you even turn it into a verb?

Hear the All-Hebrew Episode on Patreon

New Words and Expressions:

Kombina, kombinot – Connections, shady business – קומבינה

Kombinator – A person with a shady business; Someone who knows how to ‘get by’ – קומבינטור

Tizaharu she-lo tekablu shi’ur be-kombina – Make sure you don’t get a lesson in kombina – תיזהרו שלא תקבלו שיעור בקומבינה

Ta’ase kombina – Use your contacts; Be resourceful – תעשה קומבינה

Kimbanti alcohol – I got the alcohol ‘somehow’ – קימבנתי אלכוהול

Lekamben – To get something using tricks and connections – לקמבן

Lehitkamben – To sort yourself out; to sit pretty – להתקמבן

“Eich hitkambanta al ha-mechonit ha-zot” – What did you have to do in order to get this car? – איך התקמבנת על המכונית הזאת

Playlist and Clips:

Axum – Kombina (lyrics)

Tamir Kimchi & Eyal Mazig – Medinat Kombina (lyrics)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Shalom, it's me Guy with Streetwise Hebrew.
0:03.0	This week we are replaying an episode from our archive.
0:06.0	Patrons will find the brand new All Hebrew sister episode
0:10.0	written and recorded this week on Patreon.com
0:14.4	streetwise Hebrew or in your podcast app through the private
0:18.6	podcast feed. As you may already know, we started creating the All Hebrew episodes, starting with episode
0:25.5	number 181.
0:28.1	So once in a while, we go back into the archives and create the Hebrew versions for previous episode like this week.
0:35.0	Enjoy.
0:36.0	This is TLD1. Streetwise Hebrew.
0:48.0	Hebrew. Shalo, it's me Guy from Streetwise Hebrew.
0:51.0	Today I want to talk about combina.
0:53.8	combina is one of the most salient features of Israeli society. In order to
0:57.7	survive in this country one needs to fend for oneself using all
1:01.0	possible means, contacts, resourcefulness and creative ideas.
1:05.6	The noun combina, which probably entered Hebrew from the Spanish combinar via Ladino, Judeo-Spanish,
1:12.2	seems to be a good combination between the three.
1:14.5	To have a combina somewhere means to have a scheme or a plan to get something not always in the
1:19.6	most straightforward way with the use of connections. The word combinato appeared already in
1:25.2	old Hebrew dictionaries and mean trickster. It came from Yiddish and
1:29.2	combinatsia a trick. So I guess that when Hebrew got it from Ladino and from Yiddish, it just couldn't say no.
1:37.2	Combina could be innocent like asking a friend who works in a cell phone company to track down your stolen machine or a more serious combina where someone is actually cheating other people in order to make money.
	...

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