Which Hebrew word for mother are you using? #hebrew #language

Added: 2026-05-20

[00:00:00]There are two ways to say mother in Hebrew. Ima is the word you will hear in every Israeli home. Ima, conversational, warm, immediate. This is what Israeli children call their mothers. Mom, mommy, mother, all Ima. And [clears throat] then we have Em. Em is the more formal, elevated form of mother, as well as the written, more literary form of the word.

[00:00:27]You'll see it in the Bible, in formal writing, and in terms like Em Hayeladim for and Henrietta Szold. It is not Ima, it is Em Hayeladim. So, Ima and Em, same meaning, completely different feeling.

[00:00:44]Hebrew does that a lot.