HSC Modern Hebrew Continuers key terms

The social collective in which people live together; used in texts about social values, community obligations, and the tension between individual freedom and group expectations.

The individual person as distinct from the group; central to essays on personal rights, privacy, and self-fulfilment versus duty to society.

Entitlements a person may claim, such as freedom of speech or equality; frequently appears in persuasive writing and in comprehension texts about law and citizenship.

Unfair treatment of a person or group on grounds such as origin, religion, gender, or disability; a common theme in reading passages and in argumentative writing tasks.

The principle that all people deserve the same treatment and opportunities; often paired with aflayah in discussions of employment, education, and immigrant absorption.

Mutual support and loyalty among members of a group; used when discussing volunteering, mutual aid, and national responses to crisis or war.

Volunteering; giving time freely to help others. Appears in texts about youth movements, community service, and national service programmes.

A community, whether a neighbourhood, a town, or a group bound by shared identity; often the subject of texts on local initiatives and communal institutions.

The Jewish communities living outside Israel, collectively called the Diaspora; essential for texts on Jewish identity, immigration, and Israel–Diaspora relations.

Immigration of Jews to Israel; the word also carries the sense of 'ascent'. Used in historical passages about waves of immigration and in personal narratives.

Absorption, the process by which new immigrants are received and integrated into a society; a frequent topic in reading texts about challenges facing newcomers.

Tradition, the customs and beliefs handed down through generations; central to texts about preserving heritage while adapting to modern life.

Heritage, the cultural legacy a group inherits and passes on; often used with reference to language, music, festivals, and historical memory.

Identity, the sense of who one is; appears in texts about being Jewish, Israeli, or a member of a minority, and about the identity of immigrants.

Secular, non-religious in outlook or lifestyle; used to describe people, schools, or neighbourhoods in discussions of religion and state.

Religious, observant of Jewish law and practice; appears when texts contrast religious and secular lifestyles or debate public policy.

Family tradition, the recurring customs a family keeps, such as festive meals or holiday rituals; a common prompt in personal writing tasks.

A festival or holiday, such as Pesach or Sukkot; texts may describe how a festival is celebrated and how its meaning has changed over time.

Work or employment; a core word for passages about careers, working conditions, and the balance between job and family life.

A profession or occupation, especially one requiring training; used when texts discuss career choice, qualifications, and professional status.

A job interview; frequently the setting for listening and reading texts, and a common topic for formal letter or dialogue writing tasks.

A curriculum vitae or résumé; the standard document listing education and experience, often required in writing tasks connected with job applications.

Training or professional preparation; appears in texts about vocational courses, retraining after redundancy, and the skills employers expect.

Wages or salary; used in reading passages about pay gaps, minimum wage, and the cost of living, and in letters of complaint about employment.

Working hours; a set phrase in texts about part-time work, overtime, and balancing study or family with employment.

Technology; central to texts on how devices, apps, and artificial intelligence change daily life, study, and work.

A social network or social media platform; appears in texts about online friendship, privacy, and the pressures of digital communication.

Progress or advancement; used when texts weigh the benefits of change against the loss of familiar customs and ways of life.

The environment, the natural surroundings; a recurring topic in texts about recycling, pollution, and personal responsibility for the planet.

Responsibility; used in both personal and civic senses, for example taking responsibility for one's actions or for the welfare of others.

A goal or aim; useful in listening tasks where speakers state their intentions, and in writing tasks where candidates set out objectives.

An opinion or view; frequent in comprehension questions asking for a speaker's attitude and in persuasive writing where a stance must be argued.

An argument or claim put forward in support of a position; key to structuring a persuasive piece and to identifying reasoning in a text.

A suggestion or proposal; often appears in letters and discussions where a writer recommends a solution to a problem.

A solution to a difficulty; used in reading passages about social problems and in writing tasks that ask candidates to propose remedies.

A problem or issue; a very common word in comprehension texts and in questions asking candidates to summarise difficulties and their causes.

A cause or reason; needed for questions that ask why something happened, and for linking ideas in extended writing.

A result or consequence; used to describe outcomes in reading passages and to draw conclusions in analytical or argumentative writing.

A conclusion; the word appears in task instructions asking candidates to infer a writer's overall message or to close an essay effectively.