kol tuv - Jewish English Lexicon (2024)

FAQs

What does kol tuv mean in Hebrew? ›

Kol Tuv = “all the best”

Literally, “good morning.” Nice replies are “boker tov” right back, or “boker or,” meaning “morning light.” Literally, “good evening.” You can reply “erev tov” right back. Literally, “good night.” An appropriate response is to say “lilah tov” back.

In English, you might hear woof woof, or bow wow, but in Hebrew, dogs say “hav hav” (vowel sound as in “hava neglia” or the “o” in dot).

Use "lilah tov" (lie-lah tahv) late at night.

This phrase literally means "good night," and is used as both a greeting and a farewell in Hebrew.

“Barukh HaShem.” Barukh Hashem (בָּרוּךְ הַשֵּׁם) is the quintessential Jewish way to say, “Thank God.” It is a way to express appreciation for what we have and what we are experiencing in the moment.

The name YHWH, consisting of the sequence of consonants Yod, Heh, Waw, and Heh, is known as the tetragrammaton. After the Babylonian Exile (6th century bce), and especially from the 3rd century bce on, Jews ceased to use the name Yahweh for two reasons.