גם זה יעבור
This post is technically all about the verb “לעבור”, but actually it is about our past and present, and the way we face them when we express ourselves using this verb both in every-day and elevated Hebrew:
לעבור = to pass, to cross, to move from one place to another
passing-not staying (temporary),
breaking the law,
go over/scanning something (like reading a letter)
You can use it to express a mental situation – “she is going through something/something is not right with her” = "היא עוברת משהו / משהו עובר עליה",
or when you move out of your apartment - "they move this Saturday" = "הם עוברים דירה בשבת",
if you wish to encourage someone - "we'll get through this" = "אנחנו נעבור את זה",
or educate your kids – “it is not allowed to cross the road when there is a red light” = “אסור לעבור באור אדום”,
at work - "I need time to go over this" = "אני צריכה זמן לעבור על זה"
to update your friends - "I've passed the test!" = "עברתי את המבחן"
and even in the daily news – “the offender who committed the crime, broke the law” = “העבריין שעבר את העבירה עבר על החוק”
This verb (containing the 3 root letters ע.ב.ר) is all about the past (=עבר) – putting the current situation/mission/apartment/etc. in the past and moving forward with whatever it is you are now.
Time goes by = הזמן עובר… this is also being expressed when we refer to our X something (formally):
אשתו לשעבר = his X wife
ראש הממשלה לשעבר = X prime minister
Indeed - people, actions and feelings who passed are no longer relevant and are now only memories – even when they have huge impact on our lives…
When my baby girl gets a bump, I usually tell her – “I know it hurts baby, but it will pass/ I will give you a kiss and it will pass” – זה כואב אבל זה יעבור" /"אני אתן לך נשיקה וזה יעבור"
There is something very human and anthropological in this root, representing the way we deal with trouble and pain. Just like physically passing a barrier – לעבור משוכה/מכשול – when pain comes, time forces us to leave it in the past and move forward, shaped by the pain itself and by the surrealistic present pushing us forward.
While reading this post, it is most likely that you, your family, your friends, your business, your community, your country are going through rough/complicated period – אתם עוברים תקופה קשה/ עוברת עליכם תקופה קשה.
Thanks to painful global experiences of the past – 9/11, Aids, Saddam Hussein (and even wearing ugly Crocs) – I hope (and 98% sure) we’ll get through this / this will pass - נעבור את זה/זה יעבור. We will adjust because this is how life is – time will never stop, and the preset becomes the past:
"הזמן מרפא את הכל אם לא הכל את הרוב... – גם זה יעבור"
“time heals everything, and if not all of it then most of it… this will (also) pass”
“לעבור” - ("לעבוד" Classic P’aal music (with long first vowel – just like:
הווה עבר עתיד
אני עובר עברתי אעבור
את עוברת עברת תעברי
אתם/ן עוברים/ות עברתם/ן תעברו
אתה עובר עברת תעבור
היא עוברת עברה תעבור
הוא עובר עבר יעבור
הם/הן עוברים עברו יעברו
אנחנו עוברים עברנו נעבור
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