Mema At Mefachedet (Eyal Golan & Benaya Barabi): meaning and Hebrew lyrics
ממה את מפחדת means 'what are you afraid of?' — a whole Israeli heartbreak ballad built on one question. Eyal Golan and Benaya Barabi sing it in the plainest spoken Hebrew, which makes it one of the best songs on Shir-ly for learning how Israelis actually talk about feelings.
What the title means
ממה (mema) is מִן + מָה — 'from what'. Hebrew fears take the preposition מ' : לפחד ממשהו, to be afraid of something. So ממה את מפחדת is literally 'from what are you afraid', and מפחדת is the feminine present tense addressed to a woman.
What the song is about
A man watches the woman he loves close up in front of him: הפנים נעולות (her face is locked), עינייך לא מספרות על מחר (her eyes no longer tell of tomorrow). He asks her to come back today, to touch him with feeling again — and above all, not to leave without saying why.
The famous line רגשות לא שומרים בכיסים — 'you don't keep feelings in pockets' — is the kind of image Israeli pop does best: an everyday object carrying the whole emotion of the song.
Vocabulary from the song
- מְפַחֶדֶת mefachedet — afraid (feminine)
- רֶגֶשׁ regesh — emotion, feeling
- זָר zar — stranger
- שְטוּיות shtuyot — nonsense
- מַבָּט mabat — look, glance
- כִּיס kis — pocket
- דֶּלֶת delet — door
- סְתָו stav — autumn
Who sings it?
Eyal Golan is one of the biggest voices of Israeli Mediterranean music, and Benaya Barabi is a younger singer-songwriter from the same scene. Their duet turns a private question into an arena chorus.
Practise it on Shir-ly
The song runs word by word with the recording, with nikud, transliteration and translation in English, Russian, Spanish and French, plus fill-the-blanks, scrambled line, prepositions, verb conjugation and everyday-sentence games built from its own words.
Frequently asked questions
What does Mema At Mefachedet mean?
'What are you afraid of?' — addressed to a woman (ממה = from what, מפחדת = afraid, feminine).
How do you say 'I am afraid' in Hebrew?
אני מפחד (male) / אני מפחדת (female); 'afraid of the dark' is מפחד מהחושך.
Who sings Mema At Mefachedet?
Eyal Golan together with Benaya Barabi.
Is it good for Hebrew learners?
Yes — short spoken sentences, high-frequency words and a chorus that repeats the key question.