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Biblical Hebrew for Everyone

A collaborative offering of Mekom Torah and
​The Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood
Meeting online via Zoom
  • Two semesters of about 20 sessions each, over the course of about one calendar year, with breaks for holidays and summer vacation.
  • All course materials are accessible online, with recordings available for missed classes.
  • Current cohort begins Semester 2 in October 2021. Due to high demand, there are two sections: Thursdays, 7:30-9:00 pm eastern, and Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30 pm eastern.
  • New cohort begins Semester 1 in April 2022. Sign up now using form below!!
Instructor: Rabbi Helen Plotkin has taught Biblical Hebrew for 20 years at Swarthmore College, in the departments of Classics and Religion.  
What you can expect to accomplish
  • Learn to read the Hebrew Bible in the original, using the tools available in reference books and online.
  • Uncover the nuances and ambiguities in biblical language that commentators use as jumping off points for interpretation.
  • Understand much of Jewish liturgy.
  • Discover why different translations are so different.
  • Rescue your powers of interpretation from the hands of translators.
Before you begin: You should have at least a basic knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet.  Please contact Rabbi Plotkin for help getting up to speed. As long as you’ve made a start, your reading will get smoother rapidly as you begin to understand the language!
How this is like a college course: There will be homework.  Consistent attendance is expected.  Commitment is paramount!
How this is different from a college course: It’s fun and welcoming, with no grades, just encouragement and pay-off for hard work.  Examples are drawn from familiar passages in the Bible, Jewish liturgy, holiday practice, and other famous Jewish texts.
Tuition: For more information please fill out the form below, or contact Rabbi Helen Plotkin (helen@mekomtorah.org). Tuition assistance is available.

    For more information, to sign up, or for help deciding whether this  group is right for you, please enter your contact information:    

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Mekom Torah

P.O. Box 178
Swarthmore, PA 19081
info@mekomtorah.org
610-368-4065
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