New! Biblical Hebrew for Everyone

A collaborative offering of Mekom Torah and
​The Mordecai M. Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood

Meeting online

• on Tuesday evenings, 7:30 - 9:00 pm EST  (possibly with a second section, as response has been overwhelming)
• beginning March 16, 2021
• about 40 sessions over the course of about twelve months, with breaks for holidays and summer vacation
• all course materials will be accessible online

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.  Consider registering for Learning to Read Hebrew, in February 2020. 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 Dan Cedarbaum (dan@kaplancenter.org), director of the Kaplan Center for Jewish Peoplehood. Tuition assistance is available.