Temple Judea

Hebrew or Read Your Passover Hagadah in the Original Language Or Else it's Like Kissing Through a Cloth

People have been asking me why we are offering an Adult's beginner's and intermediate Hebrew class at Temple Judea.  Now that all the prayer books have transliteration, why do people need to learn Hebrew.  The answer that I have been giving is that it'll make Passover fun.  This course begins tomorrow night (January 18) and lasts for 10 weeks, culminating just in time for Passover.  You will be able to read the Hagadah in the original language.  But the better explanation is something a Hebrew Literature professor said to a classroom full of Rabbinic students in Jerusalem.  He told us, "You can read Jewish texts in English or in transliteration, but then you might as well kiss the person you love through a cloth."  There is something true about this.  Praying and reading in Hebrew connects us to our ancestors in the most direct way imaginable.  Reading translation and transliteration is okay--but it's not the same as kissing for real!

It's not too late to join.  Just show up at Temple Judea this Wednesday night at 6:30pm for beginners Hebrew and 7:30pm for intermediate Hebrew.