Tag: Hebrew

Ḥug Ivrit (Hebrew Club) starts November 3

image

Ḥug Ivrit (Hebrew Club): Conversational Hebrew with native speaker Dahlia Beck

Is your Hebrew well beyond the beginner level, but you know you require more practice speaking in order to improve your listening, comprehension and vocabulary skills? Our new Ḥug Ivrit may be just what you are looking for. We’ll meet in informal settings, such as coffee shops and private homes, to immerse ourselves in Hebrew conversation and culture, under Dahlia’s careful guidance.

Just think, after only a few sessions you may find yourself discussing the news coming out of Israel, in HEBREW – how cool is that? 

Ḥug Ivrit began on Tuesday, November 3 at 6:30pm duration – 2 hours. The group will meet at Dahlia’s home 3-727 Linden Avenue, Victoria.  Participation – by donation.  For more information and to check if this group is suitable for you please email Alan Rutkowski.

New Beginner Hebrew Course – from October 7

  • Teacher:                     Betsy Boeno*
  • Starting
    Date:            Wednesday, October 7 at
    7:00 pm
  • Course:                      10 Classes, 2 hours each
  • Cost:                          $100 for members;
    $140 for non-members

Please
complete and return the Registration Form with your payment to the Synagogue office
at 1461 Blanshard Street, Victoria.
Please do NOT send any credit card information by email.

Betsy
Boeno will use the classic Hebrew alphabet, but the main focus of the course
will be conversation, and giving you the confidence to start speaking very
quickly.  Betsy has extensive experience
teaching Hebrew.  She attended high
school in Israel and helped new olim with their Hebrew.  For a number of years she was a tourist guide
for visiting Israelis in Turkey, where she taught Hebrew in a number of
synagogues.  She taught a class here over
the summer, and some of the comments from her students include:  

“Betsy makes learning Hebrew such fun and you
learn so much.”  

“She is so
enthusiastic.”  

“I go into her class
feeling tired and I come out completely re-energized.”

Adult Education Programme, 5776

  • Regular Classes—Returning:
    • Mystic Mocha: weekly from Friday, Oct 9
    • Lunch & Learn: weekly from Tuesday, Oct 27
    • Morashah: dates TBA
    • Calling All Artists: One evening per month, from Tuesday Oct 27
  • Regular Classes—New: 
    • Beginner Hebrew: 10 classes from Wed October 7, 7pm
    • Ḥug Ivrit (Hebrew Circle): Conversational Hebrew from Nov. 3
    • Baby Yoga: Every Monday in November, 10:45 – 11:45 am
    • Aleph Through the Looking Glass: Wednesdays, Jan 20–Feb 24
    • Philosopher’s Cafe with Alan Rutkowski (dates TBA). 
  • Special Events—Autumn 2015: 

For more details, read on…

Mystic Mocha, 5776

Fridays, 12:30–1:30pm, from Oct 9th, at the Solstice Café on Pandora St.

Come explore the weekly Torah portion with Rabbi Harry. Together we will mine classical Kabbalistic and Ḥassidic commentaries to find personal insights and spiritual nourishment, as we search for deeper meaning and understanding. Grab a nosh and join Rabbi Harry for this weekly learning.

Participation by donation

Morashah 

Thursdays, 7pm, at the synagogue

This class is intended for people who
have taken the Intro to Judaism class or any members who would like to deepen
their knowledge of what it means to live a Jewish life. Contact the office or
Rabbi Harry for more information. 

Lunch & Learn, 5776

Tuesdays, 12:30–1:30pm from Oct 13th, at the synagogue

Bring your dairy brown bag lunch and join Rabbi Harry for some spiritual nourishment at lunchtime. We take a particular text, then work our way through it over the weeks, through a progressive Torahitic lens. You will gain personal insight into and more profound meaning of, the weekly Torah portion. If you have a burning Jewish question we can address that too.  

Participation by donation

Calling All Artists

Tuesdays, October 27 onwards

Returns for a ninth season! Artists of all media—writers, graphic artists, visual artists, fabric artists, mixed media, musicians, dancers—are invited to study with Rabbi Harry on a particular theme, exploring biblical, rabbinical, and traditional commentaries. This year the theme will be the Revelation on Mt. Sinai, and the concept of revelation itself: what is revealed, what is hidden, what is known at a soul level, what cannot be known.

After 5 sessions of study, one evening per month, continuing until the end of February, artists will interpret the theme and present their work at a Gala Evening in June, around the time of Shavuot.

Art as Midrash—what could be more exciting?

Cost is $50 for members, $75 for non-members, with possible additional costs to create a chapbook of the artists’ work.  Watch this space for details of registration.

Beginner Hebrew

10 classes of 2 hours each, from Wed October 7, 7pm

Your Adult Ed team is delighted to welcome Betsy Boeno, who will teach our new beginner Hebrew class.  She will use the classic Hebrew alphabet, but the main focus of the course will be conversation and giving you the confidence to start speaking very quickly.

Betsy has extensive experience teaching Hebrew. She attended high school in Israel and helped new olim with their Hebrew.  For a number of years she was a tourist guide for visiting Israelis in Turkey, where she also taught Hebrew at a number of synagogues.  She taught a class here over the summer, and some of the comments from her students include:

“Betsy makes learning Hebrew such fun and you learn so much.”  

“She is so enthusiastic.”

“I go into her class feeling tired and lethargic and I come out completely re-energized.”

$100 for members, $140 for non-members.

Download the Registration Form

Ḥug Ivrit: Conversational Hebrew club

Tuesdays, November 3 onwards, 10:45–11:45 am

Conversational Hebrew with native speaker Dahlia Beck

Is your Hebrew well beyond the beginner level, but you know you require more practice speaking in order to improve your listening, comprehension and vocabulary skills? Our new Ḥug Ivrit may be just what you are looking for.  We’ll meet in informal settings, such as coffee shops and private homes, to immerse ourselves in Hebrew conversation and culture, under Dahlia’s careful guidance.

Just think, after only a few sessions you may find yourself discussing the news coming out of Israel, in HEBREW – how cool is that?  

Participation – by donation.

Details on places and times to be announced. How often Ḥug Ivrit meets will be decided at the first session.

Baby Yoga

Every Monday in November 10:45–11:45 am, at the synagogue.

Please come and join Yoga Therapist  Michelle Rubin & baby Hudson for this fun and therapeutic class. Michelle draws from 30 years of personal Yoga practice and has over a decade of local and international teaching experience.

Michelle & baby Hudson will lead you through simple but effective poses to help you reclaim your hips & shoulders while preparing your back for your ever growing bundle of joy.

  • Who is it for: Caregiver(s) & baby. Older siblings are welcome to join in and thankfully new resident bubbie (grandma) Barb Pelman will be on hand to help entertain them with storytelling and activities.
  • Cost: Donation to synagogue of $10 pre-register for all 5 classes OR $5 drop-in fee.  Please bring cash or cheque to first class.
  • What to bring : Yoga mat(s) & a comfy blanket or rug for baby.

For additional yoga information please email Michelle.

This is a great opportunity to meet and hang out with other parents of young children.

Forum on marijuana

Tuesday, November 24, 7pm at the Sanctuary

A very important forum on marijuana, led by experts in the field of medical research, the negative effects on society as a whole caused by the criminalization of its use, and how it can be safely decriminalized.  We will also hear from an experienced and respected grower of the plant.  Our own Rabbi Harry will moderate and discuss the halakhic implications of its use.

Watch for further details shortly.

Aleph Through the Looking Glass: The course

Wednesdays, Jan 20–Feb 24, 2016, at 7:00 pm, at the synagogue

After his acclaimed talks earlier this year, Jonathan Orr-Stav returns with a full five-lesson course to help you master Hebrew script quickly—ideal for any beginner to Hebrew.

This course is a revolutionary and highly effective way of learning the Hebrew aleph-bet. Basing it on his book of the same title, Orr-Stav shows how any literate English speaker can master the essentials of writing in Hebrew within five lessons, separately from the language itself, thanks to a historical kinship between the two alphabets, fundamental manual tendencies known as “chirodynamics”, and a little-known fact that most HFL (Hebrew as a Foreign Language) books would rather you didn’t know. The sessions are projected to be an hour each. Workbooks will be provided.

Cost: $50 to members, $70 to non-members. Orr-Stav’s book, Learn to Write the Hebrew Script: Aleph Through the Looking Glass will also be available at a discounted rate of $25 for anyone interested.  

Philosopher’s Café

Beginning in January and led by Alan Rutkowski.  We’ll meet informally in private homes to discuss Jewish philosophers based on readings, which Alan will provide prior to the meeting, so you’ll have a chance to consider them beforehand.

Possible philosophers will include Abraham Joshua Heschel, David Hartman, Joseph Soloveitchik, Martin Buber and Yeshayahu Leibowitz.  

Participation: by donation.  Watch this space for start dates and times

Aleph—back by popular demand

Due to popular demand, Jonathan Orr-Stav is repeating his fascinating talk on the Hebrew Aleph Bet. If you missed it the first time, now’s your chance!
Conventional Hebrew study materials teach the Hebrew script by rote, as though it bore no relation to the Roman script familiar to all English speakers. In this intriguing talk, based on his book of the same title (which will be available at cost of $30), Orr-Stav shows how it doesn’t have to be that way, and how any literate English speaker can master the essentials of writing in Hebrew within three lessons, separately from the language itself, thanks to historical kinship between the two alphabets, fundamental manual tendencies known as “Chirodynamics”, and a little-known fact that most HFL books would rather you didn’t know.
The session is projected to last about an hour and a half.

  • When: Monday, April 13, at 7:00 p.m.
  • Where: Congregation Emanu-El, 1461 Blanshard Street

For any questions about the course, please contact Jonathan Orr-Stav at or Ruthi Wicks.

Adult Education Calendar: updates

“Education is learning what you didn’t even know you didn’t know.”

– Daniel J. Boorstin

Here are the latest updates for Adult Education. We have added another Folkshul event for December 10 and two exciting classes in modern Hebrew for Winter 2015!

Regular Classes

  • Mystic Mocha– Talk Talmud and Ḥassidic teachings with Rabbi Harry at the Solstice Café on Pandora St. – Fridays, 12:30–1:30 pm
  • Lunch & Learn – Learn about the week’s parashah and other Torah wisdom –  Tuesdays, 12:30–1:30pm, at the synagogue
  • Introduction to Judaism – For those interested in learning more about Judaism, whether they are already Jewish or considering choosing Judaism – Thursdays, 7:30 pm pm at the synagogue
  • Morashah: For people who have taken the Introduction to Judaism class, or any members who would like to deepen their knowledge of what is means to live a Jewish life – Thursdays, 7:00 pm, at the synagogue.

New Hebrew Classes: 

  • Aleph Through the Looking Glass: A five-session course (and book) showing how any literate English speaker can master the essentials of writing in Hebrew in three lessons, separately from the language itself, thanks to historical kinship between the two alphabets (see separate item for details)

  • Bet – You Can Read & Speak Hebrew: Using a learner’s Hebrew newspaper and other materials, Dahlia Beck, a native Hebrew speaker with years of experience as an ESL teacher, will lead reading and conversation on a wide variety of topics as well as help you work on Hebrew grammar and vocabulary (see separate item for full details)

New Adult Ed course: Bet – You Can Read & Speak Hebrew

Intermediate Modern Hebrew Conversation group

Have you reached a high beginner/intermediate level in your Modern Hebrew skills?

A newly formed Modern Hebrew conversation group can help you deepen and expand those skills.

Using a learner’s Hebrew newspaper and other materials, Dahlia Beck, a native Hebrew speaker with years of experience as an ESL teacher, will lead reading and conversation on a wide variety of topics as well as help you work on Hebrew grammar and vocabulary.

Each lesson projected to be 90 minutes–2 hours long.

  • Cost: $150, to include all course materials
  • Day: Tuesdays, 7 pm, March 24 – June 2, 2015
  • Location: Congregation Emanu-El, 1461 Blanshard Street

To register, use the registration page, or email Dahlia Beck or Heshi Olson.

Please watch the Emanu-El newsletter and the Adult Education section of the Web site for details about registration.

New Adult Ed course: Aleph Through the Looking Glass

image

For a native English speaker to learn Hebrew is triply daunting, because it involves not only learning a new language, but one that is not of Indo-European origin, and mastering a completely different script.

Of these three obstacles, the script is psychologically the most intimidating. Indeed, conventional Hebrew study materials teach the Hebrew script by rote, as though it bore no relation to the Roman script familiar to all English speakers.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Using academically well-established, but little known historical evidence, Jonathan Orr-Stav (a.k.a. Jonathan Ure Stoppi—a third-generation Hebrew translator and editor—shows how, in fact, the Hebrew script shares a common heritage with its Roman (and Greek) counterparts—one that can be exploited to master Hebrew writing within three comparatively simple steps.

In this five-part course, based on his book of the same title, Orr-Stav first describes precisely how the Hebrew and Roman scripts are related, then takes the students through a three step process of mastering writing in modern Hebrew cursive. In the final, fifth lesson, he shows how to make the transition from that to the print version of the Hebrew alphabet.

 On the way, attendees will also learn:

  • about history’s most unheralded genius and what we owe him
  • the best-kept secret in the history of western writing
  • that they already know dozens of Hebrew words that they didn’t know they know
  • what is written on a modern shekel coin (and why almost no Israeli can read it)
  • the six rules of the little-known theory of chirodynamics
  • why the Monty Python sketch about the Judean National Front needs to be rewritten.

Each lesson projected to be 90 minutes–2 hours long.

Cost: $100*, to include a copy of Orr-Stav’s book of the same name. 

  • When: Wednesdays, 7 pm, January 28 – February 25, 2015 (5 sessions)*
  • Where: Congregation Emanu-El, 1461 Blanshard Street.

You can  register for the course at the synagogue office or at the Emanu-El website.**

Registration and payment must be completed before the class begins.

Should you have any questions about the course, contact Jonathan at jonathan@orr-stav.com or Heshi Olson at heshi@me.com

__

* Except Feb. 4th, when Israel’s Ambassador to the UN will be giving a talk. That week, the course lesson will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 3rd.

** People accessing this page on smartphones (iPhone or Android), find encounter warnings about the registration link’s security. This is due to technical issues of the server, and is beyond the control of Congregation Emanu-El staff.  The user can still access the page, though, by clicking “Accept” at the top righthand corner—but a simpler solution is simply to pay with a standard computer (desktop or laptop), rather than on a smartphone.

Fall Hebrew Literacy Class

Biblical Hebrew Level I

with Gidi Nahshon

This is a beginner’s level course, and is designed for the individual with very little or no previous knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet.  You will be introduced to the Hebrew language, using the Shabbat evening service as a guide.  The goal of the class is to enable students to learn to read simple Hebrew prayers, including learning the melodies.

**Monday evenings at the Synagogue 7-9pm, starting October 20**

For fees and further information, please contact Lesley Lymbery at 250-479-2350 or ljlymbery@shaw.ca and to register.

Spring Hebrew Literacy Class

Biblical Hebrew Level II with Gidi Nahshon

**Monday evenings at the Synagogue, 7-9pm, starting March 17**

This course is designed for the individual who is familiar with the Hebrew alphabet and has a basic reading knowledge of Hebrew. You will focus on comprehension of Biblical Hebrew, through study of grammar and vocabulary, while continuing to develop your reading skills. The text draws on passages from Jewish literary sources. You will also learn various Hebrew melodies.

For fees and further information, please email Lesley Lymbery or tel. 250-479-2350 to register.