Intensive Hebrew Language Session

Tuesday, May 27–Thursday, July 31
Courses are taught at the graduate level and meet three days every week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) from 9:00 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. In honor of Shavu’ot, classes will not meet on Tuesday, June 10. Classes will instead meet on Monday, June 16.

Students new to JTS, please: (1) Enter HEB 5001 on the Application Form. (2) Take the Hebrew placement exam (instructions will be sent to you). The department will then place you in the appropriate class, and your registration will be updated. (Please note that it is possible for you to place into one level for the G component and a different level for the R component.)

Students enrolling for Hebrew need to make a ten-week commitment. Please register for one Hebrew level only. Hebrew may be taken for credit only.

The overall goal of the Hebrew Language curriculum of JTS is to enable students to read secondary Hebrew literature and academic Hebrew with facility and comprehension.

All of the Hebrew courses offered during the summer—with the exception of HEB 5001—are made up of modules, and each student (again with the exception of those in HEB 5001) is assigned to two modules, one reading module and either a grammar or oral module.

The Grammar (G) module of Hebrew 5101 through 5201 exposes students to a thorough study of the Hebrew verb. The G module of HEB 5301 devotes most of the time to fundamentals of biblical Hebrew and how it differs from what has been learned thus far, and some time to rabbinic Hebrew and medieval Hebrew.

The Oral/Aural (O) module of Hebrew 5203 is devoted primarily to enabling students to listen to academic lectures in Hebrew with comprehension. The O module of Hebrew 5203 is open only to students who have completed or placed out of HEB 5201G, and it will be offered in the same time slot as the G modules.

The Reading Comprehension (R) module’s language of instruction is primarily Hebrew and the teacher will stress syntactical and structural elements of Hebrew texts, elements of Hebrew grammar not covered in the Grammar module, and vocabulary.

All JTS students must register for two modules unless they have fulfilled their school’s proficiency requirement in one of the modules, in which case they will be allowed to register for just the other module. All non-JTS students must register for both modules. Students will receive a separate grade for each module (except for Hebrew 5001).

HEB 5001: Foundations of Hebrew I   6 credits
Nina Nesher
An introduction to basic reading, writing, aural comprehension and speaking, based on the textbook Hayesod, which begins the process of vocabulary building and emphasizes grammatical constructs and sentence structure, with great emphasis on the verb system.

HEB 5101G: Intensive Elementary Hebrew Grammar I   2 credits
Tamar Ben-Vered
A thorough introduction to the fundamentals of Hebrew grammar, morphology, and vocalization. Subjects covered include: syllabification, degeishim, shevaim, and verb conjugation of sheleimim roots (including gutturals) in all seven binyanim, with correct and complete vocalization.

HEB 5101R: Intensive Elementary Hebrew Reading Comprehension I   4 credits
Cila Allon
The course is designed to begin to enable students to read secondary/academic style Hebrew, by focusing on encyclopedia entries selected from the subject matters taught at JTS. Emphasis is on vocabulary building, reading comprehension, and grammatical and syntactical structures, with exercises based on the readings intended to strengthen these skills. Hebrew is used as the language of instruction when feasible, especially to enable aural comprehension.

HEB 5103G: Intensive Elementary Hebrew Grammar II   2 credits
Einat Natan Schwed
A direct continuation of HEB 1101 designed to strengthen reading and oral/aural skills and introduce students to more vocabulary and grammar.

HEB 5103R: Intensive Elementary Hebrew Reading Comprehension II   4 credits
Session II: Allon Pratt   Session III: Miriam Meir
A direct continuation of Hebrew 1101R, with the same emphases. Entries from a higher level encyclopedia constitute the basic texts of the course, sometimes supplemented by additional readings.

HEB 5201G: Intermediate Hebrew Grammar I   1 credit
Zipora Rubin
A direct continuation of Hebrew 2103G, including ongoing review and drilling of that material. The course covers also all binyanim of verbs in the peh-nun, peh-yod, ayin vav/yod, and kefulim categories (gezarot), including gutturals and multiple category verbs (murkavim).

HEB 5201R: Intermediate Hebrew Reading Comprehension I   2 credits
Einat Natan Schwed
A direct continuation of Hebrew 2103R, with the same emphases. The basic texts of the course are taken from books or articles of the academic disciplines taught at JTS in order to continue the enabling of students to read that type of literature.

HEB 5203O: Intermediate Hebrew Oral/Aural II   1 credit
Cila Allon
This course is devoted primarily to enabling students to listen with comprehension to academic lectures in Hebrew. Completion of all components of Hebrew 2201 is a prerequisite.

HEB 5203R: Intermediate Hebrew Reading Comprehension II   2 credits
Session II: Sarah Pelee-Melman   Session III: Zipora Rubin
A direct continuation of Hebrew 2201R, with the same emphases. The basic texts of the course are again taken from more difficult or complicated books or articles of the academic disciplines taught at JTS in order to continue the enabling of students to read that type of literature.

HEB 5301G: Advanced Hebrew Grammar I   1 credit
Miles Cohen
The G module of HEB 5301 devotes most of the time to fundamentals of biblical Hebrew and how it differs from what has been learned thus far, and some time to rabbinic Hebrew and medieval Hebrew.

HEB 5301R: Advanced Hebrew Reading Comprehension I   2 credits
Tamar Ben-Vered
A direct continuation of Hebrew 5203R, with the same emphases. The basic texts of the course are extended selections from the literature of the disciplines taught at JTS, in order to continue enabling students to read such extended selections with reasonable speed and comprehension.