Hebrew Language

Professor
Joel Roth, Chair

Associate Professor
Edna Nahshon

Senior Lecturer
Nitza Krohn

Lecturers
Sarah Pelee
Allon Pratt

Adjunct Assistant Professor
Shlomit Shraybom-Shivtiel

Adjunct Instructors
Tamar Ben Vered
Idit Benmor-Piltch
Nina Nesher

Adjunct Lecturers
Cila Allon
Yael Friedman
Einat Natan-Schwed
Tsipi Rubin
Shoshana Wagner

The overall goal of the Hebrew language curriculum of JTS is to enable students to read the literature of the disciplines taught in the academic departments of JTS with facility and comprehension. The focus of the Hebrew Department is not directly on the Bible, Mishnah, or liturgical texts themselves, but on the scholarly/academic literature which is integral to those disciplines and to all of the disciplines taught at JTS. The department also makes available training in Hebrew language oral communication.

All of the Hebrew courses, with the exception of HEB 1001 and HEB 5303, are made up of modules, and each student is assigned to two modules: one reading comprehension module and either a grammar or oral/aural module.

The Grammar (G) modules of Hebrew 1101 through 2201 expose 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.

The Reading Comprehension (R) modules focus on texts selected with graded, increasing difficulty, but all taken from the academic/secondary literature of the disciplines taught at JTS. In the course of the R modules, students are exposed to texts from all of the disciplines. While comprehension is the main goal—and toward its achievement the teacher will stress syntactical and structural elements of the Hebrew texts, elements of Hebrew grammar not covered in the Grammar module, and vocabulary acquisition—the language of instruction will be Hebrew to the extent possible without undermining the primary goal.

HEB 1001 is not divided into modules, and students will study from the textbook entitled Hayesod.

HEB 5303 is a reading comprehension course entirely, with no second module. The texts studied in it are extensive selections from the secondary/academic literature of the disciplines taught at JTS.

Placement is determined for the entering students of all JTS schools by the Hebrew Department, based mainly on a diagnostic exam. Students may be placed in the reading comprehension component of one course, and the grammar (or oral/aural) component of another.

Use of the Hebrew Language Lab is integral to all of the courses of the curriculum.

Each school of JTS determines which level of courses its students must complete in order to fulfill its Hebrew language requirement.

Below is a list of the basic courses in the Hebrew Language Department. The department offers a few electives, which appear in each year's list of courses, but not in the list below.

HEB 1001: Foundations of Hebrew  (6 credits)
HEB 1101G: Intensive Elementary Hebrew I  (2 credits)
HEB 1101R: Intensive Elementary Hebrew I  (4 credits)
HEB 2103G: Intensive Elementary Hebrew II  (2 credits)
HEB 2103R: Intensive Elementary Hebrew II  (4 credits)
HEB 2201G: Intermediate Hebrew I  (1 credit)
HEB 2201R: Intermediate Hebrew I  (2 credits)
HEB 5203O: Intermediate Hebrew II  (1 credit)
HEB 5203R: Intermediate Hebrew II  (2 credits)
HEB 5301G: Advanced Hebrew I  (1 credit)
HEB 5301R: Advanced Hebrew I  (2 credits) 
HEB 5303R: Advanced Hebrew II  (3 credits)

Search the Course Catalog for HEB courses