Notes from Cantor Avima

I am sure you have all learned about Rabbi Akiva, one of our greatest sages from the latter half of the first century. Rabbi Akiva is most famous for having been an adult learner. He was said to be an uneducated, illiterate shepherd until the age of 40 when he first devoted himself to the study of Torah. He eventually surpassed his teachers in knowledge and grew to be one of our most revered sages. We are about to celebrate the festival of Shavuoth which commemorates the giving of the the greatest gift God gave to the Jewish people- the Torah. We celebrate the festival by rededicating ourselves to learning so that we can deepen our connection to Torah and to Judaism. 

Hebrew is the language of our people. It is the language of Torah, the language of the Siddur (prayerbook) and the living language of the modern state of Israel. It is one of the threads that has always connected us as a people. Reading Hebrew is the foundational skill which we teach our children in Religious School so they can progress to reading the siddur and Torah. However, it has become all too easy to get around the skill of reading Hebrew by relying on transliteration. Even those who learned to read Hebrew in their youth, have forgotten how to read. Synagogues have been forced to offer more and more transliterated materials in an effort to increase participation, but I have to be honest, I don't really think this strategy has succeeded in that goal. Transliteration is awkward and often results in pronunciations that are incorrect and therefore render the Hebrew meaningless. It reminds me of enjoying the outdoors by peering through a window. 

Over the years I have made it a mission to teach adults to read Hebrew, and even beyond that, increase their siddur fluency and comprehension of basic siddur vocabulary.  If Rabbi Akiva could begin his educational journey of literacy at the age of 40, why can't you? Hey, 70 is the "new 40", right? Would it not fill you with a sense of accomplishment to start reading the siddur or High Holiday Mahzor on the "right" side of the book (rather than on the English side?) I truly feel that reading Hebrew in Hebrew can bring you a bit closer to that moment on Mount Sinai when the Israelites accepted our most previous gift from God, the Torah -  not written in transliteration, but in Hebrew. 

I am offering to start   daytime and/or  an evening class beginning in late June or early July so students will be able to follow services in Hebrew by Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. I won't lie, it will require diligent practice. Interested?  Please respond by emailing me  CantorAvima@adathshalom.net with a few time options and your level ie. "clean slate," "learned to read but need a refresher,"  or perhaps "can read but need to develop fluency".