Adults Study Hebrew to Follow Services, Read Torah, Travel to Israel

There's no sign of "summer lightning" in the Tuesday evening adult language classes at Temple Micah. Just a lot of determination and hard work.

"Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning. And Hebrews learn it backwards which is absolutely frightening." --Prof. Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady

"I just love teaching adults because they want to be there," said Miriam G., who leads the Level II Hebrew class. "I don't have to worry about calling parents to say someone didn't do their homework."

In a nearby classroom, Meryl Weiner is introducing the adult B'nai Torah class to the mysteries of cantillation, the tiny symbols that indicate the intonation when chanting the Torah. Her 18 students are in the second year of a course that culminates this spring when they are called to Torah.

And new this year, a class in conversational Hebrew meets during the day on Thursdays and is taught by Moshe Z., a native of Israel who came to the United States 12 years ago. So far, the course has four students who hope to learn enough to get by on trips to Israel.

The three classes exemplify Micah's commitment to intellectual challenges and lifelong Jewish learning.

The students are an eclectic mix. They include Micah members and non-members, people who grew up in Jewish households and some who chose Judaism.

"Last year in the adult B'nai Torah class we had two Christian clergy who wanted to learn Hebrew," said Weiner. "They were in class for the length of time it took to learn the letters and to read Hebrew." Much of the first year is devoted to beginning Hebrew, previously offered as a separate class.

When the Level II class began in October, Miriam, the daughter and granddaughter of Reform rabbis, received a wide range of responses from her 20 students when she asked what people hope to get out of the course.

Many said they wanted to improve their Hebrew to the point where they could keep up with the congregation during services. Others wanted to start learning Hebrew as a language, to recognize the meaning of the words they chanted on Shabbat.

One person told Miriam she had been attending services for decades and knew all the Hebrew prayers by heart but could not translate the words.

"The way I look at it, the class is mostly just helping people improve their synagogue skills," said Miriam.

She does that with a watchful eye and a precise ear.

"V'sha-m'ru v'nei Yis-ra-eil," someone reads. It is a familiar passage from the Shabbat evening service. Gently but firmly, Miriam insists on the correct pronunciation of each letter, each syllable. The lesson then turns to the meaning. Understanding Hebrew requires knowing the roots on which the language was built. The class knows that the root of the opening word of the passage means "to keep." From there it is a simple step to understand that the prayer exhorts "the children of Israel to keep the Sabbath."

With its more specific goal, the adult B'nai Torah class requires a stronger commitment.

"It's really thrilling that so many want to participate in this venture and are so willing to commit to a two-year class," said Weiner.

This is the second group of adults she has taught. In 2003, Rabbi Zemel told her that with the growth of the congregation, most Saturdays were taken up with b'nai mitzvah of young people. There were not enough openings to accommodate adults who wanted to be called to Torah. He asked if Weiner would be willing to teach an adult group, and she agreed.

"There was a groundswell," she said. More than 40 people signed up. Several moved and others found their work schedules didn't leave them enough time. In the end, 18 people stood before the congregation in May 2005 and chanted their Torah portions.

By Don Rothberg from February 2007 Vine