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NEWSLETTER
JANUARY 2008 HEBREW STUDY GROUP
Steve Pruner writes: Photos of the study group have finally been taken. We are not a secretive lot, and we are certainly not camera shy, nor are we afraid to show our faces. I am reminded of the story of Moses finding the courage to ask God to show his face. It is written in Exodus (Shemot) that Moses wanted to see God’s presence. God agrees to show his presence but not his face. According to tradition, God shielded Moses with His hand until He passed by, and then took His hand away so that Moses could see His back (I am paraphrasing, of course, Exodus 33:22-23).
The photos clearly show, as I have mentioned in a previous newsletter, that we do indeed sit facing each other in pairs along a long table just as they do in a traditional yeshiva. My chavrusa partner appears to be Stella as we more often than not sit across from each other. Our last session was on the 15th of December when these photos were taken at Yeshiva King of Hearts! Penny was not present but Henry duly stepped in and kindly shared his knowledge of the Hebrew language. His chavrusa partner on the day was Gemma. Sarah, Kathy and Andy were also present. Of course, these are only some of the "names and faces" of those who have attended the study sessions. Shemot, the Hebrew name of the Book of Exodus mentioned above, is directly translated as "the names of". Shem is translated as "name" and notice the plural ending of "ot". In Chapter 3, we studied plural nouns and learned that the feminine plural ending is "ot" and the masculine is "im", although there are some exceptions where masculine nouns take a plural feminine ending (for example, Avot) and feminine nouns take a masculine ending. Remember that the noun’s gender does not change even if the plural ending taken is the opposite gender. Of course, Israelis have memorised or learned these exceptions from a very early age. Just before the start of Chapter 1, we learned that traditional Jews use Ha-Shem to refer to the name of God when not in prayer or reading the name of God in the Torah. Ha-Shem is literally translated as "the name". It is interesting to note that Ha-Shem is neither masculine nor feminine and there is certainly no plural form. Our textbook does not delve into such grammatical matters to any great depth. Its purpose is to enable us to easily read our prayerbook and is designed to teach us the most commonly used words found there. The teacher’s guide also points out that even if students drop out or miss lessons due to a busy life they can still take away something of value from the lessons. I would remind those who attend less frequently that they are always welcome to join us. We finished Chapter 4 by practicing a couple of lines from Ein Keloheinu. This is a well-known prayer with plenty of repetition in it. We also practiced a line from the Aleinu, which is said in every service. Looking ahead to Chapter 5, we shall have a chance to practice the Echad Eloheinu which follows the Shema (which means listen/hear) in the service. The Shema is a line from Deuteronomy (Devarim) and you will remember from Chapter 3 that Devarim is the plural of Devar (word). I will end with a few words to say how exciting it is to see such enthusiasm in the group. Looking back, we did struggle somewhat to get through the first couple of chapters; but now that we are about to begin Chapter 5, I feel we have settled into a routine which has a "progressive" momentum to it. See you at the next session. Next Sessions:
Please see the diary section of the newsletter for further details of dates, times and location. If you have any questions or require more information, I would be happy to hear from you.
Steven Pruner |
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