cellio | learning Hebrew

When the texts for the Melton program include classical sources (e.g. talmud), they include both the Hebrew (or Aramaic) and the English. This came as a pleasant surprise; I don't imagine that most of their target audience reads Hebrew. Last night, as we were looking at one talmudic passage (which I have studied with my rabbi), I said "that translation doesn't sound right" and looked at the Hebrew. One other student was about 10 seconds ahead of me in saying "that's not what that says". (Insert frustration with Melton over misleading translations.)

During the break I was talking with another student (from my congregation); she asked me if I'm fluent and I said no and I'm trying to learn but having to do it on my own. Doesn't AJL teach Hebrew? Modern conversational, I said, but not biblical/written; there's no one other than Pitt teaching that as far as I know, and I can't take time during the work day. That other Hebrew-reading student was nearby and he said "Kollel will teach you". That's news to me; I get their class lists every semester and haven't seen language classes. But what I actually said to the student is "for women?". You see, Kollel is an Orthodox institution and is generally gender-segregated; they mark a very few of their classes as "for women" and I'd been told that if it doesn't say that, it's for men. Most formal learning in the Orthodox community is done by men, so that isn't surprising. But it means I've never actually been in the Kollel, because their women's classes so far either haven't appealed or haven't been at times I could go.

Anyway, so this student said "I'm sure they'll teach you, and if they can't help you I will find you a chevruta (study partner)". Wow! So I'll send email to Kollel, and if they can't help me I'll ask this student for help.

This readiness to help a stranger (I don't know the guy outside of our shared class) is characteristic of the best of Orthodox Judaism. There are unhelpful people in that community to be sure, as there are in any community, and good people outside of it, but if I had to pick a Jewish community in which to seek help from an arbitrary stranger, the Orthodox community is where I'd look. They get this in a way that a lot of the rest of us don't. It makes me a little sad to think that if someone sought similar help from a member of my community, the odds are much higher that the answer would be "I don't know" or "you should ask so-and-so", not "I'll help you get an answer". I am guilty of this too, and it's something I'd like to improve.