Dear Hevreh,

Hebrew is a wonderful, inspiring, charming, and yet deeply challenging facet of Judaism. It holds many of our greatest secrets and reveals the depths of Jewish wisdom. It is a language that has been dissected and analyzed for ages and much of what we know as Jewish — from religious laws to cultural practices — has a source in Hebrew (and particularly the Hebrew found in the Torah).

Yet while it is full of such richness, that richness is hidden behind a veil of strange looking letters, vowels, and symbols that can confound us. And not just us, but our ancestors as well, as in the case of Jews living in the first diaspora community in Alexandria who publicly read the Torah in Hebrew and Greek so that people could understand its meaning. In other words, while Hebrew can powerfully connect us to the core of Judaism, it can also make us feel estranged from our Judaism, as if we’re foreigners in (supposedly) our own home.

Because of these dual qualities of Hebrew — its richness and strangeness — it seems appropriate that for tonight’s Second Installment of the Adult Education Series: A Schtickala of Yiddishkeit we will be studying the secrets of Hebrew and the origins of anti-semitism. The first class is meant to demystify the strangeness of Hebrew, to delve into its meaning and symbolism in order to discover the richness of Judaism embedded in its sacred letters. Yet, the second class — an investigation into the origins of anti-semitism — will remind us that no matter how much beauty can be found in our traditions, these traditions built on the back of our sacred language also contain an inherent element of strangeness, of separation, of being foreign and different. And it is that strangeness, that sense of being “the other,” that has fueled anti-semitism throughout the ages.

So while we celebrate the uniqueness of our particular language, customs, traditions, and practices, let us remember that it is our uniqueness that may make us seem foreign to others.

Kol Tuv,

Rabbi Ari Saks

Photo taken from — http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/2258915/jewish/The-Hebrew-Letter-Bet.htm

Category : Adult Education Jewish Culture and History Rabbi Rabbi's Journal
Tag : adult education anti-semitism bet hebrew alphabet letters rabbi rabbi's journal