Modern Hebrew: A Language Rooted in Ancient History
The Hebrew language is a Semitic language spoken in Israel and is related to the modern languages of Arabic, Aramaic, and Amharic. It is also related to now extinct languages like Ugaritic and Akkadian.
Biblical Hebrew is the primary language in which the Jewish Bible or Old Testament was written in. Biblical Hebrew continued to develop in its spoken and writte forms throughout the centuries.
Israel: Pictures from the Holy Land
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The Hebrew Language: An Ancient Past
Ancient or Biblical Hebrew is the language of the Bible. The Hebrew language was also used to write a variety of texts including those at Qumran (i.e. the Dead Sea Scrolls) and many texts that are found in the Apocrypha and Pseudopigrapha.
Photos of Jerusalem
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Evolving Forms: Mishnaic Hebrew
According to most scholars, Biblical Hebrew was superseded by Aramaic as the vernacular among Jewish communities even in Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee in the late Second Temple Period. According to the majority view, Hebrew was relegated to the synagogue and Temple liturgy as well as other religiously related spheres of life.
There is a view that suggests that Hebrew was much more prevalent in daily use than assumed and that it found use along with Aramaic and Greek on a daily basis.
The texts of the Mishnah (the Oral Law) written in circa 2nd century CE, were written in Mishnaic Hebrew. This form appears to be an amalgamation of Hebrew and Aramaic with a unique set of grammar rules. Whether it was actually spoken outside of rabbinic circles is also a subject of debate.
There is a view that suggests that Hebrew was much more prevalent in daily use than assumed and that it found use along with Aramaic and Greek on a daily basis.
The texts of the Mishnah (the Oral Law) written in circa 2nd century CE, were written in Mishnaic Hebrew. This form appears to be an amalgamation of Hebrew and Aramaic with a unique set of grammar rules. Whether it was actually spoken outside of rabbinic circles is also a subject of debate.
Tel Aviv
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The Rise of Modern Hebrew
After the end of the Second Commonwealth which resulted at the hands of Roman destruction of Jerusalem, Hebrew remained active in the religious life of Jews throughout the world.
The medieval period saw a renaissance of sorts in the Hebrew language in the form of extensive poetry and other literature.
The rise of Modern Hebrew is in many ways tied to the rise of various Zionist movements such as Hovevei Zion which tied the creation of Jewish settlements in the then Turkish province of Palestine encompassing the ancient land of Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee as well as parts of Idumea with the need for Jews to return to their historical language.
Today Modern Hebrew is spoken by the millions of residents of the State of Israel as well as in Jewish communities throughout the world.
The medieval period saw a renaissance of sorts in the Hebrew language in the form of extensive poetry and other literature.
The rise of Modern Hebrew is in many ways tied to the rise of various Zionist movements such as Hovevei Zion which tied the creation of Jewish settlements in the then Turkish province of Palestine encompassing the ancient land of Judea, Samaria, and the Galilee as well as parts of Idumea with the need for Jews to return to their historical language.
Today Modern Hebrew is spoken by the millions of residents of the State of Israel as well as in Jewish communities throughout the world.
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Learn Biblical Hebrew
Biblical Hebrew Vocabulary, Grammar, and More!
The most comprehensive program available for English speakers who plan to learn the Book of Books! This program includes everything you need to master reading, writing, analyzing, and translating Biblical Hebrew!Featuring 26 interactive and dynamic lessons, Biblical Hebrew contains a wealth of fascinating information, including summaries of each book of the Bible and a colorful atlas of Biblical maps.
Only $99-Free Domestic Shipping.
For more information visit Learning Biblical Hebrew
First Steps in Hebrew Prayer
Traditional Jewish Prayer for the Beginner
Learn Jewish prayer for beginners with the friendliest prayer tutorial. Hear every prayer and blessing on the enclosed CD. See text in English, Hebrew and transliteration.This best-seller beautiful book provides an easy and pleasant start with the first steps of Jewish prayer, bringing to you the most important prayers and blessings. It features the Hebrew text in bold letters, line-for-line with English translation and transliteration, and is illustrated with a beautiful selection of graphics and photos.
It is coupled with a CD, so that you can easily find and play every prayer and blessing on your home stereo.
Only $39.99!
For more information visit Learn Hebrew Prayer
You may also want to consider visiting Hebrew Prayer for information related to Jewish Prayer, Israel, Torah, and other Judaism related discussions.
Learn Modern Hebrew
Improve your Hebrew Language skills!
Modern Hebrew provides all the tools you need to improve your Hebrew language skills, with 21 interactive lessons designed to improve your Hebrew language comprehension.You'll follow the linguistic adventures of Daniel, a visiting student, as he tours and studies in modern Israel. Words are translated with a click of a button, and entire on-screen passages are read clearly and distinctly. Modern Hebrew features 21 interactive lessons, complete with Hebrew/English dictionary of all words used in the program, exercises and quizzes.
The program also features a memorable journey through Israeli culture, with songs, photos, and more. Modern Hebrew is colorful and attractive, and is a great learning tool. Improve, enhance, and increase your conversational Hebrew skills and overall language comprehension with this exciting new program.
Only $59.99 Free Domestic Shipping
For more information visit Learn Modern Hebrew.
Welcome to Hebrew: Complete DVD Self Study Course
World's most advanced Hebrew course for Beginners +!
Course Basics: In the 30 lessons of the course, you'll learn over 1200 new words in Hebrew and be taught the basics of the Hebrew language. The course stresses understanding and building confidence in speaking. In addition to new vocabulary words, each lesson gives a short explanation of Hebrew grammar, including basic language building blocks, verb conjugations and drills. Each lesson ends with a dialogue!Course Level: There's no need for any previous knowledge of Hebrew! The course is for beginners and aims at providing you a good working knowledge of basic Hebrew and the ability to hold a conversation.
Learning Method: Easy, simple and clear! The lessons are not too long or too packed with information. They're intended for self-study.
Only $99.95
For More Information Visit:
Learning Hebrew DVD Course .
Recommended Hebrew Learning Resources
- Pimsleur Hebrew
- The world famous Pimsleur Hebrew course provides the student with simple to learn Audio based conversational Hebrew.
- Pimsleur Hebrew II
- Continue your quest to speak Modern Hebrew with Pimsleur Hebrew level 2.
- Biblical Hebrew
- This program includes everything you need to master reading, writing, analyzing, and translating Biblical Hebrew! Featuring 26 interactive and dynamic lessons.
- First Steps in Hebrew Prayer
- Learn Jewish prayer for beginners with the friendliest prayer tutorial. Hear every prayer and blessing on the enclosed CD. See text in English, Hebrew and transliteration.
- Hebrew Course Reviews
- The Language Chronicle is the ultimate resource for all things related to foreign languages, including product reviews, history of languages, trends, and more.
- Babylon Hebrew Electronic Translator
- With its 6,200,000 words and 300,000 expressions and idioms, Babylon leaves any other existing dictionary far behind.
- Welcome to Hebrew: Complete DVD Self Study Course
- In the 30 lessons of the course, you'll learn over 1200 new words in Hebrew and be taught the basics of the Hebrew language. The course stresses understanding and building confidence in speaking. In addition to new vocabulary words, each lesson gives a short explanation of Hebrew grammar, including basic language building blocks, verb conjugations and drills. Each lesson ends with a dialogue!
- Psalms of the Heart
- Now, you too can pray the psalms of King David, saying the very words he wrote, spoke and sang in Leshon Hakodesh (the Holy tongue) - Hebrew.
- Living Israeli Hebrew
- For the beginner... the very beginner In just a few short hours learn how to read and write. This clear and straightforward workbook has been specially created for English speakers with absolutely NO previous knowledge of Hebrew.
- The Keys to the Bible
- Computronics Corporation in Savyon, Israel has created and sold Bible codes programs since 1990. With the new Keys To The Bible program they built on the base level of Bible Codes 2000 (has all the features of Bible Codes 2000 plus much more) and added exciting new features to improve Bible codes search capabilities, added an advanced Gematria engine to enable research in letters as numbers, and added a host of Bible study aids.
- Ready for Reading: Hebrew for Children
- The next step after acquiring the basic knowledge of the Hebrew Alphabet and the vowels. For children and adults who don't mind easy tutoring style tutorial.
- Foreign Service Institute Hebrew Course
- The venerable FSI Hebrew course was produced with classroom experience with government personnel whose duties require knowledge of spoken Hebrew. It is designed to provide material sufficient to enable students to obtain minimum professional competence in both speaking and reading Modern Hebrew.
- Jewish Prayer
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Great Stuff on Amazon for Learning Hebrew
How Biblical Languages Work: A Student's Guide to Learning Hebrew and Greek
Amazon Price: $13.59 (as of 02/09/2010) 
Talk Now! Hebrew
Amazon Price: (as of 02/09/2010)
Learn to Read Biblical Hebrew: A Guide To Learning The Hebrew Alphabet, Vocabulary And Sentence Structure Of The Hebrew Bible
Amazon Price: $11.65 (as of 02/09/2010)
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New YouTube vids on Learning Hebrew
A Review of Talk More Hebrew from EuroTalk
Vocabulary Builder Hebrew Software
A Great Tool for Teaching Kids and Adults
IF your child's face lights up when they see a brightly colored picture, cuddly toy animal or a game, then this is for them. Vocabulary Builder Hebrew is designed for kids who like to be entertained. It has lots of brightly colored pictures and fun games to get your child hooked on learning. Adults love this program too!Will it work for my child?
Vocabulary Builder Hebrew is designed for children aged 4-12. It's a simple piece of educational software that they'll find easy to use. It's fun, engaging and encouraging - even for children who are easily distracted.
No reading required. Vocabulary Builder is all based on spoken language and pictures, so children don't have to be able to read in order to use it.
What will my child learn?
Vocabulary Builder covers some basic words and phrases. These have been chosen to be fun as well as useful. There are around 100 words in the program - just enough to get your child started without overloading them. The topics include colors, numbers, actions, professions and simple sentences with some prepositions.
How does it work?
There are three different sections:
Learn what the words mean with pictures accompanied by the spoken word.
Three exciting memory games that get progressively harder. It's this section where they really learn to recognise and remember words.
Record your own story. Browse through the pictures and record the words you want to appear. You can compare your recording with a native speaker if you want. You can also string your story together with any words you want to put in, then watch your story played back on cinema screen followed by a big round of applause. This really gets them talking in a foreign language and you'll be amazed how quickly they pick up the accent.
Notes for parents:
Biologically, the earlier a child is exposed to a second language the better - studies have proven that a young mind is more receptive than an older one. Learning Hebrew will also improve your child's ability in other languages.
System Requirements
Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.2 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
For more information visit Vocabulary Builder Hebrew.
Talk Now Hebrew Beginner Software
A Perfect Way to Build Vocabulary and Basic Phrases
IF you're new to Hebrew, there are some basics you will have to learn, whether you're eight years old or 80, on business abroad or a tourist on holiday. Talk Now! Hebrew offers a simple-to-use method for you to start learning the language, whoever you are.Will it work for me?
Lots of people have difficulty learning languages. Why? Most have been put off at school, don't have time to learn, or think they are too lazy to do it.
Talk Now! Hebrew answers these problems:
It lifts the language off the page. There are no dull exercises; just encouraging games that award you points for progress.
It fits easily into short ten-minute sessions. But if you want to push yourself you can learn the basics in a weekend.
if you think you're lazy, think again! You'll be amazed how motivated you can be when you enjoy the experience of learning!
What will I learn? To speak and understand enough to "get by".
You're just starting, so we won't drop you in at the deep end. There are some things you'll want to say in any language: you'll want to say 'hello', order a drink, ask for directions and so on.
This beginners program gets straight to the point. It covers food, colors, shopping, parts of the body, numbers, telling the time, countries, greetings and essential phrases.
How does it work?
Talk Now! Hebrew gives you easy-to-achieve goals. Learning a new language is far too big a task to tackle all at once, so we have broken it down into a series of rewarding challenges.
Play interactive language games. Talk Now! feeds you new words, along with pictures to reinforce your memory. It then tests your knowledge with fun quizzes. As soon as you start playing you start learning.
Earn points for every game you play. High scorers can go on to win bronze, silver and gold awards, which you can print out as a record of achievement.
You will hear Hebrew all of the time and, using the recording games, you can start speaking straight away, then compare your voice to a native speaker.
You can learn on the move. Carry on learning in the airport lounge or the ferry without a computer. Just print out the phrasebook sheets included in the program and take them with you, or upload the program's sound files onto an iPod.
System Requirements
Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
You can also upload words onto your iPod
For more information visit Talk Now Hebrew.
Talk More Hebrew Conversational Hebrew
Building Hebrew Phrases
THIS program teaches basic conversational phrases with structures that can be adapted to fit different situations. It also tackles one of the main challenges in learning a foreign language: building the confidence to speak it. Talk More's recording function allows you to compare your accent with that of a native speaker. Perfect for building a learner's spoken confidence.Will it work for me?
If you know some basic Hebrew, but you don't think you could handle a full conversation, Talk More will get you talking. Because it's aimed at recent beginners, everything you hear will be clearly spoken at a speed that you can easily keep up with.
What will I learn?
In this program you'll start putting together complete sentences, as opposed to learning individual bits of vocabulary. We've selected a range of phrases you commonly need abroad, including many that you might find essential: for example, "I'd like to pay by credit card", "My camera has been stolen", and "Where is the pharmacy?"
Topics cover greetings, shops and restaurants, getting around, hotels, phone calls, emergencies, leisure and the basic vocabulary of business and technology.
How does it work?
Watch and learn! See and hear how to speak Hebrew by watching video footage of native speakers.
Build confidence on a computer. Before testing your new speaking skills in the real world, record yourself, then play back to compare your pronunciation with that of a native speaker. (Note that we don't use electronic voice analysis: the human ear is usually much more accurate.)
Play interactive games. The comprehension quiz prompts you to react to real life situations, while a challenging recording quiz tests your knowledge and pronunciation.
You earn points for every game you play. High scorers can go on to win bronze, silver and gold awards, which you can print out as a record of achievement.
You can learn on the move. Carry on learning in the airport lounge or on the ferry. Just print out the phrasebook sheets included in the program and take them with you.
System Requirements
Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
You can also upload words onto your iPod
For more information visit Talk More Hebrew Conversational Software.
World Talk Hebrew Intermediate Software
IT'S easy to be fazed when you start a conversation in Hebrew and the person you're talking to replies using lots of words that you haven't learned yet. World Talk prepares you for these real-life situations with addictive listening games. It will teach you to recognise key words in everyday situations and broaden your vocabulary.Will it work for me?
If your Hebrew is good enough to follow basic conversations, but you still need to practice, World Talk is for you.
Everything you'll hear in the program is in Hebrew, but you don't need to know every word before you start. Listen for key words that you already know, then pick up new words in the same way you would when talking to a native speaker.
What will I learn?
To keep on listening. When a word comes up that we don't recognise, we often stop listening because we're focusing on that one word and nothing else. This program lets you grasp the gist of what someone's saying without getting hung up on the words you don't understand.
You will develop your practical knowledge of Hebrew. There are 10 different games covering numbers, conversations, descriptions, sentence building, directions and dictation practice. These activities cover a wide range of subjects and give you important practical skills that you can use immediately.
How does it work?
Play interactive language games and earn points for every game you play. High scorers can go on to win bronze, silver and gold awards, which you can print out as a record of achievement.
Speak and write in Hebrew. Record yourself and compare your pronunciation with a native speaker, then test your written Hebrew with four dictation exercises.
You'll start to think in Hebrew! World Talk is an 'immersive' experience: in this program you will only hear Hebrew. You'll learn to associate the language with memorable images - not just the equivalent words in your own language. This means you'll start thinking in Hebrew, which will make you quicker at understanding and recalling words.
System Requirements
Windows 2000 or later
Mac OS X 10.3.9 or above
CD ROM Drive (+ computer microphone)
For more information visit World Talk Hebrew Conversational Software.
Zemirot L'Shabbat- Me'en Olam Haba
Songs for the Shabbat
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- SteveWilliams SteveWilliams Oct 27, 2008 @ 4:48 pm
- What a great lens. I saw it advertised through Google and just had to click through and I'm so glad that I did. I recently have become interested in learning Hebrew and this was an excellent resource so thanks very much!
All the best,
Steve.
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Reply
- bwcabound bwcabound Oct 1, 2008 @ 8:02 pm
- very good information, we have been going back to the Hebrew Bible to get the true interpretation of the Holy Word.
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Reply
- Ben Ben Jul 22, 2008 @ 7:11 am
- Great lens. Got here from the Jerusalem Post website. You may be interested to check out my site at http://www.jewishdictionary.co.il .
Kol Hakavod,
ben
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