JLI Advances Hebrew Literacy Coast-to-Coast

Contact: Rabbi Sholom Wolberg Phone/email: rabbi@glencoechabad.com

Glencoe, IL — According to a survey by the Pew Research Center, only half of American Jews (52%) can read Hebrew.1 To fill this gap in Jewish education, the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) has developed Read it in Hebrew, an innovative Hebrew reading course that is sweeping the Jewish world. With interactive flashcards and its own app for remote learning, Read it in Hebrew utilizes the latest technology to combine timeless learning methods with contemporary psychology for a course guaranteed to be effective in only five sessions.

Read it in Hebrew was piloted in just five communities in 2016. Since then, it’s been taught at over 600 locations across North America, enabling over 6,000 people to read Hebrew, and interest is building. In Salt Lake City (UT), a city with a relatively small Jewish community, the course has run three times to increasingly large classes. The instructor, Rabbi Avremi Zippel, also teaches it to Birthright participants as a follow-up for their trips to Israel and on-line to people in four time-zones. In Stony Brook (NY), over forty students enrolled as soon as the flyers went out. Rabbi Shalom Ber Cohen, the JLI instructor in Stony Brook, is delighted to announce a rerun of the course in the near future.

“The popularity of Read it in Hebrew suggests that it meets a deeply-felt need,” explains Rabbi Shlomie Tenenbaum of JLI. “Many feel lost in synagogue simply because they don’t know how to read Hebrew. Learning to read Hebrew strengthens one’s connection to Judaism and the Jewish people in a powerful way.”

Read it in Hebrew appeals to people at all levels of Jewish education, including those without any prior experience in Jewish learning as well as those for whom it is a fun refresher course. With flashcards depicting the letters alongside catchy mnemonics, Read in Hebrew feels like a game of concentration. And, more than just a reading course, students get a glimpse of the profound depth of the Hebrew language, including brief Talmudic and Kabbalistic explanations of the letters. Enrollment is open to the public, and attendees need not be affiliated with a synagogue, temple, or other house of worship.

Interested students may call 224-580-1744 or visit JewishGlencoe.com/hebrew for registration and for other course-related information. [This course is presented in Glencoe in conjunction with Chabad of Glencoe.]