These Biblical Hebrew introductions are low key and fun! You don’t need any experience of Hebrew or other languages (so forget those dreaded French and Greek classes!).

Click here to book

Hebrew for Fun is a basic introduction to the Biblical Hebrew alphabet and will last 8 weeks, consisting of 90 minutes sessions plus a break. We will practice the Alphabet and see a few of the quirks of the language.

In order to be accessible to all in the Diocese, the sessions will run online through Zoom.

Due to numbers there are 3 options:

• Tuesday 2pm starting 13th October
• Wednesday 2pm starting 14th October
• Wednesday 7pm starting 14th October

If you missed the Taster Days then you can ask for a video recording of the session.

Tutor: Elizabeth Harper

It will be helpful to do a little bit of homework between classes – primarily learning the alphabet and a few words. This will not be taxing or essential but will increase the benefit of the course. You are welcome to come to the first session just to try it.

What you will need:

You will need a Bible, pen and paper for the sessions. I will send worksheets for each session. You will need to print these or work on them in your word processor during the session.

Helpful tools:

• Fonts
  • There is a free SBL Hebrew Font to get the best printing of these documents. You will not need the SBL drivers or manuals unless you wish to do some serious Hebrew writing.
• Hebrew Bible
  • Online: https://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/63255/jewish/The-Bible-with-Rashi.htm
• Hebrew Bible Interlinear:
  • https://biblehub.com/interlinear/genesis/1.htm
• Listen to the Hebrew Bible read
  •  https://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/ptmp3prq.htm
• Alphabet Songs:
  • Aleph Bet to a Jewish melody starts slow and goes faster – uses phonetic support by Joshua D. Tyra
  • Aleph with Beth (similar to English alphabet songs)
  • Yankee Doodle: with Digital Hammurabi (only Hebrew letters) or Ted Hildebrandt (fast but has supporting visuals)
  • Aleph Bet Song – includes both sounds and written but slightly different alphabet pronunciation e.g. yud rather than yod. Debbie Friedman, Animated or just alphabet
  • Sesame Street jazz aleph bet
  • Aleph Beis Song (12 mins) with lots of extra detail. Worth watching every now and again
  • Aleph Bet rap
  • Alphabet and Vowels Song by Danny Zacharias also sings some Hebrew Grammar
  • Hebrew Numbers 1 -10
• A simplifed Hebrew Alphabet and alphabet learning tools
  • Scripture Workshop
  • University of Washington Alphabet Tool
• History of Writing
  • Thoth’s Pill An animated History of Writing (especially videos 4,7,8,9
• Websites that help learn Hebrew
  • Aleph with beth

Aims and Objectives for the 8 week course:

The aims of the Hebrew for Fun course are to:

• introduce the Hebrew alphabet so that commentaries become meaningful.
• discover some of the structures and grammar of Biblical Hebrew. This will enable a better understanding of the Old Testament.
• have fun.

By the end of the course you will have:

• written and pronounced the Hebrew alphabet.
• learnt several of the more common words and translated some simple bible passages.
• discussed the nature of Biblical Hebrew translation.
• looked at and analysed some biblical poetry and narratives to see how Hebrew differs from English.
• (For preachers and biblical teachers) Looked at the various tools, lexicons etc. which will help you to understand key words and ideas in a passage.

Register an Interest:

Click here to express an interest in the Biblical Hebrew for Fun sessions.

You should receive an automated email confirmation within 24 hours. If not please contact Elizabeth Harper (see right hand panel).