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| Instructor Bianna Kuksin (in green) withstudents in last year's Hebrew class. |
If the struggle to read Hebrew for your Bar Mitzvah drove youstraight into the pages of a Philip Roth novel, maybe you鈥檒lfind modern Hebrew more forgiving.
鈥淭he ancient Hebrew in the Torah, even people in Israelhave difficulties understanding the language,鈥� says BiannaKuksin, Dal鈥檚 Modern Hebrew instructor.
Don鈥檛 worry, religion won鈥檛 enter the classroom.There鈥檚 no politics, either. A broad mix of studentscomprised last year鈥檚 class, taught through the RussianStudies department. (AV俱乐部 also offers Introductory ClassicalHebrew (CLAS 1900), offered through the Department ofClassics.)
Many of her students traveled to Israel after the course, shesays. 鈥淭hey wrote me that they had a very good experience.They were able to read, to understand signs and to greetpeople.鈥�
Introduction to Modern Hebrew () is聽an intense summercourse: seven weeks, four times a week for two-and-a-half hours aday. 鈥淢y main goal in the course is to give students theknowledge of the alphabet, the ability to read, to write, to put asentence together,鈥� says Ms. Kuksin.
She聽does teach about Israeli culture鈥攍ike how to findthe best falafel in Tel Aviv or the ins and outs of Israeli popmusic and film. This course will complement the upcoming JewishStudies program at AV俱乐部, says Yuri Leving, chair of the.
Probably closest to Arabic, Hebrew was rescued from nearextinction in the 19th century. While it poses some difficultiesfor English speakers, it鈥檚 鈥渁 very basic Hebrew peoplespeak on a daily basis,鈥� Ms. Kuksin says. It functions as thelingua franca of an immigrant-rich Israel.
Ms. Kuksin started teaching Hebrew to Ethiopians, Russians andother immigrants performing their national service in the Israeliarmy. She continued to teach Hebrew in Israel before moving toHalifax with her family a year and a half ago.
She moved here because she found the current situation in herhomeland too stressful. 鈥淚 think there will be a bigimmigration from Israel to Nova Scotia,鈥� she says hopefully.鈥淩ight now we are 40 families here. I am feeling that here wecan establish a better foundation for our family. And I am doingwhat I am passionate about. This is the most importantthing.鈥�
She works at Pier 21 and teaches at a local synagogue onSundays. Come to think of it, maybe she can help that bat mitzvahgo a little easier, too.
Editor's note: Due to low registration,Introduction to Modern Hebrew聽is no longerbeing聽offered聽summer 2010.