Hebrew

We recently received a letter from “Concerned Citizen,” an anonymous 8^th grader from Boston, who noticed that in the Hebrew series Z’Man L’Tefilah (Time for Prayer) “every single illustration in the book depicts white people,” and urged us to do better than to present “a singular image of Jews.”

The student is right. This series, developed in the 1980s by the publishing company A.R.E., is illustrated with small line drawings that present what could be called an Ashkenazic world view, a view that North American Jews are exclusively descended from the Eastern European Jews who immigrated during the late 1800s and early 1900s as they fled pogroms and other atrocities.

Behrman House took over distribution of this series in the early 2000s, and while we regularly review already published titles, as a small independent publisher we do not often have the budget to go back and

As we all know, there is no single magic bullet to ensure our students connect to the language of their tradition.

It would be easy if the only choice of Hebrew approach were one-size-fits-all. But there’s no single way. 

Our job as educators is to provide learners with real opportunities to use Hebrew in a way that aligns with the community's goals. 

For some communities, the goal of Hebrew is to develop prayer skills and meaning - being comfortable participants in and leaders of Hebrew-based rituals and worship with an understanding of the meaning and value of prayer.

If this is your program's goal, as you're thinking about your Hebrew program for the upcoming year, we're highlighting some of our tried and true Hebrew prayer materials for grades 4-6. These high quality materials have been created by experienced master Hebrew educators, b

Your students have learned to decode Hebrew - great! 

Now what?

Skill-and-drill practice feels tiring. Instead, build on your emerging readers' excitement and new skills by giving them opportunities to experience progress in a meaningful way. 

Imagine the sense of accomplishment a learner feels when they can not only read a sentence in Hebrew, but understand it too. Or when they learn new vocabulary and can then add it to other words they know to form a sentence. Or when they win a game of tic-tac-toe by reading Hebrew words. 

Shalom, Reader: 57 Hebrew Activities to Show What You Know offers the perfect fill-in for kids to consolidate their skills and take it to the next level. Think of it as a bridge between a Hebrew primer and more complex texts from a reading or prayer learning program. 

Shalom, Reader introduces students

Strong Hebrew programs have a clear rationale, a reason for doing what you're doing. Knowing your end goal provides you the necessary filter and foundation upon which to structure learning experiences, create effective lessons, choose appropriate materials, and develop benchmarks. 

We’ve provided a start with this guide that maps four sample learning goals to a range of materials that will help you get there. Download the Consider Your Goals guide.

This guide - plus more planning help - is available at behrmanhouse.com. Just click PLAN on our homepage.

One key goal for many programs is to help students recognize the Hebrew letters and their sounds, and to put those together to form syllables and words as they prepare to join the c

Long used to beautify the words and acts of prayer, music creates a safe and welcoming environment rich with opportunities for learning.

The Hebrew in Harmony music-based prayer curriculum invites students to sing and pray in Hebrew, as well as read, explore, and interpret prayer text.

It does this through arts, movement, videos, an app for a full digital learning experience, and the centerpiece—music from top Jewish musicians.

There are 22 individual modules – each devoted to a specific prayer – and designed specifically to be taught by educators. Learn more about Hebrew in Harmony and find sample materials here.

The series features music from more than 60 of today’s top Jewish musicians. Here’s what the co-hosts have been up to recently.

Long used to beautify the words and acts of prayer, music creates a safe and welcoming environment rich with opportunities for learning.

The Hebrew in Harmony music-based prayer curriculum invites students to sing and pray in Hebrew, as well as read, explore, and interpret prayer text.

It does this through arts, movement, videos, an app for a full digital learning experience, and the centerpiece—music from top Jewish musicians.

There are 22 individual modules – each devoted to a specific prayer – and designed specifically to be taught by educators. Learn more about Hebrew in Harmony and find sample materials here.

The series features music from more than 60 of today’s top Jewish musicians. Here’s what some of them have been up to recently.

The popular study guides Parashat HaShavua are now available in digital turn-page format, so students can continue their b'nai mitzvah learning seamlessly, whether they are in person, remote, or a combination of both.

There is a study guide for each of the 54 weekly Torah portions, and includes blessings, an overview of the weekly reading, the text of the reading in both Hebrew and English, rabbinical commentary, and study and discussion questions. Each guide also includes the corresponding Haftarah reading, in Hebrew and English.

Your purchase includes a physical copy of the book PLUS access to a digital turn-page version of the book, with permission to share it with one student for one school year. 

The turn-page version is an exact duplicate of the physical book, including the same page numbering. 

Access to the turn-page version is combined with a physical book. It is designed to make

The beginning of a new school year is a great time to review learners' Hebrew skills, and to plan how you will support their learning all year long. 

Learning Hebrew is a skill that takes practice to keep sharp, just like any other skill. The more often students are exposed to Hebrew and practice using it, the stronger their language skills will be. A little bit of regular practice goes a long way to boosting confidence and proficiency. 

Research shows that effective Hebrew learning comes from regular exposure to authentic language in various ways, including listening and speaking. Further, the best language connections come from using Hebrew in creative ways.

Here are some simple engaging ways to practice in small bites.

Movement-based Conversational Hebrew

Every week this summer, students from Temple Shaari Emeth in Manalapan New Jersey, met to play games and socialize.

The fun and relaxed environment also created an easy space for children in grades 3-6 to practice their Hebrew skills.

They used Hooked on Hebrew playing cards to play "tons" of games, such as Bingo, Crazy 8's, Go Fish, and Memory, at the synagogue's Summer Hebrew Enrichment program. "We used the decks every single week because the students loved them so much," said Melissa Pescatore, director of religious education. 

It’s mid-August. For many students and teachers—particularly in the South and West—back to school is here while others will be back in session in mid-to-late September. We wanted to find out what back to school looks like in this awkward fall when things seem better even as we all remain cautious about what the Delta variant of COVID might mean in the coming weeks and months.

So we asked, “What will religious school look like for Fall 2021”?
47 schools from across the country responded in detail. And while uncertainty remains, and no one can yet retire the word ‘pivot’ (sorry!), educators have been finding ways to take the best from a stunningly challenging 2020 and move forward. Here are the results of the survey.

How will your school be meeting this year?

In contrast to last fall, when schools were zooming exclusively, most educators responding indicated that going into this school year t