Why can’t Jews speak Hebrew?
How come so few Jews in North America know how to speak Hebrew?
Sure a lot of them know how to read Hebrew from Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and there is a flowery English translation in the prayer books. So why can’t Jews speak modern Hebrew?
Did the rabbis, who for years spend so much time repeating the same prayers over and over again, ever sit us down and explain to us the simple three consonant verb root system and the pattern of tenses? It can be done in 15 minutes! I had to learn it in a kibbutz ulpan.
Now the World Zionist Organization in cooperation with the Israeli Ministry of Education is starting a program to get all the North American Jews to speak modern Hebrew. People cynically say “Good luck!”
It is said that the Jewish diaspora is weakening in a number of ways. There are a number of systems to learn Hebrew. “Repetition is the mother of learning.”
Hebrew is the glue that holds us together.
Probably more Arabs than North American Jews can speak Hebrew!
So, if the Jews are supposed to be so smart, how come we can’t speak our own language?
Joe Karbank
Overland Park, Kan.
Thank you from SAFEHOME
Thank you to the Flo Harris Foundation for continued funding of SAFEHOME’s Jewish Outreach Program for 2014-2015. SAFEHOME hired me 14 years ago as the Jewish Outreach program coordinator and volunteer manager. I am happy to say that providing Jewish outreach is still an important part of my SAFEHOME responsibility. Over these 14 years, a major shift occurred among our Jewish clergy in recognizing that domestic abuse can happen in their congregational families. It’s a positive change.
Never underestimate the power of knowledge. Emergency cards about our services appear in bathrooms throughout the Jewish Community Campus and in most of our community’s synagogues and temples thanks to dedicated volunteers. Several temples and shuls send groups to volunteer at SAFEHOME; these “mitzvah projects” always start with an informational talk before the actual volunteering.
Whether it’s speaking to a mitzvah group, or at a community function, it’s not uncommon for someone to pull me aside asking a “hypothetical question,” or to share a story of her (or his) own history with domestic violence. It still takes my breath away. Usually the person tells me about abuse that happened years ago, but never told anyone because of the fear of not being believed. That person knows I will, and I am grateful to represent SAFEHOME and be able to offer empathy, and resources when necessary. These stories are always hard to hear, but need to be shared; unfortunately this problem affects our community. Jewish tenets such as shalom bayit sometimes keep victims from seeking help. One ever-present goal is to remind individuals that it is the responsibility of each person in a relationship to create that “peace.”
Again, thank you to the Flo Harris Foundation for allowing SAFEHOME to sustain this education and connection to resources. Even after the “actual volunteering,” junior volunteers from the Jewish community who performed in “The Outrage” still give back by spreading their knowledge regarding healthy relationships and dating violence. The bottom line is, you just never know when the knowledge you share will help someone else — perhaps even save a life — and as written in Talmud, “… whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”
SAFEHOME remains dedicated to serving victims of domestic violence in the Jewish Community through outreach counseling, legal assistance, advocacy and shelter (kosher food upon request). All services are free and confidential; call the hotline for any question or concern, 913-262-2868. If you’re interested in volunteering for this program, contact me at 913-378-1518 or .
Susan Lebovitz
SAFEHOME
Jewish Outreach Program Coordinator
Be an informed voter
Are you concerned that Kansas schools have been underfunded? Are you upset that the Overland Park City Council (and other cities) had to repeal its ban on the open carry of guns in the city because of laws passed in Topeka? Do you want the legislature to try to pass another version of the discrimination bill that would have allowed people (including police and protective services, etc.) to refuse to provide services if it would be contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs (e.g. to someone who was gay)? These are only a few of the issues at stake in the Aug. 5 primary and Nov. 4 general election.
First, go to jocoelection.org to lookup your elected officials. Look at the sample ballot for the Aug. 5 primary. Then go to the non-partisan site votesmart.org to see the key votes of YOUR Kansas representative. Did (s)he support HB 2453 (discrimination)? HB 2473 (guns)? HB 2506 (school funding bill that did not restore all the funding lost to public schools in recent years, just shifted it around but DID give corporations tax breaks for contributions to private school scholarship funds and removed teachers’ due process rights.).
Be an informed voter! Don’t sit out the primary or the general election because YOUR VOTE MATTERS. Kansas is at risk if “good people do nothing.”
Alice J. Capson
Overland Park, Kan.
