Modern Hebrew Language and Literature courses at Stanford

un mini-ulpan pentru cei care vor sa invete limba ebraica
foarte interesant si util
The Modern Hebrew Language and Literature courses at Stanford are part of the Taube Center for Jewish Studies and the African and Middle Eastern Studies section of the Stanford Language Center.
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The Basics of Reading and Understanding Biblical Hebrew

http://www.hebrewbible.co.il/demo_lesson/
Check out the free mini-lesson below, based on the materials in our new course, Read the Hebrew Bible. The lesson runs about 26.5 minutes and covers the concept of "shoresh" (word roots) in Hebrew, reading and pronouncing Biblical (and Modern) Hebrew, and a sample text translation.
The mini-lesson is followed by more information on the course and a special offer for you just for watching the lesson -- check it out!
by clik on the title

yiddish book center

The National Yiddish Book Center is proud to offer online access to the full texts of nearly 11,000 out-of-print Yiddish titles. You can browse, read, download or print any or all of these books, free of charge. These titles were scanned under the auspices of our Steven Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library, and have been made available online through the Internet Archive.
Library-Bound Reprints of Memorial Volumes Commemorating Jewish Communities Destroyed in the Holocaust From the Collections of The New York Public Library
and the National Yiddish Book Center
click on title

Breaking the Silence

"There’s a very clear and powerful connection between how much time you
serve in the territories and how fucked in the head you get. If someone is
in the territories half a year, he’s a beginner, they don’t allow him into the
04 interesting places, he does guard-duty, he’s not the one to… all he does is just
grow more and more bitter, angry. The more shit he eats, from the Jews and
the Arabs and the army and the state, they call that numbness but I don’t…
maybe it’s a heightening of the senses, like getting drunk… because serving
in the territories isn’t about numbness, it’s a “high,” a sort of negative high:
you’re always tired, you’re always hungry, you always have to go to the
bathroom, you’re always scared to die, you’re always eager to catch that
terrorist. It’s a life without rest. Even when you sleep, you don’t sleep well.
I don’t remember even once sleeping well in Hebron. At home I’d arrive,
fall asleep, get up—wow, that was some sleep! It doesn’t need to be a long
sleep. It’s simply an experience that no human being should have. It fucks
with your head. It’s the experience of a hunted animal, a hunting animal, of
an animal, whatever…"

Tisha B’Av

http://judaism.about.com
Tisha B’Av, also known as “The Ninth of Av,” is a fast day that commemorates the destruction of the two Temples. It falls on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, which usually coincides with late July or mid-August on the secular calendar.

A Tragic Day In Jewish History
The First Temple was built by King Solomon and was the most important place in ancient Judaism. It was destroyed when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E. The Second Temple was built on the site of the First Temple and was completed in 516 B.C.E. Sadly, the Second Temple was also destroyed, this time during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. The destruction of the two Temples took place on the same day – the ninth of Av - about 656 years apart. These two events were so tragic that the ancient rabbis declared the anniversary of the Temples’ destruction a day of mourning. This is the origin of Tisha B'Av.

The ninth of Av also happens to be the day that Jews were expelled from England in 1290, as well as the day that King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled the Jews from Spain in 1492. Other tragedies have occurred on this day too. Any way you look at it, the ninth of Av has not been a good day for the Jewish people.

The Three Weeks
Tisha B’Av occurs in the Hebrew month of Av, but in a way it begins during the preceding month of Tammuz. On the 17th of Tammuz in 70 C.E. the Romans breached the walls of Jerusalem, then spent the next three weeks ransacking the city until the Second Temple was burned on the ninth of Av. In remembrance of this event Jews fast on the 17th of Tammuz and observe a time of mourning during the three weeks leading up to Tisha B’Av. No weddings are permitted during this period.

The Nine Days
The Talmud says that “From the beginning of Av, we diminish happiness” (Mishnah Ta’anit 4:6). In keeping with this sentiment, the last nine days of “the three weeks” become increasingly mournful as observant Jews refrain from a number of prohibited activities. For instance, during these nine days Jews are not supposed to cut their hair or shave. This custom hearkens back to ancient times when a person showed they were in mourning by allowing their hair to grow.

During “the nine days” many Jews refrain from drinking wine, eating meat or participating in activities meant to be entertaining. Going to the movies, dancing or going out to a fancy dinner are examples of such pleasurable pastimes. According to the Talmud, Jews are not supposed to wash their clothes during this period either, because wearing clean clothes is an enjoyable experience. The purpose of all these prohibitions is to help people feel like true mourners by the time Tisha B’Av comes around on the ninth of Av.

Customs On Tisha B’Av
Tisha B’Av is a full fast day, meaning that no food or drink can be consumed from one evening to the next. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and those who are severely ill are not allowed to participate in the fast because doing so would endanger their health. Observant Jews also refrain from bathing, wearing make-up or leather shoes (both symbols of luxury) or having sexual relations. Work is permitted on Tisha B’Av.

Synagogue services on Tisha B’Av are an emotional experience. During the evening service the book of Lamentations – a somber text about the destruction of the First Temple and the siege of Jerusalem - is read aloud, punctuated by sobs and wails from the congregation. Because people are in mourning, they don’t greet each other at the synagogue and they sometimes sit on the floor instead of in seats. The following day, during the morning service, men continue to express their sorrow by refraining from wearing tefillin.

Tisha B’Av Dates for 2009-2013
In the years 2009 through 2013 Tisha B’Av falls on the following secular dates.

July 29, 2009 - July 30, 2009
July 19, 2010 - July 20, 2010
August 8, 2011 - August 9, 2011
July 27, 2012 - July 28, 2012
July 15, 2013 - July 16, 2013

The Birkhat Ha‑Gomel blessing

Blessing for surviving illness or danger
The Birkhat Ha‑Gomel blessing is said after surviving illness, childbirth, or danger.

Transliteration:

Blessing: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha‑olam, ha‑gomel lahayavim tovot sheg'malani kol tov.
Congregational Response: Amen. Mi sheg'malkha (for a woman: sheg'malayikh) kol tov hu yigmalkha (yigmalayikh) kol tov. Selah.
Translation:

Blessing: "Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe, Who bestows good things on the unworthy, and has bestowed on me every goodness."
Congregational Response: "Amen. He Who has bestowed on you every goodness, may He continue to bestow on you every goodness. Selah."
Note: Most halakhic authorities hold that the Ha‑Gomel blessing must be said publicly, in front of a minyan of 10. It is customary for men to say it after being called to the Torah. Many Orthodox authorities [1] hold that women are also obligated to say the Birchat Hagomel blessing. The blessing is not time‑dependent, and it substitutes in part for the todah (Thanksgiving) offering, one of the classes of korbanot (sacrifices) which women were obligated to offer (e.g. after childbirth) in the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. Accordingly, these authorities say that women are eligible to be counted in the minyan of 10 equally with men for the special purpose of the mitzvah of saying the HaGomel blessing and its congregational response publicly.

why did the Bible become a book at all?

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bible/written.html

kasher - kashered

Here's How:
1. Oven: Put oven through full self-cleaning cycle. Consult rabbi if oven is not self-cleaning.
2. Stove Top: Dissemble parts. Thoroughly clean surface and parts with steel wool, soap and water. Reassemble. Ignite fire to high for a few minutes.
3. Microwave: Clean thoroughly. Put glass with a few ounces of water inside. Turn microwave on high to boil water. Let water vaporize into steam.
4. Metal Sink: Boil water, and immediately pour onto every inch of the sink. Porcelain sinks can not be made kosher.
5. Nonporous Counter: Boil water, and immediately pour onto every inch of the counter. Consult rabbi if counter is made of porous material.
6. Refrigerator: Thoroughly clean with soap and water.
7. Metal pots and pans: Clean thoroughly. Wait 24 hours. Immerse each piece into a vat of boiling water. Each part being immersed must be completely surrounded by water. Remove with tongs, and rinse in tap water.
8. Frying and baking pots and pans: Glow with blow torch or in a self-cleaning oven (on full cycle). Given the difficulty of kashering these pieces, replacement with new pieces is recommended.
9. Silverware (made of one piece of metal): Clean thoroughly. Wait 24 hours. Drop each piece, one at a time, into a vat of boiling water. Remove with tongs, and rinse in tap water. Plastic and wood utensils can not be made kosher.
10. Dishes:
o To kasher china, earthenware, porcelain, corningware, corrella, pyrex, duralex enamel, and glazed stoneware, put in a self-cleaning oven for a full cycle. Replacing with new dishes might be the best solution as intense heat may damage dishes.
o Valuable porcelain dishes which have not been used for one year may be kashered, with a rabbi's permission, by dipping in boiling water 3 times.
o Glassware used for cold, or for tea and coffee, may be kashered by soaking in room temperature water for 72 hours, changing the water every 24 hours.
Tips:
1. Consult a rabbi. Rabbis will be supportive and helpful.
2. Be organized, methodical, and patient. Trying to do everything at once and quickly will be overwhelming.
3. Remember the meaning behind the work so that the experience will be spiritually uplifting rather than physically exhausting.

Israel Today: Studentii de la Medicina din Iasi cumpara oasele evreilor din cimitir

Israel Today: Studentii de la Medicina din Iasi cumpara oasele evreilor din cimitir
Facultatea de Medicina din Iasi cumpara bucati de oase umane pe care platesc 40 de dolari pentru ca studentii sa aiba material didactic.

Dezvaluirea a fost facuta de jurnalistul Yehuda Schlesinger in cadrul unui articol publicat luni in cotidianul "Israel Today", informeaza site-ul BHol.

Jurnalistul scrie ca in urma cu doua luni a primit un e-mail de la organizatia "Rabbis Central Europe", cu dovezi scrise colectate de un evreu american care s-a mutat in urma cu doi ani in Iasi, in Romania.

Potrivit sursei, studentii care frecventeaza cursurile la facultatea de Medicina din oras cumpara oase umane pentru studiu de la mormantul evreiesc, din orasul Podu Iloaiei.

Tinerii care au fost intrebati daca acest fapt nu reprezinta un gest de dispret au raspuns ca ei iau doar oasele evreilor.

Ei le ofera muncitorilor de la cimitir suma de 40 de dolari, iar ei sapa ca sa gaseasca oase. In urma investigatiei facuta de asociatia "Central European Rabbis", studentii evrei care studiaza aici au spus ca nu stiau ca de fapt studiaza pe oase adevarate, nu pe cele din plastic.

In urma cu trei saptamani, doi dintre studentii evrei s-au dus la cimitir si au cerut sa li se vanda oase. Paznicul nu a negat nimic, dar s-a intors cu o alta persoana. "Este clar ca frica aceasta ascunde ceva ilegal", a declarat un student.

"Din cate stiu eu nu exista o piata a oaselor aici si se studiaza pe oase de plastic. Am fost surprins sa aud asa ceva despre oasele fratilor nostri evrei", a declarat unul dintre studentii din Israel care invata la Iasi.

Cimitirul evreiesc se afla in localitatea Podu Iloaiei, la aproape o ora si jumatate de Iasi, iar acolo se afla oasele a peste 14.000 de evrei care au fost omorati pe 30 iunie 1941.

am gasit asta pe ziare.ro
de fapt am citit in ziarul local ieri sau alaltaieri un articol in ebraica... strigator la cer...dar strigat inutil, al fel ca si petitia mea la care nu se strang macar 500 de semnaturi...

http://ethnic.joeschwartz.net/

lista de cantece evreiesti uimitor de frumoase

NU

CUM, DE CE, NU SE POATE
ajungi aici si te intrebi ce da forta si unitate emigratiei si esenta natiunii? limba comuna si ulpanul... oricine trece prin ulpan in israel intelege cat de importanta este aceasta sansa de a fi acolo, impreuna
nu se poate fara, e ca si cum ai porni din start cu un handicap... nu se poate desfiinta sau privatiza ulpanul
ramai mult pana unde poate merge dementa si cinismul
de aceea va rog
VA ROG
PE TOTI CEI CARE CITITI ACESTE RANDURI
SCRIETI O SCRISOARE, MACAR DE 2-3 RANDURI
in ebraica sau in orice limba doriti, adresata ministrului educatiei, absobtiei sau internelor
pe adresa ulpanului nostru, sau a altuia daca doriti
ulpan_kyam@walla.co.il
vor sa concedieze acum 350 dintre profesorii de la ulpan si pana in septembrie restul de 350... vor sa desfiinteze ulpanul peste tot in Israel
DE CE SA RAMANEM MUTI SI SA ACCEPTAM ACEST LUCRU
NU POT SA CRED CA S-A AJUNS PANA LA O SOLUTIE ATAT DE ABSURDA.... O SOLUTIE FINALA LA O PROBLEMA EVREIASCA
A part of an operation aimed at the final solution of the Jewish problem: to close the ulpanim, to prevent Hebrew teaching, to suppress emigration to Israel.
ARE WE OR NOT “The Jews of Silence” about whom Elie Wiesel had written in 1963.
*
"Hebrew language studies for new immigrants are an initial milestone in the immigrant's absorption process in Israel, and a necessity that the state must grant to them in the framework of their absorption. The budget cut will severely hurt the immigrant's chances of integrating into Israeli society, in employment and in every part of life."
Absorption Minister Yaakov Edri
*

Gov't planning to close most ulpans, privatize Hebrew studies

By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz Correspondent

Tags: Absorption Ministry, Ulpan

The Immigrant Absorption Ministry intends to close down most ulpans - Hebrew study programs for new immigrants - while laying off hundreds of teachers and helping immigrants learn Hebrew at private schools, senior officials told Haaretz Thursday.

The sweeping reform comes in response to data indicating that the current method has failed, and that most new immigrants - olim - who completed ulpan courses do not speak Hebrew well enough.

In recent years Israel has taken in around 20,000 new immigrants annually, of which 8,000 adults are enrolled at dozens of ulpans (children learn Hebrew in school). Every new immigrant over 18 can elect to study Hebrew at an ulpan and receive 500 class hours taught by Education Ministry teachers - part of the absorption basket of services.
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Surveys conducted in recent years by the Immigrant Absorption Ministry found that most olim who complete ulpan studies speak Hebrew at a low or mediocre level, and that less than a third read and write at a reasonable to good level. It turns out that less than 60 percent of olim complete their ulpan studies, compared with 24 percent who never attend ulpan and 17 percent who drop out early on.

The ministry thus set up an inter-ministerial committee a year ago to review the subject. A majority of committee members concluded that upgrading the existing system would not work, and that responsibility for Hebrew instruction for new immigrants should be moved from the Education Ministry to a new state body.

Based on the committee's recommendations, the immigrant absorption minister, Jacob Edery, is weighing the merits of closing most ulpans and enabling olim to learn Hebrew at private facilities to be supervised by the new authority in charge of Hebrew instruction.

"Our goal is to introduce a serious reform and place at new immigrants' disposal the most effective tools for acquiring the language. Teaching methods can be improved substantially," Edery said. He added, however, that "we are not ruling out seeking other alternatives such as issuing a tender for private schools."

The ministry's preferred method is granting vouchers to olim, which they could use to study Hebrew at a supervised private facility.

Teaching methods are not the only problem with ulpans, according to the ministry's director-general, Erez Halfon. "Ulpans are a bad fit with the lifestyles of new immigrants," he said. "Many of them simply don't have the time to attend ulpan in the mornings. They prefer to go to work, sometimes even at two jobs."

Halfon said the ministry is looking into what the other entities that teach Hebrew have to offer. "We will make sure that olim have many more study options and more convenient hours throughout the country, so they can work at the same time," he said.

Among other things, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry is considering making Hebrew lessons mandatory for olim.

"We are thinking of making a certain part of the absorption basket of services conditional, and an immigrant who does not study Hebrew would not be eligible for that part," Halfon said. He added that incentives would be provided for those who meet the criteria.

Shlomit Amichai, director-general of the Education Ministry, told the Knesset Immigration and Absorption Committee earlier this week that the ministry is in favor of the proposed reform. However, Amichai told Haaretz yesterday that "the subject must be studied in the next two months."

Ulpans employ some 800 Hebrew teachers, who stand to lose their jobs if the reform goes through. The Education Ministry has already slashed the budget for teaching Hebrew to new immigrants from NIS 79 million in 2007 to NIS 41 million next year.

The cutback means that olim will be taught only basic Hebrew, and that professional terminology classes will be dropped from the curriculum for olim with professions, such as doctors and engineers. The current budget is enough to cover courses only until the middle of next year.

Another change the Immigrant Absorption Ministry is promoting is to establish study centers for children of olim, where they would learn Hebrew for several months before being integrated into local schools.

According to director-general Halfon, the Absorption Ministry has found that these children "sit in class and do not understand anything, and do not make friends either. It would be better for them to miss curriculum material for several months and come to their schools when they can speak Hebrew." The Education Ministry opposes this idea.

NU NE PRIVATI DE UN DREPT ELEMENTAR
ULPANUL NU ESTE PIERDERE DE TIMP, ESTE CA LAPTELE DE MAMA PENTRU UN NOU NASCUT
CEEA CE PRIMESTI AL ULPAN NU ESTE NUMAI LIMBA CI SI ANTICORPII NECESARI PENTRU A SUPRAVIETUI

The most nurturing experience an oleh could have wanted

By Ariel Zilber

Tags: Hebrew, aliyah, Israel, Ulpan

We were a unique group at Ulpan Etzion in January 2004, new immigrants from the four corners of the earth. If the Zionist enterprise is history's most ambitious lab experiment, then we were the fresh batch of mice thrown into the volatile cage. At this run-down yet reputable school in West Jerusalem, we could not have asked for a better, more nurturing facility.

From the school's social worker who took on my HMO after it wouldn't process my health insurance without proper forms from the army, to the ulpan director who assured us we were more Israeli than the natives because we were here by choice, to the Hebrew teacher who explained the difference between the verb structures, ulpan was a new home away from home, a cultural kaleidoscope that brought together gentiles from Uzbekistan, Argentine soccer fanatics, Brazilian engineering students, and young, flamboyantly wealthy French Jews.

During class, one kippah-wearing oleh from Uruguay broke out in applause when the teacher showed television coverage from the period of Rabin's assassination. One secular Brazilian girl who spent summers at Hashomer Hatzair found little in common with her Orthodox roommate. Nor was she amused when the sign she had carried to a Peace Now rally was torn into pieces by Israel's newest volunteers for the West Bank's hilltop youth.
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Although palpable, the politics of the day did not dominate the ulpan dynamic. The friendships forged cross cultural and linguistic barriers that would not have been broken in any other social structure. Where else could the Ghanaian son of a Russian Jewish mother meet a Colombian girl who would later become his bride?

Ulpan did more than just instruct us about proper spelling or warn us to tell the cab driver to turn on the meter before he offered to rip us off. It gave us our first cold dose of the Israeli reality that we grapple with to this day.