Elementary Hebrew I

CLAS 117-01

Old Main 002
Macalester College
Fall 2004
Instructor: Nanette Scott Goldman   e-mail

MWF 12:00-1:00 plus 1 weekly lab
Lab 117L 02: Tu 11:50-12:50 OM 002
Lab 117L 04: Tu 2:45-3:45 Car 105

Office: Old Main 407 Phone: 651 - 696 - 6659 (x6659)
Office Hours: M F 8:30-9:30 a.m. Tu 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. and by appointment.

Preceptor: Johanna Shreve (Varda)
Email: jshreve@macalester.edu
Phone: 651-695-1733
Office Hours: Sunday 8:00-9:30 p.m. and Thursday aft. TBA, lower level Kagin

Course Description: This is the first half of a 30 week intensive study of classical Hebrew grammar, morphology and vocabulary which will give you the skills necessary to decipher ancient Hebrew texts. Your primary objective this year will be the mastery of Biblical prose. You will translate a number of Biblical passages, including extended selections from Genesis and the book of Ruth. In the spring semester you will be introduced to matters of text transmission, interpretation and organization. You will learn to use the research tools, critical apparatus, lexicon, commentaries. You will be expected to read three Hebrew print types, book, block and script (students and instructor will use script for handwritten work). The oral component of the Hebrew language will receive due attention. The standard for pronunciation is Sephardic (Israeli) Hebrew. Recitation drills, online audio resources, aural comprehension exercises, simple conversational practice, songs and games will reinforce visual acquisition of the language.

The second year Hebrew courses (Intermediate Hebrew) survey the Hebrew language from antiquity to modernity. In Intermediate Hebrew, building on the first year grammar fundamentals, you will trace the development of the language through close examination of extended passages. You will read selections from Biblical prose, poetry, Qumranic (Dead Sea Scrolls) Hebrew, the Rabbinic corpus and finish the year by working in the Hebrew spoken in Israel today. Satisfactory completion of the 2-year sequence fulfills the Macalester foreign language requirement.