Alef: The NEXT Conversation

03: Tongue Tied

This week we introduce Issue #3: Tongue Tied

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You’ve likely heard Jews called “The People of the Book.”  What that glib (Though not entirely inaccurate) title fails to mention is precisely what language this “book” happens to be written in.  For many in the United States, Jewish identities exist solely in English.  For others, Jewish identity can’t exist without the Biblical Hebrew of the Torah, or the Modern Hebrew spoken in Israel today.   And that’s just scratching the surface of the “Jewish” languages spoken around the world.  The truth is, the more people try to assign a single lingua franca to Judaism the more they end up tongue-tied.

Whether they speak Hebrew fluently, can’t speak a word, or would rather conjugate Yiddish or Spanish instead, the authors in Alef’s third issue, “Tongue Tied,” have all shared the ways they connect with Judaism through language; We think you’ll like what they have to say.  And, if you’re not feeling too tongue-tied yourself, we hope you’ll leave a comment or two as well.

-Alef

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Tongue Tied Posts:

The Language Barrier
Hebrew Slang 101: Mistalbet
Judaism Through Cholent
Judaism en Español
Hebrussia
I am אלזה
Slicha, Lo Midaber Ivrit (Sorry, I Don’t Speak Hebrew)
Yiddish Summer
Hebrew Enough for Me
Hebrew for Hanukkah

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For more Hebrew opportunities, visit www.birthrightisraelnext.org/hebrewnow

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Photo by hoyasmeg, licensed under Creative Commons.

Tags: Hebrew, Tongue Tied

Posted by Rafi, Sunday, November 1st, 2009, 1:09 pm, Tongue Tied.