Читать книгу Hebrew For Dummies - Jill Suzanne Jacobs - Страница 11

IN THIS CHAPTER

Identifying English-sounding words in Hebrew

Recalling Hebrew sayings and words

Figuring out English words that come from Hebrew

Counting in Hebrew

Eyeing the Hebrew alphabet

!בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא (Bah-rooh Hah-Bah!; Welcome to Hebrew!) In studying Hebrew, you’re joining millions of other Hebrew speakers around the world. Its two centers are Israel (of course) and North America, which is home to many Hebrew newspapers, Hebrew-speaking camps and schools, and institutions. You’re also speaking the Bible’s original language and one of the most ancient languages still spoken today. Furthermore, you’re speaking the only language in the history of the world known to have undergone a revival, returning fully to being a spoken language after hundreds — perhaps even 2,000 — years of being relegated to correspondence, literature, and the sacred world of prayer and the Bible.

Hebrew was once almost exclusively a holy language — a language of prayers and ritual, of the Bible and other sacred texts, and a language above the humdrum of the everyday. That’s no longer true. The same ancient and holy tongue is now the language of sunbathing on the beach, eating dinner, going to the doctor, and carrying out the myriad events of everyday life.

All languages are portals — openings to culture and friendship, literature, and ideas. Discover any one of these portals, and a whole new world opens up to you. Discover Hebrew, and a whole Jewish and Israeli world is yours.