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When I was a student at Hebrew U, a popular
joke had it that that German is the most important Semitic language,
because you need it to learn all the other Semitic languages. Today, in order to
be a serious student of Hebrew Bible and Semitic languages, you must know how to
read the proliferous professional literature in Hebrew. How can one study
Deuteronomistic literature without reading up on all Moshe Weinfeld has written?
Can one do without Yair Zakovitch's studies on stylistic-literary phenomena in
the Bible?
Anyonje who doesn't think that Modern Hebrew is at least as important
as German or English for the study of the Tanakh is obviously ignorant of
Israeli scholarly work (and of Modern Hebrew).
However, I really don't see the need to conduct
Hebrew Bible classes in Hebrew in the U.S., though making it an elective might
be useful for improving students' reading proficiency in Modern Hebrew
professional literature.
Sincerely,
Jonathan D. Safren
Dept. of Biblical Studies
Beit Berl
College |
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