In the Hebrew language, there’s no such word as coincidence.
The Hebrew Bible has long been the world’s possession, and those who come to it by any means, through whatever language, are equals in ownership, and may not be denied the intimacy of their spiritual claim.
Sophia – a mystical female presence whose appearance is only fleeting in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament – was clearly once a household name and a fixture in everyday lives.
After I spent my compulsory army service in the ‘top secret office’ of the Medical Forces, where I was fortunate to be exposed to clinical and medical issues, I enrolled to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
I went to several public schools. I went to religious school. I was thrown out of Hebrew school, which was the final straw. They said, ‘God doesn’t like you anymore. Go eat pork.’
All of my friends on the street we’re Jewish. I went to a lot of bar and bat mitzvahs. I even learned a little Hebrew.
I was reading the Bible in Hebrew from a very young age, so that’ll shape ideas about how words can move the world.
He was the editor of our paper. He created the publishing house in Hebrew. He was – I wouldn’t say the ‘guru’ – but really he was our teacher and a most respected man. I wrote for the paper of the youth movement.
My grandfather sold insurance to King Farouk of Egypt. And my savta’s parents helped found the city of Tel Aviv in 1906. Our family name used to be Mizrahi, but they changed it to Mayron, which means ‘happy water’ in Hebrew.
I grew up in Jerusalem and went to school here. I studied at the Hebrew University – mostly Islam and Arabic: Arab literature, Arab poetry and culture, because I felt like we are living in this region, in the Middle East, and we are not alone: There are nations here whose culture is Arab.
I learned enough Hebrew to stagger through a meaningless ceremony that I scarcely remember.
Judaism has always been a strong interest of mine. My two sons speak Hebrew and are familiar with the scriptures and with rabbinic literature. This is the way we live.
Most Arab Israelis speak Hebrew, but not the other way around. It’s about time that changed.
Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom, and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.
People think of black English as ungrammatical, but it bears the same relationship to standard English as contemporary Hebrew does to ancient Hebrew.
I didn’t go to Hebrew school.
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