Today.....a date.

I was a little embarrassed in class when people started clapping.

Today, my two teachers in Hebrew class announced that I will become a bat mitzvah student.

They asked me my date.

Oct. 20th, 2012.

I could feel my heart jump and my stomach clench.

This spring....after the silent auction....after the literary festival....I will pare my life down to study, my daughter's wedding and going through the last of my parents estate. No more big volunteer projects.....no more studying when I get a chance.....but devoting specific blocks of time to study.

I am actually looking forward to working with my tutors....I'm happy to unlock the prayers....to read the script...to debate and talk about what it means with my Rabbi....and I'm happy to aim towards a particular type of competency in the faith I have adopted and which has adopted me.

I never expected my life to change so much.....I never expected to be given so much by a group of people and a community.....this is ....in a way....my effort ....to show my respect for the traditions and rituals I now embrace.

Bet-Tav-Shin....or OY...I'm in Hebrew Class....

Okay....I can read one word.... but I do know 5 consonants and two vowels.

Hey.....You have to begin someplace.

I've started Hebrew class a couple of weeks ago and am dutifully doing my homework tonight for Sunday morning's class.

Our two angelic teachers are trying to mold the brains of 8 adults who don't know a shin from a koof or a resh from a nun.

But we all know by now: Lamed, Mem, Bet,Tav and Shin.

There's 22 consonants to learn and no vowels. Well not vowels as we know them....more like a system of dashes and dots which when placed next to a consonant...help you know how to pronounce the word.

We are going very slow......because this is a two pronged system.

First you have to learn Hebrew script and sounds....and then finally after you sound out a Hebrew word.....you eventually have to learn what it means.....in English.

When you study a language like French or Spanish....you go directly from recognizing the letters and saying a word....like bon jour....to what the meaning of bon jour is in English....good day.

Hebrew is more like....what the heck do those lines and dashes mean.....oh...okay....I can sound out this word.....and now .....what the heck does that mean?

Needless to say....I'm going to be in class for a while but I figure it's good for me....reading from left to right and then reading from right to left has got to keep some neurons fit and trim.

Tonight I cut out flashcards so if I have stupid down time ...I can pull them out and study.

I probably should check if there's a "learn Hebrew" app for the IPhone.

I must admit....it's kind of exciting/amazing....to tackle the script and see letters in vowels in ...what previously looked like a jumbled set of lines and dashes. It gives me hope ...this is possible to learn.

To show you how it's done....let me break down the one and only Hebrew word I know now.

First of all..... find the letter on the right that looks like a harp... that letter stands for an S sound and the dash under it means an A sound so.....the first thing you have is SHA

The middle letter is a B sound and the "T" under it means another A sound so you have BAH


The last letter on the left is a T sound.......so you put them all together and you get:

SHA BAH T....

which comes together as........ Shabbat

which means.....the Sabbath.......Your day of rest.

Isn't that cool?????
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