PIQUA — On Saturday, April 21 from 1 – 2:30 p.m., Congregation Anshe Emeth, the Jewish synagogue in Piqua will offer a class for the community: Hebrew, Then and Now: The Development of Hebrew from Aramaic in the Torah and Jewish Liturgy.
As we know from English, language changes and evolves. Rabbi Taylor will look at the origins of Hebrew from the Semitic languages of the Ancient Near East, including Aramaic, and Hebrew’s growing role in Judaism from the Torah to modern Jewish liturgy. The class will be led by our Rabbinic Intern, Taylor Poslosky.
First, the class will focus on the language of the Torah, which is actually two languages- Hebrew and Aramaic! The class will spend time looking at the Torah scroll itself to see what Hebrew and Aramaic look like and give special attention to the physical layout of certain segments of Torah text. In addition to this, the class will touch on the requirements for writing a Torah and how to care for one.
After that, the class will look at the languages used in Jewish prayer books. The class will see how it looks similar and different from what we viewed in the Torah scroll and talk about the transition from Aramaic into more usage of Hebrew as the modern Jewish prayer language.
Taylor is a second year rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati. She grew up at Congregation Beth Torah in Overland Park, KS and received her Bachelor of Arts in Religion from William Jewell College in 2013.
The class will be held at Congregation Anshe Emeth, 320 Caldwell St. in Piqua, www.ansheemeth.org, a Reform Jewish congregation formed in 1858 serving Greenville, Piqua, Sidney, Troy, Tipp City and surrounding areas. The goal is to share information, not impose beliefs. There is no charge for the class, however, reservations would be appreciated to allow for sufficient seating, to Eileen, 937-623-1234 or [email protected]
