Hebrew Department

THE MIRACLE OF THE HEBREW LANGUAGE

The Hebrew language is one of the wonders of human history. Aside from being one of the oldest tongues, it was also the most significant. The Bible was written in Hebrew, and so were the Jewish prayers.

And for the last century Hebrew is the official language of Israel. This revival of Hebrew as a spoken and modern language is one of the least-known miracles of the 20^th Century. Indeed, except for the revival of Hebrew, there is no other known instance of a 'dead language' being resurrected.

Now you too can master this “Old-New” language.

OUR INSTRUCTORS:
Eyal Rav-Noy is JLA’s Executive Director, and has taught more people how to read Hebrew in LA than any other teacher. In just a few short years 100s of people have passed through our doors and are not proficient Hebrew readers. Eyal was born in Israel in 1973 and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 9. After discovering his passion for Judaism, he studied at various Torah academies on the East and West coasts. At age 24, he began teaching Torah classes as a hobby. Since then, Eyal has developed an array of classes on topics related to Judaism and has lectured all over the U.S. He specializes in explaining Judaism to the uninitiated. Eyal is currently publishing a book entitled, "Who Really Wrote the Bible?" When he is not working or spending time with his family, Eyal enjoys running marathons, playing guitar, and boxing.

Tzippy Rav-Noy is JLA’s Program Director. Tzippy was born in Israel in 1977 and moved to New York at the age of 2. She speaks five languages. Tzippy has worked with kids of all ages for 15 years. She has taught and held administrative positions in elementary schools in Los Angeles, New York and Israel. Tzippy ran the Judaic department and taught for preschools in Michigan and Australia.

Lisa Ansell received her B.A. in French and Near East Studies from UCLA; her M.A. in Middle East Studies from Harvard, was the Chair of the World Language Department for the past five years, and taught Hebrew, French, Spanish, Russian and Arabic. She is currently the Associate Director of the USC Casden Institute at the University of Southern California.

Mrs. Orit Nissan-Greenfield is a Hebrew native speaker, and has been teaching Modern Hebrew for over 15 years. Orit works within the student's immediate understanding towards a pragmatic use of the language, as opposed to organizing lessons mechanically determined by text books. Her “face to face” approach offers the student a unique and real learning experience.