Hebrew

The amazing rebirth of Hebrew is one of the great cultural renaissances in modern times. In the course of the nineteenth and early twentieth-centuries, what had for centuries been a largely unspoken liturgical and sacred tongue was revived as a vernacular language of modern life. Today, Hebrew is the language of the modern State of Israel, its newspapers and poems, pop music and politics, elite culture and street life. Studying modern Hebrew therefore allows one access both to the riches of traditional Jewish religious texts from the Bible onward, and to the fascinating literary and intellectual products of modern Jewish culture in Europe and Israeli culture in the Middle East. From the Bible to the Internet, from Czarist Russia to twenty-first century Tel Aviv, Hebrew is a key to knowledge, beauty, and inspiration.

PSU currently offers three years of modern Hebrew, as well as an intensive first-year summer course. Students may use Hebrew to fulfill their general language requirement, and the language requirement for International Studies as well. Thanks to the generosity of the Aspen Mitzvah Fund, we offer scholarships to qualified students taking second- or third-year Hebrew.

The Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies also sponsors Cafe v'Ivrit, a monthly lecture-and-conversation group for advanced Hebrew speakers.

Link to the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. For current Hebrew courses, see Courses & Registration on this website.

For more information about the Hebrew program, contact Michael Weingrad (weingrad@pdx.edu).