Conference taveng::bagels

    I agree that Hebrew is central to us.  I grew up in a very Reform
    synagogue with very little Hebrew in our education or services;
    I came to feel the services were more like some of the "milder"
    Protestant sects than Jewish.  The short Hebrew sections seemed
    to drop out of the blue and made little sense emotionally or
    intellectually.  There was just no context for them.
    
    Now I belong to a Conservative synagogue with a substantial Hebrew
    usage in song and prayer, and it is all much more congruent.  The
    childrens' school also does a fine job of teaching Hebrew including
    liturgy.
    
    Hebrew is the only way to communicate Jewish concepts and emotions
    without a long explanation in English.  (I am not by this denigrating
    Yiddish and Ladino which directly carry over much from Hebrew and
    have cultural colorations of their own.)  A good example is "ha
    olam" usually translated as "the world".  "The world" usually means
    a) planet Earth b) the known universe or c) some subset such as
    "the world of nature".  But as I understand "ha olam" means the
    known universe, universes unknown, and all dimensions of reality
    including time and others we don't know about - that is, EVERYTHING.
    So when we say "Melech ha-olam" that's saying a whole lot!  And
    it certainly makes clear that this Melech is not ours alone - given
    this scope, we are audacious, or blessed, to make any claim on this
    Melech.  We explains our attitude in prayer.  Without Hebrew - that's
    as clear as mud.  We are vastly enriched by knowing even a tiny
    amount of Hebrew.  The more, the richer.

    Aside from the fact that our most important texts are written in
    Hebrew, there is a particular rhythm to the language that I find gives
    a `tam' to the service.  One does not have to understand it in order to
    get something from a Hebrew psalm (although one gains more, I think,
    from knowing the meaning).

    For example, our havurah, Shir Hadash, conducts services mostly in
    Hebrew (>95%, except for Divrei Torah), and yet we attract quite a few
    people who cannot even read Hebrew!  (BTW, we run classes to teach
    people the fundamentals, and just about everybody who decides to
    affilate with the havurah ends up learning to read well enough to
    follow--some have even gotten to the point where they are part of our
    Baalei Torah group :^] .)

                        ^--( "proud of them" smiley)

                                                Aaron

    As a growing child, I attended a Reform Temple, and
    attended Hebrew classes for 9 years -- long years, that
    I did not particularly enjoy at the time.
    
    And then a funny thing happened. When I came home from
    college, I decided that it "felt" better to attend my
    Bubbie's Orthodox services. And even now, years later,
    I choose to go to a Conservative/Orthodox temple. The
    Hebrew has a rhythm that gets into my soul. When I am
    surrounded by chanting and davening, I feel connected to
    millenia of history. And the shofar sends me back to the
    sand dunes of the desert. 
    
    I find it uplifting to follow the Hebrew text; I don't
    understand the translations -- unless I peek at the
    English -- but I feel I don't have to. The language's
    basic grace and tempo alone give meaning to the words.
    
    This year at Rosh Hashana services, there were handouts
    for the congregation, reprinted from some Temple bulletin
    in Holyoke. The handout encouraged attendees to "get into
    it," with the gentle reminder that these texts and prayers
    and inspirational prose were written by religious geniuses.
    The English translations are so barren in comparison to the
    beauty of the Hebrew. 
    
    L'Shana Tova,
    Leah Rifka
    
    

I even think it's neat to walk around Israel and see Hebrew signs, ingredient
lists on baked goods, product names.

re: .4:
>I even think it's neat to walk around Israel and see Hebrew signs, ingredient
>lists on baked goods, product names.

Well, yeah, but (given my almost total lack of knowlege Hebrew), it really
bothered me to laboriously spell out a sign on a building only to discover
that it said "Sheraton."

Martin.

    There used to be a sign, I think it was at Ein Gedi, held up by two
    poles.  Many tourists would pose their spouses by it, figuring it had
    the name of the place on it.
    
    Actually, at the base of one of the poles was a small trash can, and
    the sign translated to "Deposit Trash Here".
    
    				Paul
    

    A couple of comments:
    
    - Most people who use safa ha'ivri in this country solely for religious
      purposes employ pronunciation ashkenazi, on the other hand, in
      Israel, pronunciation sfaradi is used.
    
    - People often note the importance and significance of a certain rhythm
      when praying in ivrit, but I suspect that this rhythm has less to do
      with the language itself (consider yiddish and askenazi/sfaradi 
      dichotomy), and more with the act of praying.