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URJ PRESS RELEASES TAV IS FOR TORAH; HEBREW GUIDE
GIVES LEARNERS Lost in translation? Not anymore. Tav Is for Torah, the fourth and final book in the Hebrew for Adults series from URJ Press, gives adults interested in actively advancing their Hebrew language skills the opportunity to examine multiple translations of the same text so they can appreciate the nuances of the Hebrew. In giving students the opportunity to translate text themselves, and engaging them with different interpretations of the same Hebrew passages, Tav Is for Torah -- along with Aleph Isn't Tough, Aleph Isn't Enough, and Bet Is for B'reishit, the previous three books in the series -- sets itself apart from every other Hebrew learning curriculum on the market. "A single word or phrase in Hebrew can be understood in more than one way in English," says Linda Motzkin, author of Tav Is for Torah: Hebrew for Adults Book 4. "There may legitimately be two or three or even four different ways that a Hebrew passage could be translated into English. Every translation, therefore, is an interpretation, and the only way to be able to access the text directly, and form one's own understanding of the text, is to be able to read the Hebrew with all its possible multiple meanings. The book provides students with many different translations, so that they can see the various possibilities that exist within the Hebrew itself." Texts are culled for new vocabulary, verb roots, and grammatical concepts that are clearly explained. Reading and translation exercises enhance students' learning, as do the optional enrichment sections, which include a wealth of Jewish knowledge, Torah commentary, and modern Hebrew poetry. Like the three books that precede it in this series, Tav Is for Torah blends skill-building with Jewish concepts that engage the adult learner on an intellectual level. Tav Is for Torah will help students build the skills necessary for becoming active participants in Torah study, able to learn from both the English and Hebrew of our central sacred text. Linda Motzkin received her M.A.H.L. and rabbinic ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is co-rabbi, together with her husband Jonathan Rubenstein, of Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs, New York, as well as Jewish chaplain at Skidmore College. She is the author of Aleph Isn't Tough, Aleph Isn't Enough, and Bet Is for B'reishit, and one of the co-authors of Prayerbook Hebrew: The Easy Way and The First Hebrew Primer: The Adult Beginner's Path to Biblical Hebrew. Rabbi Motzkin is currently studying traditional Jewish scribal arts to become a soferet -- a Hebrew scribe. She is in the process of writing a copy of M'gilat Esther -- the scroll of Esther -- for her synagogue. The URJ Press is the publishing arm of the Union for Reform Judaism
(formerly known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations), the central
body of Reform Judaism in North America. The Union represents 1.5 million
Reform Jews in more than 900 congregations across the United States and
Canada, and Union programs and services include youth camps, adult education
opportunities, outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, and the
Religious Action Center in Washington, DC. ### 8/05
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