Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way [Paperback]

Joseph Anderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2000

Understanding Hebrew is the key to experiencing the richness of Jewish prayer. Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way teaches the Hebrew found in all Jewish prayerbooks. Designed for students who can read Hebrew words but do not know what they mean, this text explains grammar so simply that the non-academic community can easily understand it. Twenty-one lessons include:

Oral reviews
Vocabulary lists
Prayerbook selections
Handy grammar and verb charts
Exercises

Prayerbook and vocabulary selections are based on several Jewish traditions. This self-paced text is suitable for beginning and intermediate students and is perfect for adult learners.

A supplement to this book, Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way Companion Audio Tape Set, is also available.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Eks; 3rd edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0939144328
• ISBN-13: 978-0939144327
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #44,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #10 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Hebrew > Instruction
  • #25 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Jewish Texts > Hebrew Bible (Old Testament)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding introduction to prayerbook hebrew., September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way (Paperback)

This book is highly recommended for anyone who wishes to gain greater understanding of the Hebrew Prayerbook. This book only assumes that one can pronounce the hebrew letters and all vocabulary is built up step by step. One of the interesting features of this book is the use of actual prayers presented phrase by phrase so a complete understanding of Adon Olam, Ein Kelohanu, Shema, and the Aleinu is possible. This book is for BEGINNERS and is a very useful introduction to Biblical Hebrew.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Easy-to-Learn Hebrew Manual, July 12, 2000

By 

IK JONG LEE - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way (Paperback)

This book does not require any complicated grammatical prerequisites. You don't have to have headache to cram up the declension and the conjugation of the nouns and verbs. If you just follow the lessons, you will soon be accustomed to the practical Hebrew liturgy. This is a well designed excellent manual for learning Hebrew for the beginners.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Book is good; tapes could be better, January 22, 2001

By 

Meirav "yll" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prayerbook Hebrew the Easy Way (Paperback)

I bought both the book and the accompanying tapes.

The book introduces no more than 10 vocabulary words, a grammatical concept, and reading from a prayer. By the time you're finished, you understand basic constructs of Hebrew thought, and several important prayers, including the Sh'ma, the Aleinu, and V'ahavtah.

It presupposes only that you know basic Hebrew pronunciation of the alefbet and vowels.

I really like the book, but I'm disappointed with the tapes, which I would have preferred to have been read by an Israeli speaker. Still, I may be too picky on this aspect, since it's designed to help you with prayer, and not with getting along in Israel. One thing that might help is if the tapes separated the grammar lessons from the prayers. I would be willing to listen to a tape of prayers in the car, just so I could get an idea how they sound, especially if the prayers were chanted.