Michal (Miiko) Shaffier, a Lubavitcher mom of 8 in Be’er Sheva, Israel, never dreamed that she would be writing a book. Now her book project ‘Learn How to Read Hebrew in 6 Weeks’ has been fully funded on Kickstarter in 36 hours.
It all started when Michal heard about a new app called Periscope that allows you to broadcast to people all around the world. She decided to start teaching free classes on how to read Hebrew.
“I wanted to find a way to use this new technology to spread something positive,” says Michal, “but I’m not so much of a teacher type. I thought of what the Rebbe says that if you know Alef teach Alef to someone who doesn’t know. ‘That’s it!’, I thought. I’ll teach people Alef Beis.”
Michal used cute drawings and memory tricks to help her students remember the sounds that the letters make. Very quickly her live classes gained a large following with hundreds of students participating. Some of her students started to ask her to make the classes into a book that they could share with others. “I never in my life imagined writing a book”, says Michal, “but my husband Aaron said, ‘just sit down and start writing it and let’s see where it goes.'”
Soon she was working with a graphic designer to turn her hand sketched drawings into beautiful illustrations. Michal made a Kickstarter campaign to help pay for the expenses and raise awareness about her book. Thanks to the support of her online students, the campaign was funded in less than 36 hours and is still growing.
“I hope that if the campaign goes way over target, it will get more exposure for this book and maybe make it easier to get it into mainstream book stores,” says Michal.
“Learn to Read Hebrew in 6 Weeks” will be a full color softcover book of about 100 pages. You can get an early copy by supporting the Kickstarter campaign.
Mikko’s gift of instruction is one of thoughtful clarity and precision. It is true that anyone can learn to read Hebrew- when you follow her method. I especially love how Mikko takes responsibility for incorporating God’s written word as well as general “word of the day” to her conversations. Many Blessings as you reach the world!
Mikko!!!! I’m so proud of you!!!! This is awesome!!!!!
From a fellow ottawanian 😉
Brilliant idea! 🙂
Or to put it differently, the medakdekim’s reason for saying that there’s a “virtual” sheva there is to make all Hebrew syllables conform to a CV (consonant-vowel) structure. But why is it necessary to assume that? If we suppose instead that Hebrew syllables can equally well be CV or CVC (compare/contrast with English, which can have anywhere from 0 to 3 consonants at the beginning of a syllable, and anywhere from 0 to 3 at the end), then there is really no need for that “virtual” sheva at all.
It is true that for technical dikduk purposes, those letters are considered to have a “virtual” sheva. However, after all it’s not written, and so to the average person – let alone to the target audience of this work – it is more correct to say that the letters have sounds of their own.
There’s a bit of a mistake in the headline. It’s not an app that Michal has made to teach Hebrew. Michal uses an existing app called Periscope to teach free 6 week classes. Anyone can download this app and follow her @learnhebrewtv. Now she has made the content of these classes into a fun book that makes it really easy to learn to read Hebrew. Some here have correctly commented that the Rebbe strongly advocated teaching children only using the traditional Kamatz-Alef method. This book IS NOT according to that method and isn’t intended for teaching tinokos Shel Beis Rabban.… Read more »
When and where will the app be available? Well done, amazing product
to #4
“So no, on the contrary: every Hebrew letter makes a sound even without a vowel (because if none is written, a sheva is assumed).”
You’ve managed to disprove the point of the beginning of your first sentence with the end of the same sentence.
Because I am giver, I will flesh it out:
Why would one need assume a hidden sheva in the absence of any visual representation of a nikud?
It is because…wait for it: BECAUSE HEBREW LETTERS MAKE NO SOUND WITHOUT NIKUD
Not really. In the word בראשית, for example, what vowel does the ת have?
So no, on the contrary: every Hebrew letter makes a sound even without a vowel (because if none is written, a sheva is assumed). The exceptions are the נחים נסתרים, like the א or ה after a kamatz, or the י after a chirik or tzeirei, and that’s only because they’re assimilated into the vowel sound.
(Technically, even alef and ayin – which we generally learn as kids are silent – have sounds of their own, just that we Ashkenazim have lost them.)
Look’slike a beautiful peula.
One major point to consider,
Hebrew letters don’t make sounds unless they have vowels.
Read Levi Goldstein’s teaching kriah article at chinuchtime.com to see the Rebbe’s horaaos on teaching how to read.
Hatzlacha
Cute, clever idea. Smart lady. Hatzlacha Rabba!
amazing! so original! i love the pictures! this is sooo smart!