Hebrew class
Hebrew lessons in German-speaking countries are traditionally the teaching of classic Hebrew as an optional subject in higher schools or as an optional or compulsory subject at Jewish and church educational institutions and universities. Modern Hebrew is always taught at universities that offer Hebrew lessons as part of the Jewish Studies course. Modern Hebrew lessons predominate at adult education centers.
Classes in Old Testament Hebrew in schools and universities
In Germany, Hebrew lessons have been held since the Renaissance humanism , albeit to a small extent, in ancient language or humanistic grammar schools , especially those run by the church, as well as in the theological faculties of the two major Christian denominations. Johannes Reuchlin is considered to be the first German Hebraist and Hebrew teacher . He had the language with Jacob ben Jehiel Loans , Friedrich III's Jewish personal physician . , learned. As proof of competence, the Old Testament Hebraicum can be taken as a school or university exam at these institutions .
In North Rhine-Westphalia there is a Hebrew offer in the grammar school from the beginning of the upper level, i. H. from year 11, which can be taken as the 3rd or 4th examination subject. With completion of the 12th year and with appropriate grades, the Hebraicum is acquired. Due to the low number of registrations, the Hebrew lessons on Stadriegel will be held on block dates in the afternoon. Offering schools are partly oriented towards the old language, but not always.
The following schools offer Hebrew classes in North Rhine-Westphalia:
- Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium ( Aachen )
- Otto Hahn Gymnasium (Bensberg) , in Bergisch Gladbach
- Ceciliengymnasium Bielefeld
- New high school in Bochum
- Beethoven-Gymnasium Bonn
- City High School Dortmund
- Humboldt-Gymnasium Düsseldorf
- Dreikönigsgymnasium (Cologne)?
- Stiftisches Humanistic Gymnasium Mönchengladbach
- High school Adolfinum Moers
- Archigymnasium Soest
- Wilhelm Dörpfeld High School ( Wuppertal )
- Joseph Carlebach Education Center ( Hamburg )
Hebrew lessons in learned institutions of Judaism
In the Jewish diaspora , classical, medieval and possibly also modern Hebrew was and is taught privately and at their scholarly institutions. B. at the partly sponsored by the Central Council of Jews in Germany located HfJS formed in Heidelberg, the rabbis and Jewish religious teachers, or at the Abraham Geiger College in Potsdam , in the past about the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau or at the University for the Science of Judaism in Berlin .
Hebrew lessons in university institutes for Jewish studies
The most extensive Hebrew lessons take place at the denominationally independent, state university institutes for Jewish studies , which are usually located at the Philosophical Faculty or in a linguistic or cultural studies department and see themselves in the tradition of the science of Judaism that emerged in Germany in the 19th century instead, which is regularly offered in public institutions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As a rule, all stages of development of the Hebrew language and the associated literatures (biblical, rabbinical, medieval, modern) as well as the general historical, religious and intellectual context are introduced. The first language certificate that can be acquired in the course of studying Jewish Studies is the so-called Judaic Hebraicum in Old and New Hebrew, usually at the end of the first year of study.
The courses leading to the Hebraicum usually last two semesters of six hours per week; In addition, there is the mandatory self-study (homework, exam preparation). The relationship between contact time (lessons) and self-study can vary depending on the study regulations, but the level to be achieved in the first year is almost the same everywhere: The student acquires a profound overview of the grammar, learns a basic vocabulary and uses aids (verb tables, dictionaries ); In addition, he learns the modern Hebrew everyday language in spoken and written, for example at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference (GER) . After the Hebraicum he is able to understand simple to moderately difficult Hebrew texts with subject-specific aids and to express himself at the basic level in Hebrew. At most Judaic institutes, exercises in modern Hebrew language practice are also offered immediately after the Hebraicum, which increases the active knowledge acquired to level A2-B1.
Hebrew courses that lead to the Judaic Hebraicum and beyond are offered by the Judaic institutes of Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf , Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main , Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and the University of Cologne , the university in Austria Vienna . In Judaic modules that are integrated into other subjects, Hebrew courses are also offered ( University of Göttingen , University of Munich, etc.), which, due to the study regulations, have a lower teaching and learning scope than at the “full institutes”; For example, only one language level, such as Modern Hebrew, is taught, or the focus is on rabbinic literature. All Judaistic courses have in common that they see the ability to study Hebrew original sources as an essential study goal. There are also courses of study in modern Jewish history, anti-Semitism research, German-Jewish literature, etc. (e.g. in Aachen , TU Berlin, University of Munich) in which Hebrew language acquisition plays no or a minor role, in any case no essential basis for the study as a whole. The ability to critically read sources is therefore limited.