This article was originally published in The Examiner on March 9, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
A free Hebrew class meets every Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the community room at the R.C. Miller Memorial Library in Beaumont.
New students can join at any time.
The class, which has 10 to 12 regular students, is taught by Lamar University chemical engineering professor Rafi Tadmor and Arlene Pippin, former volunteer at the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem.
Beginners learn days of the week, numbers, colors and parts of the body and practice writing the Hebrew alphabet on their first day.
“It’s more like a study group,” Pippin said.
Pippin started the class in April 2015 after returning from a trip to Israel. She said
she had difficulty finding someone who could translate e-mails from her friends at
the embassy.
She said she called Temple Emanuel, who recommended that she speak with Professor Tadmor. Their meeting sparked the idea for a class and together, they began teaching other people, which they said helps them stay fluent.
Tadmor was born in Nazareth and Pippin lived in Israel for five and a half years.
“It was a dream of mine to go to Israel,” she said. “When I got there, I just felt like I
was home.”
Marilyn Manson-Hayes and her two children attend the class, bringing worksheets for the other students and resources from the Temple Emanuel Library.
The group brings together people from a variety of denominations and religious backgrounds who represent a wide range of ages. The only thing they have in common is their desire to learn a 4,000-year-old language, Manson-Hayes said in a library news release.
Pippin said she is a Christian, and her daughter and son-in-law are missionaries to Jordan. Manson-Hayes said she and her children are Jewish.
Tadmor went back to Israel on sabbatical last year, but Pippin said he recently came back and hopes to lead the group again soon.
Manson-Hayes said that feedback on the class has been positive. She said that one student told her: “Hebrew class has been a constant experience of opening a treasure box and receiving golden nuggets each time.”
First-time student Matthew Hinz said his pastor told him to attend the class and “come back and teach us.”
The volunteer led group is one of several educational classes offered within the Beaumont Library system. Others include quilting, yoga, Spanish and meditation.
The R.C. Miller Memorial Library is located at 1605 Dowlen Road in Beaumont.
Eleanor Skelton 