SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva
Conjugation for Liberation
Welcome to Conjugation for Liberation! This course is designed for Talmud learners to build the grammar skills you’ll need to deepen your talmud learning. Like all learning at SVARA, Conjugation for Liberation is a mixed-level space and we’ll have multiple ways to interact with our material. Some of you are joining this class to get a framework and overview, so in shiur when grammar is talked about, you have a structure in which to organize that information. While others are excited to dive in and internalize the Hebrew conjugation tables. And for some, the conjugation paradigms are familiar but want to review the system that ties it all together. All of these are prefect ways to approach our learning together.
This class will meet six times, on Thursdays, February 11th–March 25th, 8:00-9:30 PM ET | 7:00-8:30 PM CT | 5:00-6:30 PM PT. Please note, we will not meet on Purim, February 25th.
Our Weekly Plan
Week 1: We will explore the foundations of the Hebrew verb system and learn what Binyanim are.
Week 2: We will learn the conjugation paradigm for regular Hebrew verbs in one binyan and how this paradigm can serve as a model for all the others. You’ll leave this session ready to dive into the Conjugation for Liberation workbook and begin to internalize the conjugation paradigms for the remaining binyanim.
Week 3 & 4: These optional sessions are designed as enrichment for those who want to master the Herbew conjugation tables. We’ll open the floor to questions about what you have learned in the workbook and we’ll spend some time doing practice exercises together.
Week 5: In this session we’ll shift gears and begin learning about the Aramaic verb system. Our focus will be on the ins and outs of the six Aramaic binyanim and how they relate to their Hebrew cognates.
Week 6: We will apply what we have learned about Aramaic binyanim and explore tools for decoding Aramaic words we encounter in the Talmud.
What you’ll need
- a Hebrew conjugation workbook provided by SVARA. We will send out your work book so it will arrive between the first two sessions.
- the book Grammar for Gemara and Targum Onkelos by Yitzhak Frank which we suggest purchasing from Koren Publishers (~$30) or your local Jewish bookstore. We won’t use this until week five of the course, so no worries if you don’t have a copy yet.
- a Jastrow dictionary—a hard copy is preferable but, for this course, accessing it online will be fine. (If you would like a hard copy—and, really, you should get one for all your learning—we suggest purchasing one directly from the publisher here or from your local Jewish bookstore.)