JSC Volunteer Launches Hebrew Literacy Program in Bombay

Batya Rotter, one of two 2006–07 JDC Jewish Service Corps (JSC) volunteers in India, set out to apply her Jewish day school education to teaching Hebrew to the community of 4,000 Bnei Israel Jews. “I knew how Hebrew was taught in American educational settings, but teaching in a foreign community that is so different from the one in which I was raised made me apprehensive,” she says. But when Batya entered her first classroom, she quickly refined the challenge and started to have fun with it: be creative in getting kids on a track of learning Hebrew as a means to connect them with Jewish language and liturgy before it’s too late.

“I experienced that just about everyone in Bombay [also known as Mumbai] today wants to learn Hebrew, but most don’t have the time or patience to sit and muddle with the aleph bet [alphabet]—and those who do are mostly older and find it difficult to pick up,” says the young volunteer.

Over the past few decades, tens of thousands of Bnei Israel Jews moved to Israel to begin a new life in the Jewish homeland. With so many Indian Jews in Israel, the impetus for learning Hebrew has risen significantly among those still remaining in Bombay. Additionally, with fewer people to attend synagogue and pray in Bombay, the community feels the need to increase Hebrew literacy.

With the support of her colleagues at the JDC-supported Evelyn Peters Jewish Community Center (EPJCC) in Bombay, Batya created a program called Hebrew across Bombay.

The JDC was already running two classes of Gan Kattan (Sunday school)—one at the EPJCC and another at a synagogue in a Bombay suburb—but this short time slot was already dedicated to teaching kids about Torah, Jewish holidays, and religious concepts. So, Batya created a new forum for reading, taking into account when children could attend a program; how to get them excited; and how to facilitate transportation, since traveling through the crowded streets of Bombay is often a significant impediment to program attendance at the EPJCC.

Hebrew across Bombay is a five-day reading camp during school vacation that utilizes interactive games, songs, and reading exercises to increase Hebrew literacy. The first program took place in three different locations in the city, ensuring that all could attend with minimal travel costs. Classes were taught by JSC volunteers Erin Beser and Batya, as well as active community educator Sharona Massil-Galsulkar. In its first year, the program attracted 27 students from 7 to13 years old.

The students went through a workbook—created specifically for the program—and participated in reading games such as hangman; they did puzzles; and they ran relay races to make the learning fun. And in true Indian fashion, the students enjoyed morphing their bodies into Hebrew letters during the aleph bet yoga challenge.

“It was amazing watching the kids piece words together,” says Erin, who taught the largest class at the EPJCC. “One girl in the class read a word and then looked up with a huge grin on her face, as if to say, ‘I can’t believe I just read that!’ It was great.” Parents who have seen the positive results are asking for a similar program to be adapted for adults.

Already planning for the next season of Hebrew across Bombay, Leora Joseph, head of the EPJCC, is clear: “We are going to change the way the community thinks about Hebrew reading, one letter at a time.”

October 2007