The Jewish Eye - Reader: Modern Hebrew Prose and Poetry

Reader: Modern Hebrew Prose and Poetry

Reader: Modern Hebrew Prose and Poetry
(Mikra 'ah: prozah ve-shirah moderit)
Edited by Ora Band
Behrman House, Publishers
West Orange, New Jersey: 1990
ISBN: 0-87441-480-6

Reviewed by Rochelle Caviness - December 4, 2003

Ora Band's Reader: Modern Hebrew Prose and Poetry is a delightful collection of Modern Hebrew prose and poetry reading selections that is an ideal text for first year / beginning students of Hebrew. The text was designed to be used as an auxiliary text to the second and third volumes of Band's, Hebrew Language Course. It can also be used effectively as an auxiliary reader in any Hebrew language course designed for English-speakers.

Each reading selection is accompanied by a vocabulary lists of 'harder' words that the student may not yet have learned. The text is illustrated, and the majority of passages in this text are complete stories and poems. The texts included in this reader include historical, literary, and religious passages.

The stories are organized into thematic sections, including topics such as loneliness, Eretz Israel, the Holocaust, War, Childhood, The Days of Awe, and humor. In addition, each passage is followed by questions that will help the student gauge how well they have mastered the passage. Concise biographical sketches of the various authors are also included. Authors featured in this anthology include:

Menahem Talmi
Moshe Prager
Leah Goldberg
Arye (Lyova) Eliav
Shmuel Yosef Agnon
Yehudah Amichai
Abba Kovner
Aharon Meged
Natan Zach

This reader will be a welcome addition to many Hebrew classes. The passages are challenging and intriguing and well selected for an adult audience. Reading these great literary selections will not only introduce students to some of the great masters of Hebrew literature, but they will also serve to encourage them to continue with their study of Hebrew.

Related Reviews:

Ivrit Alfon, By Lois Rothblum, Bella Bergman, and Ora Band
Hebrew: A Language Course - Primer, this book offers the student a firm grounding in the Hebrew alphabet, the vowels, and, according to the book's authors, it will teach you to "...read and write Hebrew in six weeks or less." By the time you work through this book you will have also gained a working Hebrew vocabulary of about 140 words.
Hebrew: A Language Course, Edited by Ora Band
A three-part course for adults that teaches the basics of Hebrew grammar and syntax, and provides the students with a vocabulary of about 1,000 words.

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