Scholars and Philosophers agree that education is a vital part of life and we all need to learn something at some point in life. I have personally had the best learning experience for this course. The perfect blend of improving my communication skills, having to meet new people and culturally bond, guiding young learners on how to read and write in Hebrew, and also the chance to relate the Hebrew language and culture to the modern world to these eager to learn kids. My interest in Hebrew developed when I was a toddler surrounded by a number of playful Jewish children whom I used to play along with. Our bond was so tight that I desired to be able to talk to them in their native language and be able to understand their culture and their way of doing things. I was so eager to understand their cultural background, what they are supposed to do and what is forbidden. I would occasionally follow them to the synagogue and looked at how they worshipped and read scriptures written in Hebrew.
As part of my coursework, I engage a couple of learners in a synagogue in learning the very interesting Hebrew language. It feels so good having to pass this knowledge to them, and even a better feeling when I see them understand the language. However, little did I know that the learning process would be a dual process. The interactions with these individuals have gone a long way to building my inter-personal attributes and boosting my skills. For instance, as is common with children, some disputes erupt in the synagogue over both minor and major issues such as theft and bullying. Solving these disputes is one of the biggest challenges I have because I have to sit down with both parties and understand and respect both sides of the misunderstanding, and try to work out their differences without being too hard on one individual. Nonetheless, they help improve my confidence level in dispute resolution, and my ability to impact other lives positively and cultivate peaceful and loving relations amongst the conflicting parties.
While undertaking the teaching lessons, I grew close to one child named Aaron. He is very sharp and quickly understood how to read out fluently and also to write words correctly. As soon as he grasped the knowledge that I passed on to them, he would assist his fellow learners and assist them in their daily tasks as soon as he completed his. We talked frequently with him after classes and he gave me an insight into how his background was. He comes from a middle-class family, and he is focused on working hard in his academics and be able to raise his family's living standards and represent Jews on a global scale. The highlight of my time there so far came when I was about to leave one evening after completing my teachings for the day, and Aaron walked up to me and handed me a note that read “תודה”, which is Hebrew for “thank you”. It was really amazing to see how much he and the rest had developed in terms of understanding the Hebrew language. My time here has helped me grow not only intellectually and psychologically, but also emotionally, and I am glad to leave a mark on the students’ lives.
