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Learning Hebrew brought me closer to Judaism — and alienated me from Israel
(JTA) — Speaking to the media in the United States before and after his latest election as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu reassured American Jews and other supporters of Israel that their widely expressed fears of the undemocratic nature of the new Israeli governing coalition were overblown and would not in fact come to pass.
Netanyahu told the New York Times that he was still at least notionally committed to a peace deal with the Palestinians and told journalist Bari Weiss that policy would be determined by him, and not cabinet ministers like the self-described “proud homophobe” Bezalel Smotrich and convicted criminal Itamar Ben-Gvir, or the haredi Orthodox parties.
Then he returned to Israel, and promptly tweeted, “These are the basic lines of the national government headed by me: The Jewish people have an exclusive and indisputable right to all areas of the Land of Israel. The government will promote and develop settlement in all parts of the Land of Israel — in the Galilee, the Negev, the Golan, Judea and Samaria.” Netanyahu was asserting absolute Jewish sovereignty over the entirety of the West Bank, with no room for Palestinian statehood — as those politicians want and as his many American Jewish critics feared he would do.
That last tweet, despite reflecting the official position of Netanyahu’s newly inaugurated government, did not attract nearly as much attention in U.S. media as Netanyahu’s previous press tour. Because unlike Netanyahu’s fluent English-language interviews with numerous American press organizations, this tweet was in Hebrew — a language in which only 22% of American Jews possess an even minimal degree of fluency.
Like many non-Orthodox American Jews, I was once one of those other 78%. I was brought up attending a Reform synagogue, and I learned how to read enough Hebrew phonetically to have a bar mitzvah ceremony, reciting my Torah portion by rote memorization. I learned the aleph bet, and a few basic words here and there, but not much more. If I read Torah or Talmud at all, it was entirely in English translation.
But unlike many non-Orthodox American Jews, I became interested in learning Hebrew as an adult, as part of a broader interest in learning more about Jewish history, and I enrolled in courses starting in college to study Biblical, Mishnaic and modern Hebrew. Eventually, after years of study, I enrolled in a doctoral program in Jewish history at the University of Chicago, where I had to pass a rigorous Hebrew proficiency exam as a prerequisite to advance to doctoral candidacy status.
In many ways, this should have made me an ideal American Jew. After all, numerous commentators have opined on the need for more American Jews to learn Hebrew, to bring us closer to both Israeli Jewish culture and to Jewish history as a whole. As one Israeli educator stated, “Once you have Hebrew, all Israeli culture can be injected into your life.”
A wide array of American Jewish philanthropists and charities have identified funding Hebrew language education for American Jews as a priority. They should see someone like me — who went from knowing barely enough Hebrew to get through my bar mitzvah to now reading Haaretz each day in Hebrew — as a success story.
Except that this call for more American Jews to learn Hebrew often comes with an embedded political assumption: that if more American Jews learned to read and speak Hebrew, we would feel more closely linked to Israel and reverse the declining support for Israel among young American Jews.
There’s even a claim that American Jews do not have the right to criticize Israel without being able to follow Israeli political discussions in the original language. Daniel Gordis, of Shalem College in Jerusalem, complained that left-wing American Jewish journalist Peter Beinart should not be taken seriously as a commentator on Israeli affairs, as Beinart apparently “cannot read those [Hebrew] newspapers or Israeli literature until it is translated.”
The assumption is clear: If American Jews do not know Hebrew, we cannot be connected to the state of Israel, nor can we truly understand the Israeli politics we might wish to opine about. If we learned Hebrew, one Israeli-American advocate wrote, we would “be more united and support Israel in spectacular ways.”
Except that in my case, the exact opposite happened. As I learned more Hebrew, I saw how Israeli Jewish politicians often spoke in different terms in English and in Hebrew, tailoring their appeals for different audiences. Netanyahu’s recent sojourn to the United States is only one example. Take Ayelet Shaked, who sounded moderate notes to English-speaking audiences on a trip to Britain, while also telling Hebrew audiences that the “Jewish” character of Israel should supersede the notion of “equality.”
Of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with code-switching. Politicians of all kinds do that. But the fact that some Israeli politicians think they have to sound more moderate in English than in Hebrew is telling. And when I opened myself up to what some Israeli politicians say in Hebrew, such as when Netanyahu falsely spread allegations of Arabs stealing votes in the last Israeli elections, something he did in Hebrew and not in English, or when new coalition partner Itamar Ben-Gvir put up a billboard reading, “May our enemies be gone” in Hebrew next to the pictures of three Israeli left-wing politicians, two Palestinian and one Jewish, it opened my eyes to a lot of aspects of Israeli politics that some American Jews would rather not hear.
So yes, it would be good for more American Jews to learn Hebrew. It would be a positive step for more American Jews to engage more heavily with Jewish culture and history. I certainly have no regrets about my time spent studying Hebrew.
But we should be honest about what the effects of that Hebrew language education would be. It might not be to simply make more American Jews “defend Israel” against its detractors. It might mean a more honest engagement with Israeli politics as they truly are, rather than how they are presented abroad to English-speaking audiences. And for some of us, that might even push us further away.
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The post Learning Hebrew brought me closer to Judaism — and alienated me from Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Jewish Advocacy Groups Sue California Over K-12 Antisemitism
Students from Encinal High School and St. Joseph Notre Dame High School in Alameda, California, participating in anti-Israel demonstration on Jan 26. 2024: Photo: Michael Ho Wai Lee / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
A coalition of leading Jewish advocacy organizations is suing the state of California for allegedly failing to address “systemic” antisemitic discrimination in K-12 public schools.
Led by the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law and StandWithUs, the legal action stems from consecutive years of antisemitic abused perpetrated against Jewish students, parents, and teachers by anti-Zionists at every level of the school system. Court documents shared with The Algemeiner earlier this week revealed new, harrowing accusations of Jews being called “k—kes,” Jewish students being threatened with gang assaults, and K-12 students chanting “F—k the Jews” during anti-Israel demonstrations promoted by faculty.
In one highly disturbing incident described in the legal complaint, fifth graders from the Oakland Unified School District were filmed by the teacher saying “Another major thing that I’ve learned is that the Jews, the people who took over, basically just stole the Palestinians’ land” and “one thing that’s really surprising to me, and that appeals to me is that the US is helping the Jews.” In another incident, the Oakland Education Association confected a curriculum in which the intifada — two prolonged periods of terrorism in which Palestinians murdered Israeli civilians — was taught to third graders as a nursery rhyme.
“The California education system is teaching the state’s children that Jewish Americans and Israelis are racists, white supremacists, oppressors, and baby-killers who should be shunned,” Brandeis Center chairman and former US assistant secretary of education for civil rights Kenneth Marcus said in a statement on Thursday. “The result is not surprising: Jewish children and children perceived as Jewish are bullied and excluded by their peers and harassed by their teachers, who silence, mock, and even segregate them if they speak out. School officials have done little or nothing at all to help these children.”
Litigation related to antisemitic incidents in California K-12 schools surged following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, which triggered a barrage of antisemitic hate crimes throughout the US and the world. The list of outrages includes a student group chanting “Kill the Jews” during an anti-Israel protest and partisan activists smuggling far-left, anti-Zionist content into classrooms without clearing the content with parents and other stakeholders.
Elsewhere in California, K-12 antisemitism has caused severe psychological trauma to Jewish students as young as eight years old and fostered a hostile learning environment, according to complaints
In the Berkeley United School District (BUSD), teachers have allegedly used their classrooms to promote antisemitic stereotypes about Israel, weaponizing disciplines such as art and history to convince unsuspecting minors that Israel is a “settler-colonial” apartheid state committing a genocide of Palestinians. While this took place, high level BUSD officials were accused of ignoring complaints about discrimination and tacitly approving hateful conduct even as it spread throughout the student body.
At Berkeley High School, for example, a history teacher forced students to explain why Israel is an apartheid state and screened an anti-Zionist documentary, according to a lawsuit filed last year by the Brandeis Center and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The teacher allegedly squelched dissent, telling a Jewish student who raised concerns about the content of her lessons that only anti-Zionist narratives matter in her classroom and that any other which argues that Israel isn’t an apartheid state is “laughable.” Elsewhere in the school, an art teacher, whose name is redacted from the complaint for matters of privacy, displayed anti-Israel artworks in his classroom, one of which showed a fist punching through a Star of David.
In September 2023, the Brandeis Center, along with the ADL and the American Jewish Committee (AJC), sued the Santa Clara Unified School District (SCUSD) in California for concealing from the public its adoption of ethnic studies curricula containing antisemitic and anti-Zionist themes. Then last February, the school district paused implementation of the program to settle the lawsuit. One month later, the Brandeis Center, StandWithUs, and the ADL filed a civil rights complaint accusing the Etiwanda School District in San Bernardino County, California, of doing nothing after a 12-year-old Jewish girl was assaulted, having been beaten with stick, on school grounds and teased with jokes about Adolf Hitler.
“Jews consistently are being targeted with hostility because of who they are, including in California and particularly in K-12 public schools. This lawsuit seeks to remedy that,” StandWithUs chief executive officer Roz Rothstein said in Thursday’s press release. “It is imperative that California K-12 schools not be co-opted by those seeking to indoctrinate students into antisemitic hate. However, Jewish students and parents indicate that this is precisely what is happening in California. Shockingly, those tasked with enforcing non-discrimination laws in our schools have failed to intervene effectively to put a stop to this growing problem.”
She added, “This lawsuit was necessitated by that systemic failure and seeks to ensure, going forward, that California’s Jewish students are protected and have access to an education free from discrimination.”
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Jewish Olympic Gold Medalist Jack Hughes Honored by New Jersey Devils as NHL Season Resumes
Jan 23, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes (86) handles the puck against the Vancouver Canucks in the first period at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Photo: Bob Frid-Imagn Images via Reuters
Jewish Olympic hockey player Jack Hughes was honored by his team the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday night before their loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Newark.
Ahead of the game, the Devils showed on the Jumbotron a video of Hughes, 24, scoring the overtime goal that secured the United States its 2-1 victory and gold medal over Canada on Sunday in the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics. Hughes lost a few teeth during the game when he took a high stick to the mouth from Canada’s Sam Bennett during the third period. The win marked the first time a US men’s hockey team had won gold at the Olympics since a 1980 victory against the former Soviet Union.
“I’m so proud and so happy that the men’s and women’s USA hockey teams brought gold medals back to America,” Hughes told the crowd in a pre-game speech on Wednesday given from the ice, while he held back tears. “And I’m so proud to represent the New Jersey Devils organization and to represent the great state of New Jersey. From the bottom of my heart, all of my [Team] USA teammates, we want to thank you for all the love and support. We feel it. Thank you.”
The Devils center — whose mother is Jewish while his father is Catholic — arrived in New Jersey late Tuesday night after US President Donald Trump recognized him and his Olympic teammates in the State of the Union address. Hughes played Wednesday night as Buffalo won for the seventh time in 10 games, 2-1, on goals from US Olympian Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs. The NHL restarted its season on Wednesday after taking a break due to the Olympic Games in Milan.
On Thursday, before the New Jersey Devils took on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena, Hughes received a standing ovation as the Penguins honored athletes who represented their countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Earlier in the week, the popular Hobby’s Delicatessen & Restaurant located blocks away from Newark’s Prudential Center, which is home to the New Jersey Devils, named a sandwich after Hughes. The owners said “Jack’s Golden Goal Sandwich,” which features roast beef and “golden sauteed onions” on a soft roll, is “so tender, you don’t need teeth.”
Trump announced during Tuesday night’s State of the Union that Connor Hellebuyck, the goaltender for the US men’s Olympic hockey team that won gold, will be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Hellebuyck made 41 saves in the Olympic game against Canada on Sunday and also assisted on the overtime goal by Hughes that led to the team’s gold medal win.
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Zachary Levi Hosts New Fox Nation Docu-Drama Series About King David
A scene from “David: King of Israel.” Photo: YouTube screenshot
Actor Zachary Levi hosts a Fox Nation original series that premiered on Thursday about the life and legacy of the Bible’s King David.
The four-part docu-drama “David: King of Israel” begins with the episode “The Shepherd,” which tells the story of David as a young shepherd in Bethlehem who kills a lion and a bear to protect his flock.
Episode two, “King of Israel,” premieres on March 5 and explores the aftermath of David’s fight with the giant Goliath, which is described in the Book of Samuel. The third episode will premiere on March 12, and the finale airs March 19. The series features reenactments about King David’s life and expert commentary intertwined with Levi’s narration.
Born in 907 BCE, David was chosen by God and anointed by the Prophet Samuel to one day be Israel’s new king. He reigned as the king of Israel for 40 years and is one of the most important figures in Jewish history. Christians also regard him as the ancestor of Jesus.
“Highlighting faith, redemption, and extraordinary purpose, we’re honored to bring this story to Fox Nation with Zachary at the helm,” said Fox Nation President Lauren Petterson about the four-part series.
“Aside from the account of Christ, the story of David is the most powerful in all of scripture,” added Levi. “In fact, one might argue that it’s even more powerful in some ways, given that David was fully human, and therefore flawed, like us, making his journey more relatable to our own. It’s a story I’ve wanted to be a part of telling ever since I was a child, so it was such a blessing being a part of this production.”
Levi, the “Shazam!” star, who is not Jewish, told “Fox & Friends” on Thursday he grew up in a Christian home and “reading my Bible and David was the story that always stood out to me as the most epic, the most amazing.”
“It can be difficult to relate to Jesus. David is us. David is a person who is called a man after God’s own heart,” he added. The actor, who has a SAG Award for his role in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” also said the four-part series is “like Lord of the Rings in the Bible.”
“You got giants and witches and all kinds of, you know, it’s cool and there’s massive battles, nation upon nation and good versus evil and all the spiritual elements of everything,” said Levi. “It’s a really fascinating story, even if you’re not within the Judeo-Christian lineage.”