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With the advent of online video sites, learning Hebrew is now easier than ever with free videos. The people that make the videos have been very creative and artistic. We will discuss some of the videos available in this article. All beginners must start with the basics, the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. While you can learn to speak Hebrew without reading it, many of the videos will show the letters, so you will want to learn how to pronounce them first. There are several ALEF-BET songs available online, but one of the all-time favorites is the one by Debbie Friedman. The videos are a mix of commercial demos and videos developed by volunteers. HebrewResources.com has uploaded several lessons from “At Home with Hebrew” and their new “Hebrew Kindergarten” product. Some of the Ulpan schools in Israel have uploaded samples of their students applying what they have learned. There are several types of videos where the words are displayed on the screen, and someone reads the words. An author known as “bnaiorpueblo” has posted several of these using verses from the Hebrew scriptures. Listening to Hebrew songs is yet another great way to improve your Hebrew language skills. Songs are catchy, and the melodies make it easier to learn Hebrew vocabulary. On the videos, you hear a mix of songs and liturgy. Children can also learn from the online videos. One set of Hebrew lessons are taught by “Vampire Bear”. As an adult, it may sound juvenile, but children probably love it. It’s also possible to learn Hebrew liturgy via the online videos. One of the lessons teaches the prayers for lighting candles on Friday night before the Shabbat meal. Several people have recorded the Shema V’Ahavta, and allow you to follow the words while the liturgy is sung. If you are already past the alphabet, then you might be ready to just learn some vocabulary. Some videos contain simple lists of vocabulary words, pronounced with a good Israeli accent. The videos are usually just a few minutes, and organized by topics. If you are bored with learning Hebrew by books, then you should check out the site below to see some of the online videos. You can improve your pronunciation and your vocabulary in a new fun way. And one thing that I know you’ll love - the videos are entirely free. Have fun today with our Hebrew pronunciation video web site. Get your own completely unique content version of this article.

“Say to them, `This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech’” (Jeremiah 7:28);
“They have set their abominations - extremely disgusting and shamefully vile - in the house which is called by My name, to defile it” (Jeremiah 7:30, The Amplified Old Testament).

For years prophets have told us that we no longer listen to the voice of our Lord; we do not appreciate the correction we would experience if we bothered to listen to God’s word. Let us read and consider the rise and fall of former great civilizations:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to selfishness;
6. From selfishness to complacency;
7. From complacency to apathy;
8. From apathy to dependency;
9. From dependency right back to the bondage where it all started.

We have taken the liberty of taking God’s liberty and making light and license of it. We refuse to be reformed and reclaimed, for then we would have to admit that we are not our own, but God’s, and our intellectual pride forbids that.

We have journeyed rather quickly from bondage to bondage. Somewhere in between we lost our bearings. The day must come that even God Himself will no longer be able to forbear us. One of our modern prophets, Billy Graham, is reported to have said, “If Jesus doesn’t come back soon, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him…” (Romans 1:21a NIV).

The past can be painful, but in California, it can be rewritten. At issue is what sixth graders will learn about Hinduism in their ancient history textbooks.

Claiming that eight social studies/history textbooks under review by the California Board of Education misrepresent Hinduism, two Hindu groups have approached the board with edits during its public review process last year.

The textbooks are “inaccurate and demeaning” said Janeshwari Devi, director of programs at the Vedic Foundation, which she described as a Hindu educational group with no political affiliations. She pointed to specific references in the history textbooks proposed for 6th-graders, that describe Hinduism’s voluntary class system, “the varna system of social structure,” with the discrimination associated with casteism. (See “What’s at stake” for a look at controversial passages.)

As per state law, the textbooks slated for inclusion in the state curriculum in 2006 can be reviewed by the board of education before adoption. The board is similarly bound to invite public opinion. In October, armed with several proposed edits and thousands of signatures gathered online, the Vedic Foundation and the Hindu Educational Foundation challenged the eight history textbooks being evaluated.

“Hinduism and its origins are, on the whole, not portrayed inaccurately, but there are quite a number of individual mistakes, infelicities and insensitivities, which have been recognized and addressed by all committees involved,” said Michael Witzel, the Wales Professor of Sanskrit at Harvard University.

“The errors in the textbooks perpetuate ignorance and put forth a negative stereotype,” said the Vedic Foundation’s Janeshwari Devi.

Hindu children in predominantly white schools are teased because of mistakes in current textbooks, according to the two Hindu foundations and their parent backers. Ancient Hinduism is presented as a pagan, pantheistic religion according to the plaintiffs.

For instance, said Devi, references to the treatment of the “untouchable” caste by Brahmins is a misrepresentation of the ancient past. Similarly, ancient Hinduism did not discriminate against women. “Modern social ills have no place” in these books, she said. The depiction of Hindus, Hinduism and India is Eurocentric and wrong, according to the objectors. (See sidebar and external links for examples.)

Some parents testified before the board that their children came home from school and said they did not want to be Hindus any more.

One parent who said he is worried about the textbooks that are being proposed is Vishal Agarwal. Father of a first grader, Agarwal is actively following the events leading up to the board’s decision. “The current textbooks in use are by the same publishers and have practically the same verbiage [as the current books]. We cannot change the past, but at least I am trying to ensure that my son does not read these ‘new’ textbooks that will be inflicted on millions of public school children,” he said.

The groups’ involvement has some parents up in arms, however. Most agree that the textbooks could stand some correction where basic facts are wrong, but a strident faction has said that the two foundations do not speak for moderate Hindus.

“Just as Christian fundamentalist supporters of creationism or intelligent design do not represent all Christians’ views on evolution, so Hindu extremists and their affiliates do not represent all Hindus’ views,” said Mira Kamdar, a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute a think tank at the New School, N.Y.

In November, three days before the state board passed the proposed edits, they received a counter petition signed by 50 American and international scholars from Witzel, who is also the editor of the Harvard University Press’ Harvard Oriental Series.

“The real issue at stake is the correct depiction of ancient history, according to the current state of the art,” said Witzel. “The two foundations involved have proposed edits that would rewrite Indian history and Hinduism according to their narrow sectarian and nationalistic bias, which is not allowed by California standards for textbooks.”

Acknowledging at the Nov. 9 meeting that the “issues were very complicated,” Ruth E. Green, president of the California Board of Education, said they were poised to accept 499 out of the 600 plus proposed edits. Sue Stickel, deputy superintendent of the curriculum and instruction branch of the Sacramento County Office of Education, said that the publishers of the textbook should include supplementary materials. However, because of Witzel and his colleagues’ concerns, the board halted its review.

In January, the board invited Witzel and Shiva Bajpai of California State University, Northridge, a Hindu scholar supported by the Vedic Foundation, for a closed-session meeting.

The board will review the edits and release a final report in March.

In the meantime, however, Hindu children are not at risk from current textbooks, according to Rebecca Bigler, a psychology professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and leading researcher of social cognition in children as well as the development of racial stereotyping.

By learning the facts, even if they are disconcerting ones about casteism or misogyny, children are not going to lose either their self-esteem or their identity, she said. In a recent study of elementary school children who were told about slavery for the first time, Bigler’s team saw some negative emotions. But, she is quick to point out that, “The levels of anger and guilt were elevated, but they were still relatively low.”

Instead, learning the past and putting it in perspective “makes kids more empathetic with victims and concerned about remediation,” Bigler said.

Some of the white children said they felt guilt and some of the black children said they felt anger, but it’s all in the approach. “If we present facts so they know that every group has oppressed another group in history, the bigger lesson is about treating everyone with respect.”

Peer approval is a key feature of growing up in any country, said Dr. Jay Pasricha, a professor of medicine at the University of Texas, Galveston Island. “It is hard enough to adjust to spoken or unspoken biases against their color or their very names. Such biases get official ‘blessing’ and reinforcement when negative stereotypes are present in textbooks the very source that students take to be authoritative on the subject. This can result in our kids growing up either schizophrenic about themselves, or, worse still complete rejection of their culture.”

“In a broader sense this applies to Indian-American society as a whole and serves to perpetuate intolerance based on race and religion,” said Pasricha, calling for an impartial and balanced account based on the consensus of experts.

Chhavi Sachdev is a freelance writer for Science & Theology News.

Matthew 1 verse 20 “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.”

Joseph listened to the angel of the Lord, believed his dream was from God, and obeyed the instructions. Many times throughout the Bible, in both the old and new testaments, God has spoken to his own in dreams, given instructions, and revealed His will. Does He still do the same today? I say yes.

Here are two examples from my personal experience.

Shortly after I was saved, my 10 year old son asked me, “Daddy, where does it say in the Bible that the devil fell from heaven?” I didn’t know off hand and it was late so I told him I would look the scripture up in the morning. I went to sleep and began dreaming. In this dream, a large Bible was opened to the scripture Isaiah 14 verse 12. I awoke from my sleep (it was about 2 AM), turned on my bedside lamp, picked up my Bible from the table, and read the scripture. It reads “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down in the ground, which didst weaken the nations!” God showed me this in a dream!

The next example is about a friend of mine, Dorsey. I dreamed I went over to his house, and there were many people there. I knocked on the door, his wife came to the door, and I asked, “Where is Dorsey?” She pointed across the road, and there he was, dressed up in a pretty blue pin striped suit. He had a big grin on his face and was waving bye. I awoke from this dream (it was about 3 AM), and said, “Lord, you are about to take Dorsey home, aren’t you?” The Lord replied, “Yes.” I began to grieve for him and prayed for him and his family. About two weeks later, on a Sunday night, I called him and asked was he doing ok. He said yes and I told him I loved him and appreciated him. The following Wednesday, he dropped dead of a heart attack. I went over to his house, and there were many people there. He looked peaceful in his coffin, dressed in that pretty blue pin striped suit. God had revealed this to me in a dream!

I have had many more….Have you had experiences like these?

Psalms 1 verse 2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Irvin L. rozier, author of My Walk with the Lord, www.selahbooks.com

About the Author

author, preacher, retired military