Lately, I haven’t blogged as much as I would like, for many reasons. However, I do have time that I want to use to help others.
So I’m setting up shop as a tutor. I’m not the most knowledgable person you might find, but I know my limits and I’m patient. I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong or I don’t know. I also know what it’s like to stand in your shoes as a conversion candidate or recent convert (and in many ways, as a baal teshuva).
I am considering creating some formal classes at a later time but starting with such a simple thing: pronouncing prayers in the siddur. I struggled with whether I was pronouncing prayers correctly, but I was embarrassed to ask others and I was hesitant to “waste” someone’s time with it. But it’s not a waste of time, and I’d love to help you with something that is so simple yet so important to our lives. Alternatively, I can help “check” your pronunciation if you’re more confident in your Hebrew. I am no Hebrew pronunciation expert, but I think I can help you. And in return, I expect that learning with you will teach me many things too!
If you’re interested in learning with me once a week via Skype (Thursday evenings or Sundays), please email me at crazyjewishconvert on the gmail server. Don’t mind the weird way of saying that; I try to avoid spambots.
Of course pronunciation is important, but less important than content comprehension. Just look at the vast differences in pronunciation, ranging from Ashkenaz to Yemenite, yet Hashem hears us all.
Absolutely true! But it's problematic if you're saying a different word than you intend! I still daven primarily in English for many reasons, including that one.