AI and Cheesecake

With thanks to the SAILN language teachers AI workshop,  I created a query

"write a dialog in Hebrew about favorite flavors of cheesecake on shavuos"  

......... bajing!

Here is a dialogue in Hebrew about favorite cheesecake flavors for Shavuot, featuring common Israeli preferences.

https://costco97.com/pistachio-cheesecake/

שיחה: עוגות גבינה לשבועות 

Dialogue: Cheesecake for Shavuot

ד (1)דינה: יואו, אני לא מאמינה ששבועות כבר כאן! איזה עוגת גבינה את מכינה השנה?...ה

(1) DINAH: Wow, I can't believe Shavuot is already here! Which cheesecake are you making this year?

רוני: האמת שעדיין לא החלטתי. אני מתלבטת בין  עוגת גבינה אפויה קלאסית עם לימון, לבין משהו יותר מודרני. מה איתך?.....ך

(2) RONNIE: Honestly, I haven't decided yet. I'm debating between a classic baked cheesecake with lemon, or something more modern. What about you?

דינה: אצלנו במשפחה הולכים רק על ה"גבינה פירורים" המסורתית! זה הכי טעים, קרמי וקליל, במיוחד בלי אפייה.

(3) In our family, we only go for the traditional "crumbs cheesecake"! It's the tastiest, creamiest, and lightest, especially with no-baking.

ר.  (4)רוני: "גבינה פירורים" זה קלאסיקה ישראלית, אין ספק. אבל חשבתי לנסות משהו שוקולדי, אולי עוגת גבינה ושוקולד לבן עם אוכמניות.

(4) "Crumbs cheesecake" is an Israeli classic, no doubt. But I was thinking of trying something chocolatey, maybe white chocolate cheesecake with blueberries.

דינה: וואו, נשמע מושחת! את מכינה את זה בתבנית עגולה

(5) Wow, sounds decadent! Are you making it in a round pan?

רוני: כן, אלא אם כן אני אלך על קינוחי כוסות אישיים עם קרם וניל, שיהיה קל להגיש אחרי כל הארוחה החלבית.

(6) Yes, unless I go for individual cup desserts with vanilla cream, so it's easy to serve after the whole dairy meal.

דינה: רעיון טוב. טוב, מה שלא תכיני, העיקר שיהיה חג שמח וטעים

(7) Good idea. Well, whatever you make, the main thing is to have a happy and tasty holiday!

ר  (8)רוני: חג שבועות שמח!....ח

(8) Happy Shavuot holiday!

Key Vocabulary & Concepts

עוגת גבינה אפויה 

Ugat Gvina Afuya 

Baked Cheesecake

עוגת גבינה פירורים 

Ugat Gvina Pirurim 

Crumb/No-Bake Cheesecake

גבינה לבנה 

Gevina Levana

White Cheese (standard for Israeli cheesecakes)

גרידת לימון 

Gridat Limon

Lemon Zest

קינוחי כוסות 

Kinuchei Kosot

Cup Desserts

chocolatey שוקולדי

and-chocolate ושוקולד

blueberries אוכמניות

חג שמח 

Chag Sameach

Happy Holiday

Grammar notes

blueberries

from the Aramaic root אוכמא ochma black

feminine form Ochma אוכמה

masculine Ocham - אוכמא 

one blueberry is Uchmanit אוכמנית 

many blueberries Uchmaniyot אוכמניות

diminutive eet ית

plural diminutive יות ee.yot 

URLs

https://larc.sdsu.edu/sailn/

https://costco97.com/pistachio-cheesecake/

https://www.costco.com/s?keyword=cheesecake

p.12 KEY

Fair Use Exemption for an excerpt used for non-commercial educational purposes

Derived from an exercise

Published in Israel 2020 by Meira Ma'adia
www.succeedinhebrew.com :אינטרנט
ISBN: 978-965-7493-02-01

 Column 1 (Right Side)

1. אַתָּה תַּיָּיר (Tayar) Tourist (m.s.)
2. אַתֶּן עולות חֲדָשׁוֹת (Olot Chadashot) New Immigrants (f.p.)
3. אַתְּ פְּקִידָה (Pkida) Clerk (f.s.)
4. אַתֶּם פְּקִידִים (Pkidim) Clerks (m.p.)
5. אַתְּ תַּלְמִידָה (Talmida) Student (f.s.)

Column 2 (Left Side)

1. אַתָּה סְטוּדֶנְט (Student) Student (m.s.)
2. אַתֶּם תַּלְמִידִים (Talmidim) Students (m.p.)
3. אַתְּ יַלְדָּה (Yalda) Girl (f.s.)
4. אַתֶּן מוֹרוֹת (Morot) Teachers (f.p.)
5. אַתְּ תַּיֶּירֶת (Tayeret) Tourist (f.s.)

Counting the omer between Pesach and Shavuos

5786 / 2026 , Day 10

Brookside Gardens by MK Gross (2026)
license: CC BY 4.0

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/how-to-count-the-omer/ The omer refers to the 49-day period between the second night of Passover (Pesach) and the holiday of Shavuot. This period marks the beginning of the barley harvest when, in ancient times, Jews would bring the first sheaves to the Temple as a means of thanking God for the harvest. The word omer literally means “sheaf” and refers to these early offerings.

Sample children's book: Cat by Dr Seuss

 

Dialog Practice - Homework is Mutar

This transliteration format uses a, e, i, o, u with their Latin pronunciations, often rendered in English as ah, ei, ee, oh, oo. 

I've based the transliteration on a HebrewPod101 exercise, under the Fair Use copyright exemption for non-commercial excerpts and derivative works. This has audio.

https://www.hebrewpod101.com/lesson/lower-intermediate-1-no-tv-until-you-finish-your-israeli-homework

( Archived )

Learn these in the following order. Note that the English forms "permitted to me" and "forbidden to me" reflect Israeli Hebrew usage as well as the Yeshivish expressions for "allowed" mutar and "not allowed" assur. Before reading the dialog, discuss the questions that parents might ask children when they come home from school. Was there anything that you said or did to postpone doing homework? At what point in the transliteration will we know if Liel is a girl or a boy? Gadi is the Father in the dialog.

Before reading the English, see if you can find the Hebrew word for "television" in the transliteration. Other vocabulary that can be introduced: Dad/Abba אבא, yes/ken כן, house/beit בת, home/bayit בית . The more that you practice the transliteration and translation, the less you will miss the nqudot / vowels  נקודות . This might be an opportune time to introduce the כ/ח distinction H/kh if you will be using that in your pronunciation.

Havda-lee, Havda-lah

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/253217/jewish/Havdalah-Blessings-and-Instructions.htm

DRAFT Cloze exercise - colors

Adapted for educational purposes from  האיש הירוק

The Green Man
Yehonatan Geffen

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A9-%D7%94%D7%99%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%A7-green-man.html-0

Answer key https://nilmad.blogspot.com/p/green-man-answer-key.html

https://youtu.be/s0-zMceNz8g?si=WCVTHiunVkpxyIw6

 פעם, בעיר *****, גר לו איש אחד

איש *****. האיש ****" גר בבית **** עם

.דלת ***** וחלונות ***.

הייתה לו אישה ***** ושני ילדים ירוקים

ובלילות הוא היה ישן במיטה ****** שלו

.וחולם חלומות ירוקים-ירוקים.

יום אחד קם האיש הירוק בבקר ירוק, נעל

נעליים ירוקות, לבש חולצה ירוקה ומכנסיים

.ירוקים, על ראשו חבש כובע ירוק ויצא החוצה.

Advanced Beginning TIVSOL Lesson Plan Phone exercise

Advanced Beginning TIVSOL Lesson Plan, Phone exercise: 

Which Restaurants Plan to be Open During Tisha B'Av (SUNDAY, AUGUST 3rd) or Afterwards?

Objective: To develop and reinforce conversational skills in an advanced beginning Hebrew as a Foreign Language class of 8 to 12 students. 

• To learn Israeli cultural practices of holiday observances that affect store hours. 
• To practice carrying on a phone conversation with limited instructor assistance for obtaining responses to two questions.
• To practice presenting material to the class. 
• To produce a chart to take home to use when travelling to Israel at this time next year.

Time: 1.5 hours 

The activities presented here will reinforce the concepts from a previous lesson of: days of the week; telling time; differentiating pronunciation of Tesha and Tsha .... ; planning a conversation (10-15 minutes) The activities presented here will introduce the conversational paradigm for asking a store its planned hours for a particular day (15 minutes) The activities here will give the students a chance to work in pairs to plan a conversation, conduct a spontaneous(1 O minutes), constrained conversation (25 minutes) ; record information (5 - 1 O minutes); present findings to the class (15 minutes) 

Media: Students will bring a cell phone to class or arrange to share one. 

Hand out #1 : This can go on the whiteboard and might inspire its own lesson :)

Hebrew version from hebcal.com

Hand out #2: List of stores with two possible headers--Will your restaurant be open on the 9th of Av? If not, do you plan to open after the fast?

Pedagogical goals: To increase confidence in speaking and in using a planned conversation. To grasp the importance of choosing words that are more understandable over the telephone and to use the telephone in a guided environment. To add an additional conversational paradigm to the students' inventory. 

Procedure: Hand out color-coded items so that native speakers of the same language do not have the same color. 

Using Handouts #1 and #2, identify upcoming course days and holidays; engage students in call and response; engage students in individual response; have students ask each other. Explain the notion that store hours vary. Group students in pairs based on the color coded items OR have a more experience class self- assign. I will conduct a spontaneous phone conversation in front of the class. 

Note 1: to prevent בתול זמן, be honest about the impetus for the call by indicating that your Hebrew class is planning for a future visit.

Note 2: It may be possible to start the exercise online. In that case all you have to do is confirm with the store that the hours listed on the webpage are correct. 

Note 3: It's often helpful to rehearse possible prompte from whatever voicemail menu that you will encounter.

-- --

Walk around room assisting students in writing up their planned conversation. Have the most confident pair conduct a spontaneous phone conversation for the class Walk around room assisting students in conducting a phone dialogue Make sure that students are recording their answers and write up a grid on the board.

Have the students come to the front of the class to record their answers (this can be done en masse or one pair at a time, depending on the time remaining in class) Have the students present their findings 

Closing activity: Post the finished product to the Facebook page or a shared Google document.

Photos by mkg (for Passover
planning)

with and without vowels

1 and 2 are Arabic; 3 and 4 are Hebrew. The written system is neither syllabary nor alpabet, but an "impure abjad." See  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjad#Impure_abjads

Example: Mazal Tov , Mubaraq , Congratulations!

1.  مبارك
2. ﻣُﺒَﺎﺭَﻙٌ
3. מזל טוב
4. מַזָּל טוֹב

relationships between writing systems

image from source (Archived)

https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/ancient-alphabet/aleph.htm

Siddurim available Prayer books

This Silver Spring, Maryland synagogue has 

the 1980 printing available for private or communal use. 

https://opensiddur.org/compilations/liturgical/siddurim/shabbat-siddur/seder-tefilot-yisrael-sabbath-festival-prayer-book-1946/  the text

The Sabbath and Festival edition from the 

Rabbinical Assembly of America - The United Synagogue of America, (c) 1946, 1973

39 days of the omer

 Corresponding to Wednesday, May 21, 2025

https://jewishsoulart.com/index.html

Jewish Soul Art by Hannah Niva Glick ​ Besiyata Dishmaya - You may not represent my artwork as your own in part or whole, nor sell it without my permission nor use it for idolatry. https://jewishsoulart.com/index.html

Today is thirty-nine days, which are five weeks and four days of the Omer .

Barukh atah, A-donai E-loheinu, Melekh Ha-ʿolam, asher qid'shanu b'mitzvotav v'tzivanu ʿal S'firat Ha-ʿomer.

Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to count the Omer.

39: Ha-yom tisha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot va’arba-a yamim la-omer .

OR

39: Ha-yom tisha u’sheloshim yom, shehaym chami-sha shavuot va’arba-a yamim ba-omer ba-omer .

Intention, Thanks to Morah G in Morah B"s Kitah א : We count down to the number of days until the end of school (17 days left), but we count up to the number of days to receiving the Torah .

URLs

https://www.ou.org/holidays/transliterated_version_of_sefirat_haomer/

https://www.chabad.org/holidays/sefirah/omer-count_cdo/jewish/Count-the-Omer.htm#lang=heb

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counting_of_the_Omer#

https://jewishsoulart.com/index.html

Online Hebrew group classes

https://njop.org/hebrew/class/ 

This non-profit does not charge a fee. Most classes concentrate on building skills for reading aloud.

https://thegln.org/learn/learn-with-gln/

This nonprofit charges a nominal fee. It rarely hosts Hebrew classes, but does occasionally have Yiddish, which is written using both Hebrew and Latin (English) letters.

YouTube 

Hebrew with Ben

Learning Hebrew with a linguist webinar

Streetwise Hebrew

Patreon 

Streetwise Hebrew $5/month

Summer Ulpan programs

https://hebraistyka.uw.edu.pl/en/ulpan/
2 weeks

Name of contact : unknown

Email warsaw.ulpan

https://catalog.middlebury.edu/offerings/view/section-202560-60425
3 weeks

Name of contact - Bella (2022)

Email hebrew-ls

Reviews: https://www.reddit.com/r/languagelearning/comments/sjp187/middlebury_summer_language_program_hebrew/

Megillat Esther מגלת אסתר in Five Fonts

 

URLs

Purim Blessings in Hebrew, English, and Romanized

https://nilmad.blogspot.com/search?q=Purim

Wikitionary entry

This has only the Hebrew text for the three blessings before the Megillah reading. There is a blessing after, as well.

For the Purim Blessings in Hebrew, English, and Romanized form, see  

https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/blessings-for-reading-the-megillah/ 

This play list has all four blessings, so that you can hear them!

Thoughts here on Conquering Darkness with Light: Purim after October 7 by Dana Kessler and Albert Robinson (March 20, 2024)

נ is for Napping astroNaut

 idea from student A

=====

and ק is for cane

====

screenshot from The Aleph Beis Song by Rabbi Shalom Gold of the Old City of Jerusalem. 

https://youtu.be/_kfSHI1XiVQ?feature=shared

These letters make different sounds

From @jewishinteractive

Mem vs Tet

URLs

https://youtube.com/@jewishinteractive?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/0G8JgkyjvVE?feature=shared

See also

Updated Summer 2024

 

Online Curriculum and Lesson Planning Resources

Updated Summer 2024

By Wilhelmina Gottschalk, Religious School Director

Ohr Kodesh Congregation, Alvin Browdy Religious School

 

Jewish Education Project - https://educator.jewishedproject.org/

Best for: Finding an individual lesson plan

Tashlich includes Micah 7:18 to Micah 7:20

מורה מרים

Morah Miriam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

מִי־אֵ֣ל כָּמ֗וֹךָ נֹשֵׂ֤א עָוֺן֙ וְעֹבֵ֣ר עַל־פֶּ֔שַׁע לִשְׁאֵרִ֖ית נַחֲלָת֑וֹ לֹֽא־הֶחֱזִ֤יק לָעַד֙ אַפּ֔וֹ כִּֽי־חָפֵ֥ץ חֶ֖סֶד הֽוּא׃

( Listen )

 

יָשׁ֣וּב יְרַחֲמֵ֔נוּ יִכְבֹּ֖שׁ עֲוֺנֹתֵ֑ינוּ וְתַשְׁלִ֛יךְ בִּמְצֻל֥וֹת יָ֖ם כׇּל־חַטֹּאותָֽם׃

 

תִּתֵּ֤ן אֱמֶת֙ לְיַֽעֲקֹ֔ב חֶ֖סֶד לְאַבְרָהָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥עְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵ֖ינוּ מִ֥ימֵי קֶֽדֶם׃

https://www.sefaria.org/Micah.7.18?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

https://www.sefaria.org/Micah.7.19?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

https://www.sefaria.org/Micah.7.20?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

orange  pattern  : L ) <

 

================

https://nilmad.blogspot.com/p/blessing-after-bread.html

Tisha B'Av - ט ב'אב

 

קינה על מאורעות זמננו

A Tisha b’Av Lament for October 7th

Rabbi Moshe Hauer, Orthodox Union 

ADAPTED from

Kinot for Tisha B'Av Day, Chapter 25 (Source via Sefaria ; Click for Koren translation by Rabbi J. Sacks)

מחבר: רבי קלונימוס בן יהודה 

Author: Rabbi Kalonymos ben Yehuda [of Speyer] (more here and here)

Jacob Richman's Educational Resources about Tisha B'Av: 5784

URLs

https://jr.co.il/hotsites/tisha-b-av.htm

https://jr.co.il/index.html

https://www.sefaria.org/Kinnot_for_Tisha_B'Av_(Ashkenaz),_Kinot_for_Tisha_B'Av_Day.25.8?vhe=Kinnot_for_Tisha_B%27Av_--_Wikisource&with=Translations&lang=bi

https://www.sefaria.org/activity/Kinnot_for_Tisha_B'Av_(Ashkenaz)%2C_Kinot_for_Tisha_B'Av_Day.25.8/en/The_Koren_Ani_Tefillah_Siddur_and_Humash_for_Summer_Camp_(translation_by_Rabbi_Lord_Jonathan_Sacks)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalonymos_family#Kalonymus_ben_Judah_or_Kalonymus_the_Younger

https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5587720/jewish/Who-Authored-the-Kinot-Said-on-Tisha-BAv.htm