Exploring Hebrew: A Co-op Member's Journey at This Is Not an Ulpan

I first started learning Hebrew a few months after meeting a wonderful person in Berlin whose family originated from Israel and who had become my boyfriend at this point and later became my husband and father to my two children. Although we spoke German to each other, he spoke Hebrew with his family, and it was during their conversations that I first heard the word Ima.

When I started learning Hebrew, it was through classes at the university, later at the local Jewish community and through the original ulpanim material of the Israeli state. I quickly realized that there was a gap between the deeply Zionist narrative of my Hebrew classes, which allowed little to no discussion or challenge, and both my own political convictions and interests, as well as those of my boyfriend and his family. My own, only slowly growing Hebrew vocabulary seemed politically conservative or right-wing, and thus, not my own really.

All that changed when I took my first online TINAU class a few months before moving to Israel/Palestine in 2023. Suddenly, not only did I learn at a much faster pace and managed to understand more and more complex grammatical structures and more advanced vocabulary, but I also learned about social and political struggles, about Israeli politics and the occupation. For the first time, learning Hebrew felt politically relevant. And it helped me enormously to get a sense of what my husband’s family was talking about around Friday night dinners or birthday celebrations. 

Upon my arrival in Israel/Palestine, I took another TINAU class, this time an intensive one over four weeks. This was a kick-start to my life in Israel and people started complimenting me on my Hebrew. My children, for whom I had only been Mama before, started to call me Ima more and more frequently. A word that was foreign and strange to me only a few years prior started to become part of my own identity. As my language skills improved, navigating life in this new surrounding became easier and I felt more and more comfortable. Moving can be a challenging and sometimes scary experience and learning the language helped me feel less isolated and lonely. 

TINAU to me has always been more than just a place to learn Hebrew: it’s a place for political discussions and exchange, for critical education, a place for personal growth and for community. All these things have become even more important since the beginning of the war. Amid utter chaos and sorrow, TINAU has remained an island where I feel comfortable sharing my opinions, but also sharing my pain and anxiety in the face of destruction, death and dehumanization. 

Hebrew, to me, has been a family language and a language of love from the beginning of learning it. To my children, I will probably always be both: Mama and Ima. TINAU gave me the tools for my Hebrew to grow into a political language and a language of the struggle for a better future in Israel/Palestine as well – not only for my own children, but for all the children of this piece of land. Even though these very dark days make it extremely difficult, TINAU is one of the very few places that allow me to hold onto some kind of hope. I joined TINAU’s co-op last December because I believe that we need these places in order to be stronger together. Stronger, but also more open in our hearts, and to be able to hold each other in these times of despair.

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Jola is a co-op member and a Hebrew student at This is Not an Ulpan.