By Hannah Reich Berman

Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkos have passed, along with Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah. So there has been a lot of davening lately.

Yom Kippur presented me with the same problems that it does every year. Fasting was not an issue; the trouble began when the fast ended. It was 7:30 p.m. when I arrived home and was finally able to sit down to eat and drink. As always, in one fell swoop, I consumed every calorie that I had missed during the day. It is unclear to me how (and why) I do this, but I always do. So much for starting my diet on Yom Kippur! My plan was to use the fast to kick-start my diet. But it did not work out that way. Apparently fasting is OK with me, but dieting is not my thing.

The fast, however, was only one component of the day. There was also the all-day davening. For me there were davening problems. I do my best, but the likelihood is that I fall somewhat short. As previously mentioned here in this column, I am familiar with only a handful of the Hebrew words. Because that bothers me, I try to daven quickly so that when I finish, there will be enough time to read the English translation, which is located on the left-hand page of the Machzor.

The last thing I want to do is fall behind. It is upsetting when the chazzan, along with everyone else in the congregation, gets ahead of me. For this reason, there have been times when I have been tempted to do all of my davening in English. But I do not do that. It does not feel right because, as I am fully capable of saying the Hebrew, I believe that is what I should do. My parents worked hard to provide me with a Jewish day-school education, and I would hate to waste their money and my education. The other reason I do not pray in English is that my mother always told me that davening is to be done in Hebrew only. For those reasons, I make a supreme effort to do both–daven in Hebrew and then read the English translation. But it always presents me with the struggle to keep up!

As someone who often feels the challenge to come up with solutions, I have given this conundrum a good deal of thought. Success at problem-solving provides me with a good deal of satisfaction. This influence comes from my Uncle Norbert, who told me many years ago that most problems have solutions. My uncle is an exceptionally wise man, so I took his advice to heart and have never forgotten it. This results in trying hard to be creative about problem-solving. And now, I believe I just may have come up with a solution for my davening issues.

At this stage in my life it is unlikely that I will be able to learn the meaning of each and every Hebrew word in the Machzor. I may pick up a few translations here and there, but even if I do, it will be relatively useless because remembering them will be difficult. And while it is important to daven in Hebrew, it is my guess that it is just as important to understand the meaning of what I am saying!

I have been pondering this problem for a while. Suddenly, it hit me that what I need is a Hebrew version of the Evelyn Wood speed-reading course. To the best of my knowledge, the Evelyn Wood course is strictly for the written word in English. But whatever her strategy is, if it works with reading English, it should also be applicable in Hebrew. This is exactly what I need to help me speed-read. It will not help me with comprehension, because I still will not understand the meaning of all the words. But if I can read (daven) at a faster pace, I will be able to get to the English.

Perhaps my research was faulty, because I found nothing comparable. If a Hebrew speed-reading course exists, I am unaware of it. So, my proposal is for a Jewish Evelyn Wood to step forward and provide the help that I need. I dream of turning Evelyn Wood into an Elisheva Wolff, who would provide a Hebrew speed-reading course. In Hebrew it might be known as האלישבע וולף קורס לקריאה מהירה.
A course such as that would go a long way toward solving my problem. Until such time, I will continue to muddle along as I have been doing for years. It is not perfect, but that’s just the way it is!

 Hannah Berman lives in Woodmere and gives private small-group lessons in mah-jongg and canasta. She can be reached at Savtahannah@aol.com or 516-902-3733.

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