By trade i am a (mostly) retired computer programmer, web developer, and network engineer. Most of my computer work was for hospitals, universities, and one bank. In 1990, i was an early advocate for, and contributed to, web accessibility standards for people with visual and auditory impairments.  Yes, i am that old!

At the ripe old age of 6 my grandfather – who came from a lengthy line of Sfardi Rabbis in Tzfat, Israel but lived in the USA – decided it was time for me to read the daily newspaper (New York Times) and began to teach me to read Hebrew. I learned a bit of conversational Hebrew when he would take me on long, annual summer and holiday visits to Israel to be with family and friends, some of whom were holocaust survivors. I learned more conversational Hebrew when i was in the Israeli army service in 1976-78.

I began teaching Hebrew, Torah, and Haftarah trope when i was in graduate school. I’ve taught Hebrew on the side ever since, over 45 years. And in case you were wondering, i was not studying computer programming – i learned programming at the tail end of preparing a doctoral dissertation in psychological aspects of cognitive brain development!  Computer Science degrees came later. However, i’ve continued to read science, psychology and medical journals to develop the best possible techniques to help my students – who have ranged from 6 years to 80 years – read a backwards language. Because i was trained to evaluate learning disabilities, the book i have written keeps all types of learning challenges in mind with methods, and ideas to help students succeed.  And for the most part, they do.  Some have tried and failed before, but the vast majority find they truly can learn to read Hebrew.