The Institute for Torah and Semitic Languages looks at the Hebrew Bible through the lens of the Jewish world that produced it, while taking into account advances in Comparative Semitic linguistics.

As an Orthodox rabbi, Dr. Eldon Clem has studied both in a traditional Orthodox kolel, and has a Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Comparative Semitics with a concentration in Hebrew and Aramaic. This means he combines the scientific method (גישה מדעית) with the faith method (גישה אמונתית) in studying the classical sources of Judaism.

Often, the Hebrew Bible is studied by the devout in a religious context, but they miss the vast advances in understanding the Bible that archaeology has given us, not only in physical artifacts, but also in finds such as the discovery of ancient texts in Akkadian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Ethiopic, Arabic, Aramaic, and Syriac. Even the great rabbis of the Talmud often appealed to Aramaic or Arabic to help solve a linguistic problem in the Bible. But it was the later Sephardic rabbis of the Middle Ages who were the first Comparative semitists, drawing from their deep knowledge of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic to explain many passages of the Bible. 

But not only do we study the Hebrew Bible with the scientific approach, it is also studied in the light of the community of faith that produced and transmitted it, i.e. the Jewish community. We welcome people of all religions who are interested in learning Torah, both written and oral, to come and study with us. This includes not only Jews, but also Noachides, Christians, Muslims, or even people outside these religions or who do not identify with any religion. If you are interested in learning Torah in depth, come and study with us. The Jewish sages of old have preserved very ancient ways of understanding and applying the Torah not only to the daily lives of Jews, but also to the righteous learners among the nations as well (חסידי אומות העולם). 

Rabbi Dr. Eldon Clem has taught the biblical languages since 1985, and has developed his own unique method that has brought the knowledge of these ancient language to hundreds of students, many of whom have continued in Ph.D. programs around the world. He has been teaching at Jerusalem University College since 2010 and is director of the department of Hebrew and Cognate Languages there. Even if you do not currently have time to learn Hebrew, your membership also gives you access to studies on the Hebrew Bible that are in English but make use of the full range of tools that are available to study today.

What's Included in Your $25 Membership?

• Dr. Clem’s proven effective method of teaching Hebrew, including:
  1. Dr. Clem’s Hebrew Book
  2. Hebrew Aleph-Beit Course
  3. Hebrew Mini Course
  4. Hebrew 1
  5. Hebrew 2
• Hebrew Readings in the Former Prophets
• Arabic for Comparative Semitics
• Judaism and the 2 Torahs
• Hebrew Syntax as it is released
• Weekly Torah Portion Lectures as they come out
• Future Courses on various dialects of Aramaic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Akkadian, Ugaritic, Phoenician, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite etc., as they are offered
• Future material on Jewish prayer and spiritual life as it is released

All this for just $25 per month

Who Leads This Membership?

Rabbi Dr. Eldon Clem has been teaching Hebrew and other Semitic languages for four decades. He enjoys reading the Torah not only in the original Hebrew but also in many other ancient languages, including Aramaic, Syriac, Classical Ethiopic, Arabic, and Greek. His trasnlations of the Aramaic Targumim have been published electronically by Accordance, and is being published in hard copy by Gesher Media.. He holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Semitics with a concentration in Hebrew and Aramaic from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and was ordained as an Orthodox rabbi from Kolel Torat Yoseph in Efrat, Israel. He is currently director of the dept. of Hebrew and Cognate Languages at Jerusalem University College.