Native Jerusalemite · 4 languages · 1-on-1
Read the texts your grandparents read.
Private lessons with someone who grew up in Jerusalem, in all four. Every session is personal; every practice session reflects what you actually worked on.
Pick a language →Each language has its own page, open to everyone. Already know what you want? Book a trial lesson
Yaacov Schlezinger
Grew up in Jerusalem · Old Yishuv heritage
Open to everyone · no account
Pick a language
Each language has its own page. Open the one you’re learning.
Yiddish
ייִדישToday's word, the grammar vault, inbox if you want tomorrow's.
Open the page →Modern Hebrew
עִבְרִיתToday's word and the library: binyanim, reading, the stuff apps skip.
Open the page →Biblical Hebrew
לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁToday's word from the text, plus the vault on how Biblical Hebrew actually reads.
Open the page →Aramaic
אֲרָמִיתNo daily word yet. The Tanakh reader and the other libraries are open.
Open the page →Also on the site: grammar vault · Tanakh · Hebrew roots · the library
What happens between lessons
After each lesson, the words we used turn into flashcards, reading and speaking practice in your account.
See what it looks like
Find your language
Reconnecting with heritage? Yiddish or Modern Hebrew · Reading sacred texts? Biblical Hebrew or Aramaic
Sound familiar?
Heritage learner
Your family speaks Hebrew at dinner, but you only catch half. You smile and nod, then feel the shame of not understanding your own language.
Scholar
You have years of grammar knowledge, but open a Torah and freeze — the unvoweled text has no entry point.
Hobbyist
Duolingo got you started, but you plateau at every intermediate phase. You did 200 days and still can't conjugate a verb.
You're not alone. And yes, ten minutes a day between lessons is enough.
"I read from the Torah phonetically for 20 years. Last Shabbat I understood every word."
— Jean-Noël, Biblical Hebrew · 16 weeks
Yaacov Schlezinger
Born and raised in Jerusalem, Old Yishuv. Fluent in Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic, and English. I built The Jerusalem Bridge because apps can teach you vocabulary — but they can't sit across from you and hear why you're stuck.
Read my story →How a week works
The lesson
Live and one-on-one, planned around your level and your reason for learning.
The notes
In your own language, with the new words as flashcards and your homework.
The practice
Ten minutes a day with your own words, so the next lesson starts where this one ended.
What changed for three students
Could understand his Israeli wife but couldn't respond
His wife says he finally sounds like a real person, not a textbook
Read from the Torah phonetically for 20 years without comprehension
Read last Shabbat's Torah portion and understood every word
Grandmother's Yiddish letters sitting unread in a drawer
Cried the first time she understood a full paragraph
The goal is for you to stop needing me.
The point of the lessons is to get you reading and speaking on your own. You try a lesson before you pay anything, and after that you can pause or stop any month.
Book a trial lessonIt's 30 minutes, and there's nothing to pay.
Private lessons not in the budget right now? Learn in a small group or ask about a scholarship spot.