Prof. Eric Zakim, Coordinator 301-405-4250 hebrew-advise@umail.umd.edu School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures 3215 Jimenez Hall University of Maryland College Park, MD 20742 The Hebrew Program is affiliated with the Meyerhof Center for Jewish Studies and the Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland Books Interested in reading some Hebrew on your own? The library has an excellent collection of Hebrew books. Go the area around PJ5054 in McKeldin, which is where all the Hebrew literature is, and just start perusing the shelves. Books on history and politics will be shelved among the other books on similar topics. For students ready to read some books on their own in Hebrew, here are a few suggestions: Gafi Amir, 'Ad gil 21 tagi'a la-yareah (sipurim) David Grossman, Yesh yeladim zigzag (roman) Orli Kastel-Blum, Radikalim hofshiyim (sipurim) Etgar Kerret, ha-Kaitanah shel Kneler (sipurim) If you are looking for Hebrew books in English translation, the possibilities are almost endless. To get started, here are a couple of items we suggest: S. Y. Agnon, All Our Yesterdays (novel) David Grossman, The Book of Intimate Grammar (novel) Batya Gur, Murder on the Kibbutz (mystery) Ronit Matalon, The One Facing Us (novel) Amos Oz, Elsewhere Perhaps (novel) Tom Segev, 1949: The First Israelis (history) Anita Shapira, Land and Power: The Zionist Resort to Force (history) A. B. Yehoshua, The Lover (novel) Films Want to watch an Israeli film? The university has plenty at both Nonprint Media Services Hornbake (4th floor) and at Language Media Services in 1205 Jimenez Hall. We have prepared a list of them all. You may not be able to take them out (check with their policies) but if you plan in advance, we might be able to help get permission on a special ad hoc basis. Send us a note. The Hebrew Program also has a small collection of videos and books-on-tape (also on the list). Send a note if you are interested in borrowing any of these titles. Anything you want to see but can't find on the list? Want to write a review to be posted here either recommending a film or warning fellow students to stay away? Send us a note. Here are a few of our recommendations: Late Summer Blues (a moving tear-jerker) Students are on summer break between their final exams and their induction into the Israeli army. When the first of their friends to be inducted is killed, the students turn their graduation play into an anti-war statement. Kuni Lemel in Tel Aviv (a mad-cap comedy) Eighty-year-old Grandpa Kuni, living in Brooklyn, offers five million dollars to the first of his twin grandsons to marry a nice Jewish girl and settle in Israel. Sallah (a comedy classic) A satirical comedy showing the problems an immigrant family from North Africa encounters in adjusting to life in Israel. Siege [Matsor] (one of my favorites - Prof. Zakim) A young Israeli woman widowed as result of the 1967 Six Day War must balance remembering her husband which pleases her sons and her husband's buddies, and starting a new life for herself. Underdog: A War Movie (an excellent soccer documentary) The Hapoel Beit She'an soccer team became the pride of its small town when it made it to "the top" of the league. In 1996, the team was on the verge of losing that special status, and the entire town was in mourning. The film follows that rocky season and the war between the "haves" and the "have-nots", the small town against the big city, the underdog taking on the seasoned champ.