Language arts is one of my favorite classes at Hartman because it is really fun, the teacher is really nice and funny, and I actually learn stuff in class.
Fun Fact: Maya, my לשון teacher, is one of the only teachers at my school who davens at an egalitarian shul.
Background Information: There are three ways to say husband in Hebrew, בעלי, בן-זוגי, and אישי. The most common term for husband is בעלי.
Yesterday, Maya was talking about her husband, referring to him as בן-זוגי, and a girl in my class asked why she didn’t call him בעלי. The teacher responded that בעלי means owner, and she is not a dog. בן-זוגי is a better term for husband because it means ‘my male partner’.
After she told the class this, another girl asked why her husband didn’t call her בעלתי (בעל conjugated in the feminine tense), and Maya answered that then it would be her husband’s turn to be a dog.
Just like my teacher, I think calling your husband your owner is a very sexist term.
Yesterday’s class was one of the few times that something actually feminist was discussed at my ‘feminist’ school.
Curriculum: Earlier this year in my language arts class we learnt about conjunctions, and now we are learning about conjugating numbers (for example learning when to say third or three). This is much harder in Hebrew than English because there are not only two forms for every number. There are three ways to conjugate numbers, and each of the three ways have to be put into male and female.
I wonder what we will talk about in my next language arts class!
– Naomi
P.S. בעלי means ‘owner’, בן-זוגי means ‘my male partner’, and אישי means ‘my man’