In this three week course you will experience, hands-on, various layers of non-modern Hebrew. Hebrew with its long and complex history is unique in that many of its layers retain the richness of the older layers, making it a fascinating tapestry. In the classes, which will be conducted in Hebrew within the total emersion environment of The Middlebury School of Hebrew, we will progress chronologically through these layers. We will read texts in Biblical Hebrew, ancient Piyyut (liturgical poetry), Medieval Hebrew of the great halakhic and philosophical works, the classical poetry of Sepharad, Renaissance and Early Modern Hebrew, and Hebrew of the enlightenment period. Our goal would be to experience the classical texts directly, and to improve our capability to cope with such texts. We would also learn about the unique linguistic hallmarks of each layer, and compare them to our Modern Hebrew. As a preamble we shall speak about the place of Hebrew in the Semitic family of languages. The course is designated for student in the high-intermediate level or above.