Many years ago I purchased my first set of Seforim. It was a "
Shulchan Aruch HaRav" which I had mistaken for a "Shulchan Aruch." I was not anywhere near able to read it at that time but I hoped to work through it word by word. I didn't, but I should have. At the time it seemed impossible. I did realize that purchasing seforim was much more economical than purchasing "books" and I began to build my library not based on my ability but rather on my expectations of myself.
It was only later after signing up for online shiurim on
Hilchos Shabbos did I implement my plan to sit down in front of the Shulchan Aruch and work through it word by word. In doing so I was able to reach the point where I could learn inside the text, especially when I was familiar with the topic. Today I can generally follow along in most seforim, but the Gemara has a great deal more Aramaic and my goal now is to discipline myself to better quire the language skill necessary to be successful.
I believe that others might benefit from this approach, so here are my suggestion.
1. Get a notebook. Each time you look up a word that you don't know write it down. It may allow you to quickly look up a word you know you've already run across, but more importantly it will help you remember. Don't worry if you find it easier to look a word up in the dictionary again than in your notebook, the process help you remember. When you look a word up again, write it down again. Keep track of the location you are studying in the margin of the notebook to give the words a little context. While it might not always be efficient to look up a word in your notebook, it does serve as a map of difficult words as you review the text it is based on.
2.
Invest in dictionaries. My first dictionary was Jastrow's which I got from my wife on my 21st Birthday. I have a link to an online copy but I highly recommend purchasing one so they keep printing it. It's very useful and relatively inexpensive. My next recommendation is "the Practical Talmudic Dictionary" available from Feldheim. It is great because it will often locate not only the keyword you are looking for but an entire phrase. It is much more useful than it's predecessor, "the Impractical Talmudic Dictionary" (I'm sorry I couldn't resist). It is actually largely adapted from the "Aramaic Hebrew Dictionary" which has been expanded to the "Aramaic Hebrew English Dictionary" by Rabbi Ezra Zion Melamed. This is a great work as well, it is exhaustive like Jastrow and clear and crisp like the PTD. It can be a little difficult to locate words at times because of how it is alphabetized. While these works are geared towards the Talmud, I began learning Shulchan Aruch. While many dictionaries of Modern Hebrew didn't always reflect Hebrew used in classic seforim, Reuben Alcalay's "The Complete English Hebrew Dictionary" often had what I needed. I have also found cases where a Yiddish dictionary is handy since terms that are of recent origin or transliterated from other languages seem more likely to vary in modern Hebrew. Finally a book on Roshei Teivos (abbreviations) would be helpful but some of the works already listed and others I will mention have enough that I generally don't need one.
3. Nekudos. When possible try to get menukad versions, those with vowels printed. You will be able to converse much more intelligently if you learn to pronounce the words correctly rather than fake you way through it (like I did initially). In addition to the Artscroll's Gemara which give a vowelized original line by line with the translation,
Tuvia's publishes a number of Gemara's which have the standard Vilna page with vowels for not only the Gemara but Rashi and Tosephos. There are versions of the Chayei Adam, Mishneh Berurah, and Kitzur Shulchan Aruch available with nekudos. I have a pocket sized set of Shulchan Aruch (which does not include commentaries) which is menukad but I do not know if it is still available.
4. Translations. It helps to have translations to narrow down the meaning when the usage is ambiguous or cannot be found. It also helps you get a feel for the flow of the language. Most importantly it keeps your understanding on the right track. Artscroll publishes the Talmud in English, Moznaim the Mishneh Torah, Feldheim the Mishnah Berurah. Kehot has a number of volumes worth of the Shulchan Aruch HaRav translated. Judaica Press has several volumes worth of the Chochmas Adam translated and there are several translations of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch.
5. Perseverance. No excuses. Forget 2-4. You can make real progress with just a notebook, your sefer, and a dictionary (and a pen).
Give it a try. If it works for you too, please let me know.
