Chumash Game: Duolingo-Style Torah Learning for Chassidic Kids

Teaching Hebrew vocabulary to Yiddish-speaking kids in traditional communities is a specific problem that general language learning apps don't address. Duolingo doesn't have Chumash. Most Hebrew apps assume a Modern Hebrew context and ignore the Yiddish-speaking learner entirely. So I built one.

The Chumash Game is a gamified web app — think Duolingo, but for Parshas Vayikra — designed specifically for Chassidic children who speak Yiddish as their first language and are learning the Hebrew vocabulary of the Torah portion.

The Design Constraints

The target audience shaped almost every decision. These are young kids, many with ADHD or reading difficulties — that's not a niche edge case, it's the mainstream in the classroom. So the app was built with those users as the default:

No timers, ever. Timed exercises create anxiety and penalize kids who think more slowly. Every interaction is at the child's pace.
Large touch targets. Every tappable element is at least 48×48px — usable on a phone or tablet without frustration.
Clear visual feedback. Correct answers get immediate positive reinforcement (confetti, points popup, star rating). Wrong answers show a gentle correction without shame.
Audio pronunciation. The Web Speech API reads Hebrew words aloud so kids can hear pronunciation, not just see it on screen.
Full RTL layout. Hebrew text is properly right-to-left throughout, with Noto Serif Hebrew for the Torah text itself.

How It Works

The course structure mirrors Duolingo's map-style progression. Lessons unlock sequentially. Each lesson is a set of exercises — a mix of flashcards (see the Hebrew, recall the Yiddish meaning), multiple choice (pick the right translation from four options), and reverse exercises (see the Yiddish, identify the Hebrew). The first lesson covers the opening vocabulary of the korbanos section of Vayikra — 25 Hebrew/Yiddish word pairs.

Stars (1–3) are awarded based on first-try accuracy. Points and streaks are tracked locally in localStorage. There's a profile page showing earned badges — the first one unlocks after completing the first korban lesson.

Tech Stack

It's a React 18 + TypeScript app built with Vite, using Tailwind CSS for layout and heavy inline styles for RTL handling (RTL support in Tailwind v4 can be finicky). Deployed to Cloudflare Pages with HashRouter so deep links work without server-side routing configuration. No backend — everything runs in the browser, state persisted in localStorage.

Phase 1 covers one full playable lesson with 12 exercises. More lessons, more parshiyos, and classroom-mode features (teacher dashboard, class progress) are planned for future phases.

It's a public project — the source is on GitHub. If you're building educational tools for traditional communities or want to adapt it for another parsha, get in touch.