The Resurrection of Hebrew: From Ancient Language to Modern Tongue

🔑Hebrew, once a dormant biblical language, made a miraculous revival as the spoken language of modern Israel.

📚Hebrew played a significant role in Jewish religious texts and study even when it was not spoken in daily life.

🏰During the Age of Enlightenment, Christians admired Hebrew as a classical language similar to Latin.

📝In the 19th century, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's passion for Hebrew reignited the language, starting with his own Hebrew-speaking household.

🌍The revival of Hebrew involved creating new words and spreading it through schools, homes, and official institutions in Israel.

How did Hebrew become the spoken language of modern Israel?

—Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's efforts in creating Hebrew-speaking schools and a Hebrew-speaking household, alongside the determination of the Jewish community, led to the revival of Hebrew as the spoken language of modern Israel.

What role did Eliezer Ben-Yehuda play in the revival of Hebrew?

—Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was a linguistic revolutionary who dedicated his life to reviving Hebrew. He raised his son to be the first native Hebrew speaker in almost 2,000 years and founded organizations to promote the use and development of Hebrew.

Was the revival of Hebrew supported by everyone?

—No, there were skeptics who believed Hebrew could not be revived, and some preferred other languages like Yiddish or German. However, the determination of key figures like Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the widespread adoption of Hebrew in schools and institutions contributed to its revival.

How did Hebrew adapt to modern concepts and technologies?

—To accommodate modern concepts and technologies, Hebrew had to develop new words and terminology. Linguists, including Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and his colleagues, coined thousands of words to cover fields like medicine, science, and law.

What impact did the revival of Hebrew have on Israeli identity?

—The revival of Hebrew played a significant role in forging an Israeli identity. It served as a common language for immigrants from various backgrounds and helped establish Israel as a Jewish homeland with a distinct cultural heritage.

00:00- Today, the Hebrew language and the state of Israel seem inseparable. But what's crazy is that, for millennia, spoken Hebrew was an all-but-dead language.

02:45- Hebrew as a spoken language began to die out around the year 70 after the Romans destroyed the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and exiled many Jewish people from Israel.

05:05- Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a linguistic revolutionary, resurrected Hebrew as a spoken language in its modern form.

06:34- Ben-Yehuda's dedication to making Hebrew a spoken language faced challenges, including opposition from those who preferred Yiddish and the reluctance of some Zionist leaders like Theodor Herzl.

08:05- Ben-Yehuda founded the Va'ad Halashon, or the Language Council, which published dictionaries and coined new words to accommodate modern concepts and technologies.