The Uniqueness of Modern Hebrew
By Vardit Ringvald, February 2024
The uniqueness of Modern Hebrew is its revival as a secular language that encapsulates the two most important elements that define the Jews as a people, the spiritual and historical baggage, and as the official language of the Jewish State, which is replete in its creations and practices.
In his famous speech at the first meeting of the Vaad Halashon Haivri at Odesa in 1917, the national poet – Haim Nachman Bialik – described the Hebrew language as the glue that connects the Jews with each other by linking them to their shared spiritual heritage – “a language that its words determine the national self of the people” – the national “I”. Words that are “the sum total of its spiritual treasure” the “inheritance and all our national assets that are embedded in our blood and organs and therefore he claims, “It is eternal and forever”. For him “only those who internalized Hebrew as part of their being, have rights to the cultural treasures of the nation”.
“For this reason,” he added “I would divide the nation not by its religious or political divisions, but according to the degree of their distance and proximity to the Hebrew language. There are “original” Jews who are connected to the soul of the nation, and there are “translated” Jews, who live their lives not in their own language, but in foreign tongues… One who knows Judaism in translation, it is as if he/she is kissing his/her mother through a handkerchief”.
While Bialik views the revived secularized Hebrew as a vessel that carried in it the essence of what it means to be a Jew, Yakov Rabkin mentions Chaver who argues that in the absence of a geographical land the Zionist idea that was created in Europe views the language as its “national territory” and actually Chaver claims that the Zionist ideas were conceived in the Hebrew language and, as a result, the Zionist idea became inseparable from the secular Hebrew.
For those reasons, Modern Hebrew should become the lingua franca of the Jews. Unfortunately, in spite of the crucial role of Modern Hebrew which serves as a connecter and a space for Jews to communicate and work together, many Jews still neglect to become proficient in using the rich linguist code that reflects the Jewish and Israeli memory and values.
For them being a Jew in a foreign language does not impact their “Jewishness”. They also dismiss the idea that being part of Zion requires the acquisition of Modern Hebrew. After all, Israel is part of the world, and therefore as such it is possible to understand and to communicate with Israelis using the global world lingua franca – English. These claims reflect uneducated views about the power of a language to impact one’s cultural identity, sense of belonging, and the right to a voice to equally participate and truly impact the life of the Hebrew-speaking community in Israel and in the Diaspora.
In addition, there are those who believe that acquiring Modern Hebrew is not only a question of relevance but an impossible task, an unrealistic ambition. Mostly because of their own experience, there is a huge gap between the investments in studying and teaching Modern Hebrew and the poor learning outcomes. However, this lack of success has mostly to do with the way it is taught. Language is a human trait and therefore, it can be learned. In order to be successful, the Jewish world needs the quality of Hebrew educators who are well-trained to teach it. This should be our priority in order to give the Hebrew voice to our learners. We need to invest in creating best-in-class Hebrew educators – an act that, in my view, will strengthen the Jewish people, by giving them the opportunity to be connected and to make an impact.