Today we think of Hebrew as the language of Israel, but it was originally spoken by the children of Abraham, who went down to Egypt, were enslaved there, and who were led forth by Moses. The language was active as the language of a nation for over 1700 years. The Jewish Bible, called the Torah (or the five books of Moses) was written in Hebrew.
Hebrew basically ceased to be a spoken language in 70 C.E. when the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem and the temple. However, Hebrew remained alive, via the study of the Torah and use in Jewish prayers.
Eliezer ben Yehudah (1858-1922) was one of the first Zionists, and is credited with the revival of Hebrew as a modern language. Soon after his arrival in Jerusalem, Ben-Yehuda accepted a teaching position at the Alliance School which became the first school where some courses were taught in Hebrew.
As many young boys of that time period, he began learning Hebrew at a young age. He excelled in his studies, attended a Yeshiva (Talmud academy) in hope that he would become a Rabbi. However, he become interested in the secular world, and attended a Russian "gymnasium" and later the Sarbonne in Paris.
Ben-Yehuda created a three-part action plan: "Hebrew in the Home," "Hebrew in the School," and "Words, Words, Words." Before he moved to Israel, he had successfully tried several lengthy conversations in Hebrew. He made the decision to speak only Hebrew with every Jew he met. Although he was able to speak Hebrew with little problem, there was indeed a shortage of Hebrew words on certain topics.
When his son Itamar Ben-Avi was born in 1882, he made his wife Deborah agree to raise their son as the first all-Hebrew speaking child in modern history. Ben-Yehudah had to coin words for household objects that did not exist in Biblical or prayer-book Hebrew, such as: ice-cream, omelet, towel, and bicycle.
The resurrection of an ancient language to a modern society would only succeed if the younger generation would learn to speak Hebrew fluently. Upon moving to Israel, he started teaching at the Alliance Isralite Universelle School, where the children were from a variety of Jewish communities around the Europe and the mid-East, and thus Hebrew was their only common language. Ben-Yehudah began to use the "direct system" of learning Hebrew (this means teaching the HEbrew language without translations from other languages). After a short time, the students were able to chat with each other about daily topics.
Ben-Yehudah was always a prolific and dedicated writer, often writing for the local newspapers. Eventually, in order to teach adults, he founded his own newspaper, Hahavatzelet. Hebrew lacked many words such as telegram, subscriber, fashion and many others, so he was able to use his scientific study of linguistics to introduce new words.
One of his culminating works was the "Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew." In 1910 he published the first of six volumes, but the ultimate edition completed by his second wife and son was 17 volumes. Ben-Yehuda also founded "Va'ad HaLashon", the predecessor of the Hebrew Language Academy.
In 1922, the British mandate authorities recognized Hebrew as the official language of the Jews in Palestine. This culminated in his life=long dream being fulfilled, but one month later, he died from tuberculosis which had plagued him numerous years. This was the first time in all of human history where a language that had ceased to be spoken in ancient times, came back to life.
Hebrew basically ceased to be a spoken language in 70 C.E. when the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem and the temple. However, Hebrew remained alive, via the study of the Torah and use in Jewish prayers.
Eliezer ben Yehudah (1858-1922) was one of the first Zionists, and is credited with the revival of Hebrew as a modern language. Soon after his arrival in Jerusalem, Ben-Yehuda accepted a teaching position at the Alliance School which became the first school where some courses were taught in Hebrew.
As many young boys of that time period, he began learning Hebrew at a young age. He excelled in his studies, attended a Yeshiva (Talmud academy) in hope that he would become a Rabbi. However, he become interested in the secular world, and attended a Russian "gymnasium" and later the Sarbonne in Paris.
Ben-Yehuda created a three-part action plan: "Hebrew in the Home," "Hebrew in the School," and "Words, Words, Words." Before he moved to Israel, he had successfully tried several lengthy conversations in Hebrew. He made the decision to speak only Hebrew with every Jew he met. Although he was able to speak Hebrew with little problem, there was indeed a shortage of Hebrew words on certain topics.
When his son Itamar Ben-Avi was born in 1882, he made his wife Deborah agree to raise their son as the first all-Hebrew speaking child in modern history. Ben-Yehudah had to coin words for household objects that did not exist in Biblical or prayer-book Hebrew, such as: ice-cream, omelet, towel, and bicycle.
The resurrection of an ancient language to a modern society would only succeed if the younger generation would learn to speak Hebrew fluently. Upon moving to Israel, he started teaching at the Alliance Isralite Universelle School, where the children were from a variety of Jewish communities around the Europe and the mid-East, and thus Hebrew was their only common language. Ben-Yehudah began to use the "direct system" of learning Hebrew (this means teaching the HEbrew language without translations from other languages). After a short time, the students were able to chat with each other about daily topics.
Ben-Yehudah was always a prolific and dedicated writer, often writing for the local newspapers. Eventually, in order to teach adults, he founded his own newspaper, Hahavatzelet. Hebrew lacked many words such as telegram, subscriber, fashion and many others, so he was able to use his scientific study of linguistics to introduce new words.
One of his culminating works was the "Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew." In 1910 he published the first of six volumes, but the ultimate edition completed by his second wife and son was 17 volumes. Ben-Yehuda also founded "Va'ad HaLashon", the predecessor of the Hebrew Language Academy.
In 1922, the British mandate authorities recognized Hebrew as the official language of the Jews in Palestine. This culminated in his life=long dream being fulfilled, but one month later, he died from tuberculosis which had plagued him numerous years. This was the first time in all of human history where a language that had ceased to be spoken in ancient times, came back to life.
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