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172

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1991

The Hebrew Language
Is Alive And Well

SHULAMMIT DOVRAT

Special to The Jewish News

I

was working the kitchen
the other day and listen-
ing to the radio. Five
minutes before the hourly
news a regular short program
called "Language Corner" by
Avshalom Koor came on. As it
is always very interesting, I
stopped my work to listen. I
also like watching Avshalom
Koor's short program on TV
called "Time for Language."
In his broadcasts Mr. Koor
discusses an interesting point
from the Hebrew language,
interspersed with clips from
popular songs, quotes from
politicians and the news,
quotes from the Bible and
other Jewish sources. He il-
luminates the meaning of a
certain word or expression; he
may discuss the history of an
expression, or he may teach
the correct usage of some
commonly misused structure
or word, or he may teach the
proper Hebrew word for a
foreign word popularly used.
As I was listening to this pro-
gram, I was suddenly struck,
again, by the miracle of the
Hebrew language. After 2,000
years of being used solely as
a religious language, Hebrew
has been revived as a daily,
spoken tongue.
There is one man who is
usually credited with this
grand achievement: Eliezer
Ben-Yehuda. Mr. Ben-Yehuda
was one of the first to realize
that the return of the Jews
from exile to their ancient soil
to re-establish their national
homeland would not be com-
plete without a parallel
revival of their ancient, na-
tional language. Only then
would the national and
cultural rebirth be realized.
Mr. Ben Yehuda immigrated
to Eretz Israel in 1881 from
Russia where he was born.
Jumping about 100 years to
the present time: there is a
popular Israeli singer and
song-writer, kibbutz-born,
named Matti Caspi. He made
a hit some years back with a
song about Elizer Ben-
Yehuda. Where else in the
world do kids sing and dance
to a tune about a national
figure, and not a war hero --
but a linguist, at that?
The miracle of Hebrew is
ever-continuing. After the
reestablishment of Israel in
1948, about % of a million
Jews immigrated from Arab

Shulammit Dovrat grew up
in San Diego and has lived
in Israel since 1976.

countries. They all had to
learn a spoken, everyday
Hebrew, even those who
through their religious educa-
tion knew biblical Hebrew.
And all the immigrants since
then, who have come from
literally the four corners of
the world, have learned
Hebrew. I came from the
United States in 1976 with
about 10 words of Hebrew to
my knowledge. There is an ex-
tensive network of Hebrew
language schools throughout
Israel, called ulpanim, which
teach a special method.
Because in one class there
may be students with 10 dif-
ferent mother tongues, their
new language is taught only
in Hebrew. I went to an ulpan
on the kibbutz; the program
consisted of a half day of
study and half day of work.
I now have two young
children and for them, of

After 2,000 years
of being used
solely as a
religious
language, Hebrew
has been revived
as a daily, spoken
tongue.

course, Hebrew is their
"mother tongue." Their
father is a Sabra and his
mother tongue is also
Hebrew. His parents came
from Germany and so Ger-
man is their first language.
My husband grew up speak-
ing only Hebrew, playing in
Hebrew, studying at the
university in Hebrew, reading
literature, listening to the
radio, watching TV, singing,
cursing, all in Hebrew. The
Israeli humorist, Ephraim
Kishon, states that Hebrew is
the only mother tongue that
mothers learn from the
children. I can attest to that!
I say the miracle is still con-
tinuing. Mr. Ben Yehuda
established the forerunner of
the present "Academy of the
Hebrew Language." One of
their main tasks, which Mr.
Ben Yehuda himself began, is K
coining new words in Hebrew.
You may well imagine that
there is no word in the Bible
for "computer," or "bacteria,"
or "telephone" or "video"!
And yet we certainly need
these words as well as many
more in all fields.
Every year the Israeli
Ministry of Education
designates an annual theme.
Last year's theme was the

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