Jewish Tradition teaches us that the letters of the Hebrew alphabet predate creation (1).
They are the building blocks of formation that G-d used to utter the universe into existence. This beautiful language
Rav Kook z"tl is known to have had a fascination with speaking Hebrew before it was popular to do so.
has been the core of our national existence ever since. Despite the events that unfolded at the Tower of Babel, Hebrew survived and went on to become the language of the first monotheists and eventually of the entire Jewish People.
The Children of Israel are unique in the sense that they are a religion based nation and have a three pronged national existence based on land, language and religion. These three components are intertwined. Most nations simply have land and language that unite them, but the Jewish People remain an exception to this rule. It is the Hebrew language that has allowed the Jews to maintain a national existence despite an over 2,000 year exile embittered with anti-Semitism and constant threat of physical annihilation.
The relationship between Modern and Biblical Hebrew continues to be a subject of debate. It is common for scholars to refer to Modern Hebrew as being “reborn.” This is simply not true and can be tremendously misleading. The Hebrew language has been spoken continuously from the creation of Adam until this very day[2][3]. Of course the grammar has varied throughout the years, but this is all part of the evolution of the language.
Hebrew is a living language and that has allowed it to adapt to the demands of modern philology. The words of the Torah are fixed, but the language has continued to flourish both in conversation and in literature during the exile.
Our Sages z"tl used this holy language to write various commentaries and for letter writing between scholars and even put it to use in conversation from time to time. Rav Kook z"tl is known to have had a fascination with speaking Hebrew before it was popular to do so. He recognized the need to use Hebrew as the language of our every thought and deed. The famous Rabbi, philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi z"tl was an ardent Religious Zionist and in his famed work The Kuzari he preaches the superiority of the Hebrew language[4] and explains why it is a holy tongue that is central to our existence. It is precisely this devotion to our national language that has preserved it during the exile.
Jewish businessman in the Middle Ages known as “Radanites”[5] traveled all around the world in order to conduct commerce and nearly everywhere they went they encountered fellow Jews and were able to communicate with them using Hebrew.[6] Not only were Jewish merchants able to interact with each other, but so were scholars. Rashi z"tl is known to have communicated with the great Jewish minds of Morocco, North Africa and Babylonia.
The fact that a common language exists has helped the Jewish people to live as a nation despite being dispersed throughout the world. It is the language of our sacred Torah and the bond that binds us to the creator and to our fellow coreligionists.
It is incumbent upon the State of Israel and for the Nation of Israel to rebuke those who claim that conversational Hebrew is a modern creation because it is an insult to our sacred tongue. Those who discredit our language threaten the glue that holds our people together and slur our heritage. The Kabbalistic Book of Formation tells us that the Hebrew letters are the building blocks of creation.[7] Indeed, they are, but they are also the basis for Judaism and Jewish Civilization.
During this season, it is time appropriate to note that our Sages say that the Jewish people merited being redeemed from slavery because they maintained their Hebrew names and culture while in bondage. Interestingly enough the establishment of the State of Israel was preceded by an increase in the use of Hebrew as an everyday language. There seems to be a pattern between the Hebrew language and the redemption. It is crucial that we fight for the supremacy of Hebrew within our nation if we are to expect good things to come.
The connection between the Hebrew language and Jewish life was established from the very beginning. This is quite apparent in the Torah and its commentaries. According to the texts our teacher Moses z"tl taught the Torah to the Nation of Israel in seventy languages, yet Hebrew was the language that G-d gave it to us in.
Let us not forgot that.
(I admit that this article is self contradictory as it was written in English, but give me time...).
1. Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah. (Newburyport, MA: Weiser Books, 1997), 5-6.
2. Koren, Eliyahu. The Koren Jerusalem Bible. (Jerusalem, Israel: Koren Publishers, 2008).
3.Rabinowitz, Louis I. The Routes of the Radanites. The Jewish Quarterly Review, University of Pennsylvania Press 35 (1945): 257.
4.HaLevi, Yehuda. The Kuzari. (Jerusalem, Israel: Feldheim Publishers, 2009).
5.Gil, Moshe. “The Radanite Merchants and the Land of Radhan.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 17 (1974): 299 – 328.
6. Rabinowitz, Louis I. The Routes of the Radanites. The Jewish Quarterly Review, University of Pennsylvania Press 35 (1945): 275.
7 Kaplan, Aryeh. Sefer Yetzirah. (Newburyport, MA: Weiser Books, 1997), 5-6.