Israel deliberately revived Hebrew as a spoken language to unify a diverse diaspora

Evidence

However, Hebrew, unlike Arabic, has not historically been as consistently used as spoken language between Jews. Hebrew, prior to the founding of Israel in 1948, was primarily restricted in some Jewish communities as a holy language for use in prayer and religious ceremonies and for literary purposes (Ben-Rafael, 1994). But with the founding of the state of Israel, Hebrew has evolved into a modern language that is increasingly used by Jews worldwide as a spoken language beyond its historically religious and literary uses (Ben-Rafael, 1994). This has worked to unify Jews both in Israel and around the world and to reinforce a shared religious identity among an ethnically/racially diverse group. Ulpans, or free institutes for learning Hebrew, were initiated soon after the founding of Israel in order to promote a unified national language. By strongly encouraging modern Hebrew language education of new Jewish immigrants to Israel, Israel has purposefully used language to reinforce a common Jewish worldview and identity (Ben-Rafael, 1994). It is a modern example of how language can be used by a large collective group to foster a group identity, increase the ability to share information, and ultimately promote group coordination and dependence. — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 903 (#expands, via linked claim)

Jabotinsky was one of the champions of the revival of the Hebrew language, claiming, “A national culture, a pure national consciousness is depended upon the language in which a child receives his first impressions from the world that surrounds him.” This linguistic revival, however, raised a unique practical question of how to transform a language that was dead for centuries into a living tongue. This question was particularly difficult in the case of Hebrew, which has no natural vowels, thus bringing into question the proper pronunciation of this revived ancient tongue. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 555 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Hebrew was long treated as the first language of mankind; A state deliberately revived Hebrew to forge unified national identity — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 903; Hebrew’s missing vowels complicated how to pronounce a revived language. — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 555

Broader Connections

• A state deliberately revived Hebrew to forge unified national identity #expands (1.00) — Roderick M. Kramer, Geoffrey J. Leonardelli, Robert W. Livingston, Social Cognition, Social Identity, and…, 903
• Hebrew’s missing vowels complicated how to pronounce a revived language. #complicates (0.72) — Ivan Davidson Kalmar, Derek Penslar, Orientalism and the Jews, 555