The Revival of Hebrew | Eikev 5784

I can type fluently in Hebrew. I can read nearly fluently in Hebrew. But I don’t speak a word.

Maybe I’m just embarrassed by my awful American pronunciation, but even when I am in Israel I have a very hard time speaking the language. It is not something I am proud of.

Growing up in New York, high school students must take the Regents, a state-wide exam. Nearly all Jewish high school students take the Hebrew regents as their language requirement. I did not go to an elementary school that spoke Ivrit B’Ivrit (classes using instructional Hebrew), so I was pretty terrified for my 9th-grade Hebrew Regent. I still managed to get a 99 on the exam—hold your applause—I got stuck on one word during the oral conversational part of the exam. In conversation with our Hebrew teacher, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Ozarowski, I was supposed to ask him for a replacement train ticket. Except I forgot the Hebrew word for “ticket.” Hence a 99 instead of 100. I will never forget my כרטיס again.

But aside from the obvious social purposes of allowing us to converse with our brothers and sisters in Israel, is there religious value in learning how to speak Hebrew?

In the words of Shemah that appear in our parsha, Rashi makes a fascinating comment:

וְלִמַּדְתֶּם אֹתָם אֶת־בְּנֵיכֶם לְדַבֵּר בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ וּבְשׇׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ׃

לדבר בם. מִשָּׁעָה שֶׁהַבֵּן יוֹדֵעַ לְדַבֵּר, לַמְּדֵהוּ "תּוֹרָה צִוָּה לָנוּ מֹשֶׁה" שֶׁיְּהֵא זֶה לִמּוּד דִּבּוּרוֹ; מִכָּאן אָמְרוּ כְּשֶׁהַתִּינוֹק מַתְחִיל לְדַבֵּר אָבִיו מֵשִׂיחַ עִמּוֹ בִּלְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּמְלַמְּדוֹ תוֹרָה, וְאִם לֹא עָשָׂה כֵן הֲרֵי הוּא כְאִלּוּ קוֹבְרוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר ולמדתם אתם את בניכם לדבר בם וגו'.

Based on the language of the verse, you should teach your children to speak in it, לדבר בם, Rashi states that a father should specifically speak in Hebrew to their young children.

Is it a mitzvah to learn how to speak the Hebrew language? Why isn’t this codified in any halachic works?

To understand the significance of the Hebrew language, let’s explore the incredible modern-day story of its revival.

Read the rest on Substack, and listen to the full shiur above!