The Story of Hebrew

The language of the Jewish holy scriptures, Hebrew was learned by scholars and laymen to understand the mind of deity. As time progressed, and as the Jewish people were assimilated by Rome or, later, scattered in the Diaspora, the Hebrew language had various periods of flourishing, where it grew to encompass much more than Holy Writ; or languishing, where it was kept alive often only through the repetition of the Torah. Suddenly, with the establishment of the state of Israel, by government fiat Hebrew was declared an official, living language again, with more native speakers today than there have ever been. This is truly unique in the history of languages, and Lewis Glinert’s book conducts you through the language’s iterations, antagonists, challenges, and successes with the enthusiasm and expertise of a scholarly tour guide, stopping to point out relevant factoids or illustrative passages of poetry or prose along the way. As a bonus, you get a small history of the Jewish people, as the language and the people who kept it alive are intertwined. The book begins to drag a bit in the latter half, but picks up again as it relates Hebrew’s usage in the modern state.