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Home , Ashkenazi Jews, Hebrews, Negation of the Diaspora, Old Yishuv

The Hebrew Revolution and the Revolution of the between the 1880s and the 1930s

Judith Winther Copenhagen

The new Hebrew culture which began to crys- Eliezer Ben Yehudah was born in 1858, tallize in the land of from the end of the Ben Gurion in 1886, and Berl Kazenelson in last century, is a successful event of "cultural 1887. planning". During a relatively short period of As a man who was not active in the so- time a little group of"culture planners" succee- cialist Jewish movement Ben Yehudah's dedi- ded in creating a system which in a significant cation to Hebrew is probably comprehensible. way was adapted to the requested Zionist ide- But why should a prominent socialist like Berl ology. The fact that the means by which the Kazenelson stick to the spoken Hebrew langu- "cultural planning" was realized implicated a age? A man, who prior to his immigration to heroic presentation of the happenings that led Palestine was an anti-Zionist, ridiculed Hebrew to a pathetical view of the development. It and was an enthusiastic devotee of ? presented the new historical ocurrences in Pa- The explanation is to be found in the vi- lestine as a renaissance and not as a continu- tal necessity which was felt by the pioneers ation of , as a break and not as of the second to achieve at all costs a continuity of the past. break from the past, from the large world of the The decision to create a political and a Russian revolutionary movements, from Rus- Hebrew cultural renaissance was laid down by sian culture, and Jewish Russian culture. This the pioneers of the second Aliyah (1904-1914), break was the main condition that made it pos- the leading group in the land during two deca- sible for the pioneers to strike root in the land. des. As the pioneers of the second Aliyah stuck The superb tool to enforce the breaking off was to the spoken Hebrew language, they transfor- the Hebrew language and thought, which in med the practice into a holy principle and used this way would sever the connection with the every means in order to implant it. past and thereby allow something new to strike Eliezer Ben Yehudah (Perlman) (who cor- root in an entirely different ground. rectly or incorrectly is said to be the father From the commencement of the first Ali- of the new Hebrew language) immigrated to yah (1881) and till the establishment of the the land in 1881 and hitched his wagon to the state of Israel a culture developed within the hard work of the renewal of the spoken Hebrew new Jewish in the which language. Ben Yehudah saw in spoken Hebrew gradually became exclusive, unique and diffe- a miraculous remedy which would give life its rent, both from that of the and from value and content, and would solve all cultural that of the in other countries. problems. His saying was: "Speak Hebrew and This culture I will designate as Hebrew not you will be healthy" . because it is bound to the Hebrew language but

73 principally because of the specific meaning of the brought about profound uphea- this term which began to crystallize inside this vals. The transition to manual work (princi- culture itself in the period under discussion. pally agriculture), tilling the soil, self-defence Throughout the period which began with and use of weapons, changing from Jewish to the new Yishuv (1880s) and up to the establish- other clothes (including the bedouin and cher- ment of the state, the word 'Hebrew' to a great kessian garb), changing frorn Yiddish (the de- extent denoted "The Jews of the land of Is- spised language of the exile) to a new spoken rael", in other words Jews who were not ty- language—Hebrew, which at one and the same pical of the Jews in the Diaspora. 'Hebrew' time was regarded as the authentic and ancient meant "The new Jewish Israeli man—in the tongue, adapting the Sephardi pronunciation land of Israel". It is no accident that in the of the syllables and not the Ashkenazi, chan- Israeli Declaration of Independence the terms ging foreign family names to Hebrew names— 'Hebrew' and '' are used in different con- all this was part of the realization of the "new texts. Thus it is said: "We stretch out a hand Hebrew man" in contrast to the "Diaspora of peace to all the neighbouring states and ap- Jew". peal to them to cooperate with the indepen- It must be emphasized that the decision to dent Hebrew nation in its land ..."; vis-à-vis establish Hebrew as a spoken language in the "Our call goes out to the Jewish people in the last two decades of the 19th century was not Diaspora ...". But there is no doubt that after generally agreed upon nor accepted, even by 1948 the use of 'Hebrew' declines gradually in central figures who participated in the creation favour of 'Jew', and the common denominator of the new-old Hebrew language. Neither did it of"the Jews" overcomes the difference between immediately gain a hearing among the pioneers 'Hebrew' and 'Jews'. of the first Aliyah. On the contrary: there The in Eastern was was objection to give priority to the Hebrew looked upon by the pioneers as a declining, language in the settlements. Practical know- sinking and negative culture. In their eyes one ledge of Hebrew was quite limited. For ex- ought to rid of this culture and free oneself ample in the settlement of Rishon Lezion there from its negative components. The assimilated was strong resistance against the etablishment Jew wished to extricate himself totally from it. of a Hebrew high school. Teachers who wanted The first pioneers in the 1880s—the so- to establish such a school, were practically for- called Hibbat pioneers—and later the Zio- ced to leave the settlement. Finally, the high nist pioneers who absorbed the philosophy of school was established in Yaffo. the Jewish Enlightenment, saw only one way There are many evidences from the period to extricate themselves from Jewish culture: which point at the fact that Hebrew cannot be namely through the return of the nation to a regarded as being a real living language in the "pure", "authentic" existence in its land. The pioneering settlements of the first Aliyah. The concept of this existence was part of the spi- mastery of the language was defective and par- rit of the romantic literature in general, and tial. The preference of the Sephardi syllable- in in particular, which dealt pronunciation cannot be explained exclusively with "the early ancient history of the nation by the fact that the Sephardi community in Je- in its old ancient land" . Many of the negative rusalem supported spoken Hebrew, nor by the stereotypes which the had about Jews fact that Nisim Bechar opened the Kiah school were absorbed by the young pioneers into their in for the Hebrew language (Kiah is philosophy. Both in the literature of the En- the Hebrew name of the Franco-Jewish "Alli- lightenment and in the romantic literature the ance" Organization), nor by the fact that Elie- Jews were presented as detached from reality, zer Ben Yehudah was apparently persuaded by rootless, weak, dishonest, incapable of working, the judgement of a priest working in the French haters of drink and food, dissociated from na- Hospital in Jerusalem who gave a verdict in fa- ture, etc. vour of the Sephardi pronunciation. The total negation of Jewish existence in The most important point of these two de-

74 cisions: to accept Hebrew and to do it in the What is the meaning of this distinction Sephardi form, is that the Hebrew language re- between Hebrew and Jew, between presented the opposition to Yiddish, and that and ? The important philosopher of the Sephardi pronunciation represented the op- culture and art Jacacov Klazkin (1882-1948) position to the Ashkenazi. That is to say they negated totally the Zionistic Diaspora. Alre- formed an opposition to the "exile", to the "Di- ady in 1920 he understood the significance of aspora", to the old. This condition forrned the process which was taking place in the land a much stronger factor than any principle or of Israel. In an article published in the New learned discussion about the "correct pronun- York periodical Miklat Shelter, he rnaintained ciation". that clear differences between the new Hebrew Yishuv in the land of Israel and the Jews in the During the second half of the 1920s the Hebrew Diaspora was emerging. Both established, ac- revolution which passed over the new Hebrew cording to Klazkin, separate national entities. Yishuv was at its highest. Zionistic ideology The rnore the character of the new Hebrew as well as cultural and social activities were Yishuv in the land crystallized the more the dominated by the idea that it is necessary to difference between thern would grow stronger. strive truly and honestly towards the creation Then, Klazkin maintained, the Jewish people of a new Hebrew nation and a new Hebrew would be divided into two groups: a Hebrew man in the land of Israel, i.e. no longer Jewish group in the land of Israel and a Jewish group but Hebrew. In speech and writing this new in the Diaspora. Israeli man and his institutions were very of- ten accompanied by the adjective `ivri, Hebrew Uri Zvi Greenberg—the greatest Hebrew (in plural `ivriyim, differentiating them from poet in the 20th century—gave expression to Jews in the Diaspora and their institutions. a similar feeling when he in 1925 spoke about Hence the designation "the Hebrew Yishuv", "The Hebrew people in Eretz Israel who came into being from the Jewish people in the Di- "the Hebrew man", "the general organization of the Hebrew workers". was the first aspora", but he states, "in the beginning of Hebrew city, the settlements were Hebrew, and the history of the people, the children of Israel later came the political demand for a Hebrew were not Jews but , since after all the desert did not know Jews at all, but only the state. Hebrews". Cultural and educational institutions in which fostering the Hebrew language constitu- The general in ted a central element were provided with the Klazkin's philosophy, which I will mention only adjective Hebrew in their names. The uni- in passing, can be divided into four separate versity in Jerusalem was called "The Hebrew negations: the negation of foreign culture— University in Jerusalem". In the insti- European culture, or, rnore precisely, the part tution for the training of engineers was called of this culture which was unable to contribute "The Hebrew Institute of Technology". The to the creation of the new Hebrew culture; the establishment of Hebrew as its main langu- negation of spirituality, the negation of reli- age at the eve of the First World War could gion, and the negation of Yiddish. only take place after a hard and bitter struggle The negation of Yiddish and the exchange known as "The Language War The first gym- of it with Hebrew was understood as a supreme nasium in Tel Aviv was called "The Hebrew national and cultural task. "As the English Gymnasium Herzeliyah", and the gymnasiurnn speak English and the French speak French, established a year later in Jerusalem was simp- thus the Hebrews speak Hebrew", explained ly "The Hebrew Gymnasiurn". Thus also "The Ja`acov Bluvstein, the brother of the farnous Hebrew Authors' Association", "The Hebrew poetess Rahel, in an article written in 1925. Artists' Association", "The Hebrew Theatre", And actually, the slogan "Hebrew man, speak and "The Hebrew Opera". The struggle for Hebrew!" was on the lips of everybody, pain- conquering the work in Palestine was done for ted on walls, printed in annonuncernents and the sake of "Hebrew work". on posters, thundered and shouted in proces-

75 sions and gatherings where Yiddish was spoken both of its lungs". The controversy spread and instead of Hebrew. involved quite a few comrnunities in the Di- When the demand to speak Hebrew—al- aspora. Actually, the blazing hatred between ways and everywhere—did not receive an im- the two camps did no fade away until the last mediate favourable reply by everyone, a "Troop years of the 1930s when the second World War for the Defence of the Hebrew Language" was broke and settled the rnatter in its own terrible founded in the Hebrew Gymnasium Herzeliyah. way. It wasn't afraid of using any means conceivable The decision to take over the Sephardi pro- in order to impose the use of Hebrew language nunciation in speaking was first and forernost in public meetings, in cultural events and per- an expression of the rejection of Yiddish, since formances, in the streets and on street signs. the Sephardi pronunciation was considered as Members of the troop disturbed theatre representing a contrast to, and to be in oppo- plays in Yiddish, broke up Yiddish conferen- sition to the spirit of the Ashkenazi pronunci- ces, marched in crowds in the first Hebrew city ation. Tel Aviv, destroyed posters and signs written In his book The Populations of Eretz Is- in foreign languages and taught the new irnmi- rael published in 1929, Yitzhak Ben Zvi em- grants Hebrew voluntarily. phasizes the Oriental character of the Sephardi The troop appointed as their "comman- community. It can be seen, he says, in their der" the national poet par ezellence H.N. Bia- clothing, in their customs, and in their pro- lik after his immigration into the land in 1923. nunciation of Hebrew. When compared to the But its uncompromising fanaticisrn knew no , Ben Zvi writes, the Sephardi limits. Thus, when the national poet sinned and the Oriental Jews had preserved fine and (according to the formulation of the troop), in minute distinctions in the guttural phonemes, speaking a foreign language (Russian), he was as well as in some of the tongue and palatal brought before the tribunal of the "Troop for sounds. These distinctions were functionally the Defence of the Hebrew language" where an parallel and similar to those existing within enormous crowd was assembled. He was sen- the spoken by the nations tenced to ask the members' of the troop forgi- among whom the Oriental Jews lived. The veness in the three local daily newspapers, and Sephardi pronunciation was thus regarded as to send his picture to the troop in order to have the correct and authentic one. Ben Zvi wrote it publicly exposed. In 1927 two of the grea- that the Hebrew Yishuv in Palestine entered test writers of , Ash into a compromise: it accepted mainly the ele- and Perez Hirshbein, visited the land, and the rnents of Sephardi pronunciation regarding the Hebrew Authors' Association welcomed them. vowels and established it in daily speech. Li- As the chairman of the association H.N. Bia- kewise, it accepted the pronunciation with an lik had the task of opening the meeting. Ac- accent on the final syllable called milra, which cording to many present at the occasion, the is the rule in the land of Israel to this very day. things said discredited him and testified At the end of the last century there was to his incompetence to hold the title "Chair- already a consensus among the Jewish writers man of the Hebrew Authors' Association". who lived in Tsarist that the Sephardi In his opening speech Bialik said, inter pronunciation was the "authentic" and correct alia, that Yiddish and Hebrew is a heavenly one. But this recognition did not prevent any match, and cannot be separated, as Ruth and Hebrew poet—beginning with H.N. Bialik, and Naomi (from the Book of Ruth). These words continuing to the of Shlonski thirty of heresy raised a violent storrn which did not years later—frorn writing in Slavic metre ac- abate. Shlonski, the future leading poet, wrote: cording to Ashkenazi reading, or from following "We look upon this tribulation of two langua- the Ashkenazi pronunciation in their writings. ges as a consumption of the lungs which gnaws It was not until in the 1920s that the victory at the lungs of the nation. Our desire is that of the Sephardi rhythm eventually took place the Israeli breath will be entirely Hebrew, with in Hebrew poetry.

76 In 1927 Rahel published her first book of rneans of "new Hebrew" names which in- poems Safiah (Aftergrowth)—all of it intended clude inter alia old biblical names, some of to be read in Sephardi rhythm. At the same which were revived after not having been time Y. Lamdan's famous book Massada was in usage for 2000 years. published, also intended to be read in Sephardi 3. Acceptance of sorne exile-diaspora identity rhythrn. by means of varying "exilic" narnes, Heb- Thus it can be stated that frorn the mid- rew and no-Hebrew ones. 1920s rnore and rnore poets were influenced 4. Identification with the world—a fo- by Israeli speech—the Sephardi—and began to reign identification by means of merely fo- write their poerns in accordance with the Isra- reign narnes. eli accentuation. 5. A double identification by means of mixed Thus the establishment of the Yishuv en- names. tailed a series of decisions in the area of the selection of culture, decisions dependent upon Between 1882 and 1920 the common distribu- and influencing the ideology which was invol- tion of classical Jewish-Hebrew names among ved in this enterprise. Thereby the selection the children born in the land of Israel indica- was turned into a rnatter where clear decisions ted a strong affinity of the Yishuv to the Jewish necessarily had to be taken. people generally, and sirnultaneously an escape Common to most of the different groups frorn the gentile world. and movernents in Palestine was the recogni- Jewish-Hebrew classical names were na- tion of the fact that the new Palestinian ex- mes of males, like Avraham, Mordekhai, Eliy- istence needed a revolution not only in the poli- ahu, Yitzhak, Shlomo, and female names like tical and social consciousness of the people, but Rahel, Ester, Sarah, Rivkah, Yehudit. also a spiritual revolution—a radical change A steep increase in the popularity of new of cultural values, which would find expres- Hebrew names in the period between 1921 and sion in literature, theatre, architecture, , 1944 testified to the sirnultaneous growth and dance, painting etc. The contribution of cultu- expansion of the Israeli native identification. ral works to the spiritual revolution was regar- This rapid growth took place at the expense of ded as being of supreme importance. The crea- the ' identification with Jewish values, tive artist does not only reflect and docurnent which accordingly diminished in these years. the spiritual alternations, but creates them, In this period the process of the symbolic with- performs them. Thus the Hebrew artists had drawal of the Yishuv within its territorial shell a pioneering task which was not smaller than intensified the tendency to evade the gentile the task of those who were building roads or world. But in addition to that, the Israeli were tilling the soil. The latter redeerned the Yishuv in increasing numbers now began to land, and the forrner the nation—creating a withdraw from the Jews in the Diaspora. Thus new Hebrew culture for a new Hebrew nation. they developed a local isolationist type of na- To exemplify the Hebrew Revolution more pre- tional identification—the native Israeli, while cisely and clearly I will deal shortly with the they were seeking and finding plenty of rare choosing of personal names during the period biblical names which now were brought to new under discussion. life. The majority of these names are names of heroes, brave rnen, men of action or the like. The most common personal names which were Popular names given to males in this period chosen by the Jews in the new Yishuv manifest are inter alia: Yoav, Giora, Asaf, Eitan, Ehud, among others the following factors: Avner, Uzi, Dan, Yair, Oded. 1. A general identification with the Jewish Thus the years between 1921 and 1944 can people by means of names which can be be characterized as the ascending years of the termed "Classical Hebrew Jewish". native identification: the epoch of the Hebrew 2. Acceptance of their own identity, that is Israeli man as a biblical hero of ancient times— to say, a native Israeli self-identification by prior to the diaspora.

77 Explanatory Notes Second Aliyah: Designation of the wave of immigration to Palestine, predominantly from Old Yishuv: Palestine's/Israel's Jewish Corn- Zarist Russia, which began at the time of the munity before 1882. The old Yishuv—which revolutionary movement and the ensuing po- was maintained predominantly by Jewish cha- groms in 1904-05 and came to an abrupt end rity funds raised in the Diaspora and which at its peak with the outbreak of World War I. was cornmitted to a strictly religious way of The total number of immigrants in the Second life—showed no in developing institu- Aliyah is estimated at 40.000, many of whom tions of selfgovernment. It was divided into Se- later left the country, largely because of the li- phardi and Ashkenazi communities, which had mited econornic opportunities. Those who per- little contact with each other. Each commu- severed, however, laid the foundations of a new nity maintained its own charitable institutions. social, cultural and political order and left an Regarding thernselves as they did as a purely irnpact which was to dominate the inner life of religious group devoted entirely to the study Palestine's Jewish community for two genera- and strict observance of the , the Jews of tions to come. the old Yishuv had no political ambitions and Hibbat Zion (Love of Zion): a movement that thus no need to set up their own self-governing came into being in 1882 as a direct reaction to institutions. the widespread in Russia in the 1880s New Yishuv: 1882-1948. Unlike the old Yi- for the purpose of encouraging Jewish settle- shuv, the pioneers of the new Yishuv primarily ment in Palestine/Eretz Israel and achieving a regarded themselves not as members of a reli- Jewish national revival there. gious community, but as a part of a national Education in the old Yishuv and the new entity. They sought to develop a Jewish com- Prior to the First Aliyah, Jewish edu- munity in Palestine that would not depend on Yishuv: cational institutions in Palestine/Eretz Israel charity but be self-supporting and productive. consisted almost entirely of religious schools This attitude, along with the problerns and Heders, Kuttabs (religious elementary challenges they faced as modern pioneers, led such as schools of the Oriental Jews), , them to develop institutions of self-government and Yeshivot, as in the other communities of in Palestine/Eretz Israel. the Middle East, , Eastern Eu- Aliyah (immigration). Aliyah is a basic con- rope, and other areas where modern Jewish cept and ideal in Zionist pioneering ideology. schools had not been established at that time. Aliyah meant more than more imrnigration to The following decades saw the establish- and settlement in Palestine/Eretz Israel. It ment, both in towns and in the new settle- implied, as the literal meaning of the Hebrew ments, of a variety of kindergartens, elemen- word 'aliyah' (ascent) indicates, the fulfilrnent tary schools and trade schools. Most of the new of an ideal and, at the same time, the elevation schools were founded by Jewish philanthropic of one's personality to a higher ethical level. organizations frorn countries in the Diaspora. First Aliyah: Wave of Jewish irnmigration These schools were not different from other that reached Palestine/the land of Israel be- schools founded by the above organizations in tween 1882 and 1904. Most of the imrnigrants other countries; that is, the mediurn of instruc- of the period came frorn Russia, and tion was a foreign language, with Hebrew oc- Galicia. Many had been in the Hoveve Zion or cupying a secondary position. At that time for Hibbat Zion movement (Lovers of Zion). The these organizations Palestine/the land of Israel difference between the old Yishuv and these was just another country, and they never envi- immigrants was that the latter were pioneers, saged in Palestine/the land seeking to rebuild the Jewish nation by setting of Israel as the basis of the new Jewish life. up farms and agricultural villages outside the The teachers came from the home countries of four "holy cities" of Jerusalem, , the respective organizations and taught in their and . native languages. Side by side with these insti-

78 tutions a developrnent took place of schools of revival of Hebrew involved also serious particu- a national-Hebraic type, founded by the Zio- lar difficulties because of the vocabulary gap nist pioneers and representing the ideals of the between a language which for many centuries Hebrew renaissance. At an early stage, under had been used only as a literary vehicle and the influence of Eliezer Ben Yehudah and his the requirements of daily life. Hebrew writers disciples, Jewish subjects began to be taught and translators had formed new Hebrew words. in Hebrew in the schools adrninistered by the Following their tradition, Ben Yehudah and his foreign philanthropic organizations, but it was collaborators set out to broaden the language, only in the schools of the modern settlers that coining new words on a large scale, mostly ba- atternpts were rnade to teach secular subjects sed on roots already existing in the language. in Hebrew as well. Ben Yehudah himself contributed significantly The hebraization of the schools continued to the new vocabulary. In 1910 he began com- despite immense difficulties which included, piling his Milon (dictionary). Wherever fea- above all: the scepticisrn of parents with re- sible, he garnered and defined vocabulary of gard to the revival of Hebrew, the opposition the past: from the , the Talmud, and the of many French assimilated officials who admi- works of the medieval Spanish writers. Howe- nistered the settlements of the Jewish Coloni- ver, when no words were available for a particu- zation Association, and the objective problerns lar sense, Ben Yehudah did not hesitate to ad- posed by Hebrew, which was not yet adequate apt obscure or outdated biblical terms to new to serve as the language of instruction for sci- uses. He also borrowed from other languages, ences and other secular subjects. always imposing the Hebrew grammar on the words either by the use of the proper prefix or Eliezer Ben Yehdah (1857-1922): When the suffix, or by subjecting the words to the pro- pioneers of the First Aliyah arrived in Pales- per conjugations. And when neither adapta- tine/Eretz Israel in the 1880s, it seemed na- tion nor borrowing met the need, he simply in- tural to adopt Hebrew as their . In vented. Sorne of his coinages did not take root the first place, Hebrew was the language as- and dropped out of the language by and by, yet sociated from time immemorial with the Land many others are now firmly established. The of Israel. Second, Hebrew would serve as the bulk of Ben Yehudahs Milon appeared during natural medium of communication between the his lifetime; a group of scholars completed the Ashkenazi pioneers who spoke Yiddish and Eu- task after his death. Eliezer Ben Yehudah also ropean languages and the Sephardi 'old timers' helped found the Va'ad Ha-Lashon (Council of whose languages had been Ladino or Arabic. the Language) which had the task to preside The man who most prominently was asso- over the formidable task of keeping Hebrew ciated with early efforts to revive the Hebrew up to date while preserving its purity. Today language was Eliezer Ben Yehudah who disco- that task is carried out by the Academy of the verd the conversational potential of the langu- Hebrew Launguage. age while socializing with a Hebrew-speaking intelligentsia in . He was again impressed, in Algiers, by the fluency with which members of the local Jewish community spoke the langu- age of the Bible. Once settled in Palestine in 1881, he directed all his energies towards the Bibliography fulfilrnent of his drearn: the reestablishment of Hebrew as the spoken language of Jewry at large. At first Ben Yehudah encountered ri- dicule from skeptics who did not believe it was Even , Itamar, The emergence and possible to revive the language, as well as oppo- crystallization of local and native Hebrew cul- sition from some extreme Orthodox circles that ture in Eretz Israel, 1882-1948. Cathedra for objected to the "profanation" of the "sacred the History of Eretz Israel and its Yishuv. 16. tongue" by using it for everuday purposes. The 1980 [in Hebrew]. sidor?

79 Perspectives on Culture and Society in Israel. and the Labour Movement, ed. Pinhas Ginos- Ed. Nurit Gretz. Tel Aviv 1988. [in Hebrew]. sar. 1989. [in Hebrew]. Segal, Dmitri, The Impact of Russian Litera- The History of the Yishuv. Landmarks before ture and Culture on the Emergence of the Je- Statehood. Ed. Shmuel Stempter. Jerusalem wish Liberation Movement. Hebrew Literature 1983. [in Hebrew].

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