Why Hebrew was Never Truly Dead
(and the reason I moved to Substack)
I would like to open this post with a recommendation. If you are into languages, yet somehow still don’t know LangFocus and its creator Paul, I highly recommend you follow him on YouTube, Instagram or Facebook. He makes concise educational videos about languages, I have been watching his clips for about a decade now and I always find them fascinating, enjoyable and super informative.
A couple of weeks ago he posted a Facebook reel in which he basically debunked a comment to another video of his, which claimed most of the words in modern Hebrew were borrowed from Arabic.
In the beginning of the video, he mentions that Hebrew was a “dead language”, and while it is technically true (as he explained in a later video), I still felt the urge to comment on that and say it is more complicated than that.
Now, I wish I could show this comment, but sadly I got myself banned from his Instagram because of comments I made to a different video, in which I criticized his choice of words when it came to describing the manner Arabic spread to North Africa. My comments attracted fire from the pro-Pali and anti-Israel Muslim crowd. The whole thread got derailed, he got upset enough to ban me, and all I can say is that I am truly sorry for the whole thing.
Anyway, back the question of “was Hebrew really dead”. As I said, I cannot show you the comment I wrote on LangFocus Instagram because it probably got removed along with me. But that’s fine. Because I can do even better and take you straight to the source of inspiration for the comment I made – an excellent YouTube video by Language Jones in which he addresses this very question.
Honestly, I don’t think there’s a better way to answer this question. This video is just perfect. The structure and the delivery, the explanations and the examples – everything is just so clear and well-balanced. I particularly like his choice to use the word “revitalized” instead of “revived” or “resurrected” when referring to the comeback Hebrew made into the front and center of the Jewish identity, and to its generation and incorporation of new words to be used by Jews in their daily life.
The only thing I would add to this video is a good analogy, preferably with some humor. Because ending the video by reluctantly agreeing that Hebrew was kind of a “dead languages” in the technical sense completely undermines the whole point he is trying to make. Therefore, I think there’s a place to conclude the video with a little wink, and add something along the lines of the following paragraph:
“So, while it is correct to say that Hebrew was dead in the linguistical sense of the word, perhaps a better way to describe its state under these unique circumstances, is to compare it to someone in a coma. Hebrew wasn’t awake and certainly could not react to the everchanging world around it the way a living language does. But unlike other dead languages, it did have strong vital signs and a study pulse that beeped with every new generation of practicing Jews, and echoed all around the world in countless Jewish communities.”
After that there’s also maybe some room for a funnier and more nostalgic note, drawn from an iconic scene of one of the greatest movies ever made – The Princess Bride:
Because one could argue that Hebrew was just like Westley – not ALL dead, but only MOSTLY dead. And “mostly dead” is slightly alive. Who knows, maybe the miracle of bringing Hebrew back from the dead also worked because of the exact same reason – the noble cause of true love. Not romantic love between a man and woman, but love between an ancient nation and its heritage, between people and their faith.
And speaking of faith, another possible observation to end this discussion on is to note that Hebrew, very fittingly, is the Jesus of language – it came back from the dead.
The reason I moved to Substack
If you came here from my previous website (hebrewmonk.com), you probably noticed I haven’t published anything there in nearly a year. It’s not because I had nothing to write about, but rather because lately I just didn’t have the time nor the energy to write there.
A big part of me lacking the time and energy to write there was that I wasn’t doing just the writing, but also all the technical maintenance and administrative tasks around it. In fact, that is main reason why I decided to move to Substack – it is a lean and clean platform which pretty much takes cares of everything but the writing for me. On top of that, it is a blogging-oriented platform specifically designed for long articles and that is very compatible with my current content creation style. However, if one day I decide to pivot to videos or podcasting, it can cater to my needs on that front just as well.
And as if that wasn’t enough of a reason for me to move, it is also a network of creators with strong social media like elements and even a dedicated app for both Android and iOS, so it makes it much easier for other people to discover and follow you.
Speaking of following, I figured this would be a good time as any to finally join X so you can find me there under the handle HebrewMonk2556. Don’t ask me what those numbers are because they were added automatically and I didn’t have any choice in the matter. This will replace Hebrew Monk’s telegram channel which will be closed soon. I am also still on Instagram but sadly, since I got back to Israel I am not as active there as I used to be back when I lived in China.
In case you’re wondering what’s going to happen here, I want to tell you that in the spirit of revival and revitalization the plan is both to re-edit and republish some of the articles from the old website, and to write new ones as well, just like the one you just read. The war got me a little sidetracked, but I want to shift the focus back to Hebrew and language insights.
I am still messing around with this platform and getting the hanging of it. I believe I will find my creative rhythm back soon and hope to see you all here when I do.
Cheers,