Between Symbolism and Practice: Hebrew in the National Jewish Discourse, 1875–1914

Abstract: The Hebrew language and its rapid development played a crucial role in modern Jewish history. However, scholarship on Modern Hebrew has not sufficiently explained how its abstract status as a national language was translated into the practical promotion of a Modern Hebrew–speaking community. The path of Hebrew and its advocates was neither simple nor serene and was accompanied by a lively public discussion across the multilingual Jewish press. By examining key press debates that occurred between 1875 and the outbreak of World War I, this article traces the formation of new linguistic norms. It shows how conventions concerning the national status of Hebrew, its prospect as a modern language, and its potential to serve as the basis of a new Jewish society were crystallized and laid the foundations that enabled it to become, eventually, a modern national language.