After the expulsion of the Jews from the Land of Israel some 2,000 years ago, use of Hebrew nearly came to an end. For centuries, it was restricted to Jewish liturgy, religious books, poetry and tombstone inscriptions.

Hebrew’s modern revival began with the resurgence of Zionism in Europe in the mid-19th century. More and more literary works were written in Hebrew, and a growing number of people spoke it in their daily lives. Along with English and Arabic, Hebrew was recognized as an official language in Israel under the British Mandate (1918-1948). Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, who lived from 1858 to 1922, is credited with reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Hebrew today has more than120,000 words, compared with only about 8,000 words in Biblical times. The lashon hakodesh (“holy tongue”) in which the Bible was written some 3,300 years ago today is used by Israelis to discuss not only the finer points of Jewish practice—but also music, shopping malls and the Internet!

• Hebrew Alphabet - Learn Hebrew … one letter at a time
• Common Greetings - Say the right thing at the right time in Hebrew!