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121-644: Havdalah ( Hebrew : הַבְדָּלָה , romanized :  haḇdālā , lit.   'separation', Jewish Babylonian Aramaic : אבדלתא , romanized:  aḇdāltā ) is a Jewish religious ceremony that marks the symbolic end of Shabbat and ushers in the new week. The ritual involves lighting a special candle with several wicks, blessing a cup of wine, and smelling sweet spices (Hebrew: בְּשָׂמִים , romanized:  bǝśāmim , lit.   '"besamim"', Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: בסמני , romanized:  busmē , lit.   'spice, scent'). Shabbat ends on Saturday night after

242-674: A Hebrew form. Medieval Hebrew added 6421 words to (Modern) Hebrew. The approximate number of new lexical items in Israeli is 17,000 (cf. 14,762 in Even-Shoshan 1970 [...]). With the inclusion of foreign and technical terms [...], the total number of Israeli words, including words of biblical, rabbinic and medieval descent, is more than 60,000. In Israel, Modern Hebrew is currently taught in institutions called Ulpanim (singular: Ulpan). There are government-owned, as well as private, Ulpanim offering online courses and face-to-face programs. Modern Hebrew

363-564: A Saturday night that is Yom Tov ("holiday", literally "Good Day") is known by the acrostic יקנה"ז Yaknhaz . This acrostic consists of the initials Y ayin (wine), K iddush HaYom (blessing the day), N er (candle), H avdala (the Havdala blessing) and Z man (time, i.e. shehechiyanu ). Near the Qaddesh section in some Ashkenazic versions of the Haggadah (e.g. Mantoba 1560, Prague 1526, Venice 1609 and

484-583: A century ago, was fluent enough in this idiom to be able to follow the Mishna Berurah without any trouble." Hebrew has been revived several times as a literary language, most significantly by the Haskalah (Enlightenment) movement of early and mid-19th-century Germany. In the early 19th century, a form of spoken Hebrew had emerged in the markets of Jerusalem between Jews of different linguistic backgrounds to communicate for commercial purposes. This Hebrew dialect

605-649: A corollary Hebrew ceased to function as a spoken language around the same time. Moshe Zvi Segal , Joseph Klausner and Ben Yehuda are notable exceptions to this view. During the latter half of the 20th century, accumulating archaeological evidence and especially linguistic analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls has disproven that view. The Dead Sea Scrolls, uncovered in 1946–1948 near Qumran revealed ancient Jewish texts overwhelmingly in Hebrew, not Aramaic. The Qumran scrolls indicate that Hebrew texts were readily understandable to

726-562: A distinct style of philosophical Hebrew. This is used in the translations made by the Ibn Tibbon family. (Original Jewish philosophical works were usually written in Arabic. ) Another important influence was Maimonides , who developed a simple style based on Mishnaic Hebrew for use in his law code, the Mishneh Torah . Subsequent rabbinic literature is written in a blend between this style and

847-522: A festival or Shabbat is as follows: Hebrew language Hebrew ( Hebrew alphabet : עִבְרִית ‎, ʿĪvrīt , pronounced [ ʔivˈʁit ] or [ ʕivˈrit ] ; Samaritan script : ࠏࠨࠁࠬࠓࠪࠉࠕ ‎ ʿÎbrit ) is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family . A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages , it was natively spoken by

968-452: A full meal. Often a kiddush is hosted by a family celebrating the birth of a daughter, a bar mitzvah , a wedding , an engagement , a birthday , or other happy occasion. Some people also host a kiddush on the yahrtzeit of a parent or other relative. In some synagogues the celebrant is honored with reciting the Shabbat morning kiddush on behalf of all the attendees. In other synagogues

1089-579: A gradually accepted movement. It was not, however, until the 1904–1914 Second Aliyah that Hebrew had caught real momentum in Ottoman Palestine with the more highly organized enterprises set forth by the new group of immigrants. When the British Mandate of Palestine recognized Hebrew as one of the country's three official languages (English, Arabic, and Hebrew, in 1922), its new formal status contributed to its diffusion. A constructed modern language with

1210-463: A literary language down through the Byzantine period from the 4th century CE. The exact roles of Aramaic and Hebrew remain hotly debated. A trilingual scenario has been proposed for the land of Israel. Hebrew functioned as the local mother tongue with powerful ties to Israel's history, origins and golden age and as the language of Israel's religion; Aramaic functioned as the international language with

1331-722: A modern version of the ancient language was led by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda . Modern Hebrew ( Ivrit ) became the main language of the Yishuv in Palestine , and subsequently the official language of the State of Israel . Estimates of worldwide usage include five million speakers in 1998, and over nine million people in 2013. After Israel, the United States has the largest Hebrew-speaking population, with approximately 220,000 fluent speakers (see Israeli Americans and Jewish Americans ). Modern Hebrew

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1452-499: A modified Havdalah, and holding them so that their wicks are interlaced, it is easier to use a special two-wick candle as one of the Holiday candles; they are sized to fit in a regular Shabbat candelabra or candlestick holder (in place of a standard one-wick candle). This special candle is called a Yaknehaz Candle . In many Ashkenazic communities, Kiddush is recited at the end of Friday night services even though nobody eats there. This

1573-520: A preference for wine, traditional and orthodox communities generally permit the use of grape juice in place of wine for blessings and rituals. On Friday night kiddush may be recited over the challah ; the blessing over bread is substituted for the blessing over wine. In that case, the ritual hand-washing normally performed prior to consuming the challah is done before the recitation of kiddush . Some Ashkenazic communities, especially German Jews and Hungarian Jews follow this procedure even if wine

1694-535: A set of dialects evolving out of Late Biblical Hebrew and into Mishnaic Hebrew, thus including elements from both but remaining distinct from either. By the start of the Byzantine Period in the 4th century CE, Classical Hebrew ceased as a regularly spoken language, roughly a century after the publication of the Mishnah, apparently declining since the aftermath of the catastrophic Bar Kokhba revolt around 135 CE. In

1815-764: A similarly brief Kiddush for the third Sabbath meal as well, made in the middle of the meal. (סַבְרִי מָרָנָן וְרַבָּנָן וְרַבּוֹתַי.) ‎ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן. ‎ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו וְרַָצָה בָנוּ, וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשׁוֹ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחִילָנוּ, זִכָּרוֹן לְמַעֲשֵׂה בְרֵאשִׁית. כִּי הוּא יוֹם תְּחִלָּה לְמִקְרָאֵי קֹדֶשׁ, זֵכֶר לִיצִיאַת מִצְרָיִם. כִּי בָנוּ בָחַרְתָּ וְאוֹתָנוּ קִדַּשְׁתָּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים, וְשַׁבַּת קָדְשְׁךָ בְּאַהֲבָה וּבְרָצוֹן הִנְחַלְתָּנוּ. ‎ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ מְקַדֵּשׁ הַשַׁבָּת. ‎ Permit me, distinguished ones, rabbis, guests and colleagues: Blessed are You,

1936-476: A small dish and the candle is extinguished in it, as a sign that the candle was lit solely for the mitzvah of Havdalah; some pour directly onto the candle. Based on Psalms 19:9 , "the commandment of the Lord is clear, enlightening the eyes," some Jews dip a finger into the leftover wine and touch their eyes or pockets with it. Because it was used for a mitzvah, the wine is considered a " segulah ," or good omen. After

2057-652: A spoken language, it continued to be used as a lingua franca among scholars and Jews traveling in foreign countries. After the 2nd century CE when the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jewish population of Jerusalem following the Bar Kokhba revolt , they adapted to the societies in which they found themselves, yet letters, contracts, commerce, science, philosophy, medicine, poetry and laws continued to be written mostly in Hebrew, which adapted by borrowing and inventing terms. After

2178-468: A truly Semitic vocabulary and written appearance, although often European in phonology , was to take its place among the current languages of the nations. While many saw his work as fanciful or even blasphemous (because Hebrew was the holy language of the Torah and therefore some thought that it should not be used to discuss everyday matters), many soon understood the need for a common language amongst Jews of

2299-549: A vernacular in Judea until it was displaced by Aramaic, probably in the 3rd century CE. Certain Sadducee , Pharisee , Scribe , Hermit, Zealot and Priest classes maintained an insistence on Hebrew, and all Jews maintained their identity with Hebrew songs and simple quotations from Hebrew texts. While there is no doubt that at a certain point, Hebrew was displaced as the everyday spoken language of most Jews, and that its chief successor in

2420-511: Is 8198, of which some 2000 are hapax legomena (the number of Biblical Hebrew roots, on which many of these words are based, is 2099). The number of attested Rabbinic Hebrew words is less than 20,000, of which (i) 7879 are Rabbinic par excellence, i.e. they did not appear in the Old Testament (the number of new Rabbinic Hebrew roots is 805); (ii) around 6000 are a subset of Biblical Hebrew; and (iii) several thousand are Aramaic words which can have

2541-468: Is Shabbat for the L ORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son and your daughter, your manservant and your maidservant, and your cattle, and the stranger who is in your gates. For [in] six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Shabbat day and made it holy. ) Attention, gentlemen, [rabbis, and my teachers]! Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of

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2662-599: Is a requirement of rabbinic origin. Kiddush is not usually recited at the third meal on Shabbat, although Maimonides was of the opinion that wine should be drunk at this meal as well. To honor the mitzvah of reciting kiddush , a silver goblet is often used, although any cup can suffice. The cup must hold a revi'it of liquid. A revi'it is between 161.5 millilitres (5.68 imp fl oz; 5.46 US fl oz) (Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz ) and 90.7 millilitres (3.19 imp fl oz; 3.07 US fl oz) (Rabbi Avraham Chaim Naeh ). After

2783-477: Is believed to be based on the Semitic root ʕ-b-r ( ע־ב־ר ‎), meaning "beyond", "other side", "across"; interpretations of the term "Hebrew" generally render its meaning as roughly "from the other side [of the river/desert]"—i.e., an exonym for the inhabitants of the land of Israel and Judah , perhaps from the perspective of Mesopotamia , Phoenicia or Transjordan (with the river referred to being perhaps

2904-578: Is derived from Old French Ebrau , via Latin from the Ancient Greek Ἑβραῖος ( hebraîos ) and Aramaic 'ibrāy , all ultimately derived from Biblical Hebrew Ivri ( עברי ), one of several names for the Israelite ( Jewish and Samaritan ) people ( Hebrews ). It is traditionally understood to be an adjective based on the name of Abraham 's ancestor, Eber , mentioned in Genesis 10:21 . The name

3025-602: Is derived from the name of the alphabet used , in contrast to Ivrit , meaning the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet . Hebrew ceased to be a regular spoken language sometime between 200 and 400 CE, as it declined in the aftermath of the unsuccessful Bar Kokhba revolt , which was carried out against the Roman Empire by the Jews of Judaea . Aramaic and, to a lesser extent, Greek were already in use as international languages, especially among societal elites and immigrants. Hebrew survived into

3146-563: Is fighting to stop businesses from using only English signs to market their services. In 2012, a Knesset bill for the preservation of the Hebrew language was proposed, which includes the stipulation that all signage in Israel must first and foremost be in Hebrew, as with all speeches by Israeli officials abroad. The bill's author, MK Akram Hasson , stated that the bill was proposed as a response to Hebrew "losing its prestige" and children incorporating more English words into their vocabulary. Hebrew

3267-411: Is no text on this object. In July 2008, Israeli archaeologist Yossi Garfinkel discovered a ceramic shard at Khirbet Qeiyafa that he claimed may be the earliest Hebrew writing yet discovered, dating from around 3,000 years ago. Hebrew University archaeologist Amihai Mazar said that the inscription was "proto-Canaanite" but cautioned that "[t]he differentiation between the scripts, and between

3388-418: Is not used since it may not be extinguished after the service, but rather the blessing is recited over the festival candles . The prayer "distinguishes holiness from the everyday" is changed to "distinguishes holiness from holiness" signifying that the holiness of the holiday is of a lesser degree than the holiness of the concluded Shabbat. Havdalah is intended to require a person to use all five senses: feel

3509-752: Is one of several languages for which the constitution of South Africa calls to be respected in their use for religious purposes. Also, Hebrew is an official national minority language in Poland , since 6 January 2005. Hamas has made Hebrew a compulsory language taught in schools in the Gaza Strip. Kiddush The Torah refers to two requirements concerning Shabbat – to "keep it" and to "remember it" ( shamor and zakhor ). Jewish law therefore requires that Shabbat be observed in two respects. One must "keep it" by refraining from thirty-nine forbidden activities , and one must "remember it" by making special arrangements for

3630-454: Is present. If there is only sufficient wine or grape juice for one kiddush, it should be used for the Friday night kiddush. In many synagogues, kiddush is recited on Friday night at the end of services. This kiddush does not take the place of the obligation to recite kiddush at the Friday night meal. When recited in a synagogue, the first paragraph ( Genesis 2:1–3) is omitted. The text of

3751-422: Is recited, but Havdalah must also be said because Shabbat is holier than the festivals. The sequence of blessings in such a case is known as yak'n'haz (יקנה"ז), for yayin, kiddush, ner, havdalah, zman , meaning "wine, kiddush, flame, havdalah, shehecheyanu ". That is, first the blessing over wine, then the standard kiddush blessing (see above), then the blessing for the flame ( borei m'orei ha'eish , Who creates

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3872-728: Is the official language of the State of Israel, while pre-revival forms of Hebrew are used for prayer or study in Jewish and Samaritan communities around the world today; the latter group utilizes the Samaritan dialect as their liturgical tongue. As a non- first language , it is studied mostly by non-Israeli Jews and students in Israel, by archaeologists and linguists specializing in the Middle East and its civilizations , and by theologians in Christian seminaries . The modern English word "Hebrew"

3993-826: Is the famous Moabite Stone , written in the Moabite dialect; the Siloam inscription , found near Jerusalem , is an early example of Hebrew. Less ancient samples of Archaic Hebrew include the ostraca found near Lachish , which describe events preceding the final capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian captivity of 586 BCE. In its widest sense, Biblical Hebrew refers to the spoken language of ancient Israel flourishing between c.  1000 BCE and c.  400 CE . It comprises several evolving and overlapping dialects. The phases of Classical Hebrew are often named after important literary works associated with them. Sometimes

4114-405: Is the primary official language of the State of Israel. As of 2013 , there are about 9 million Hebrew speakers worldwide, of whom 7 million speak it fluently. Currently, 90% of Israeli Jews are proficient in Hebrew, and 70% are highly proficient. Some 60% of Israeli Arabs are also proficient in Hebrew, and 30% report having a higher proficiency in Hebrew than in Arabic. In total, about 53% of

4235-536: Is used to pronounce the Hebrew Bible; however, properly it should be distinguished from the historical Biblical Hebrew of the 6th century BCE, whose original pronunciation must be reconstructed. Tiberian Hebrew incorporates the scholarship of the Masoretes (from masoret meaning "tradition"), who added vowel points and grammar points to the Hebrew letters to preserve much earlier features of Hebrew, for use in chanting

4356-630: The Chayei Adam in Hebrew, as opposed to Yiddish , as a guide to Halacha for the " average 17-year-old" (Ibid. Introduction 1). Similarly, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan 's purpose in writing the Mishnah Berurah was to "produce a work that could be studied daily so that Jews might know the proper procedures to follow minute by minute". The work was nevertheless written in Talmudic Hebrew and Aramaic, since, "the ordinary Jew [of Eastern Europe] of

4477-503: The Euphrates , Jordan or Litani ; or maybe the northern Arabian Desert between Babylonia and Canaan ). Compare the word Habiru or cognate Assyrian ebru , of identical meaning. One of the earliest references to the language's name as " Ivrit " is found in the prologue to the Book of Sirach , from the 2nd century BCE. The Hebrew Bible does not use the term "Hebrew" in reference to

4598-557: The Gospel of Matthew . (See the Hebrew Gospel hypothesis or Language of Jesus for more details on Hebrew and Aramaic in the gospels.) The term "Mishnaic Hebrew" generally refers to the Hebrew dialects found in the Talmud , excepting quotations from the Hebrew Bible. The dialects organize into Mishnaic Hebrew (also called Tannaitic Hebrew, Early Rabbinic Hebrew, or Mishnaic Hebrew I), which

4719-529: The Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language until after 200 CE and as the liturgical language of Judaism (since the Second Temple period ) and Samaritanism . The language was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century, and is the only successful large-scale example of linguistic revival . It is the only Canaanite language, as well as one of only two Northwest Semitic languages, with

4840-655: The Maccabean Revolt (167–160 BCE) and the emergence of the Hasmonean kingdom , the Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), and the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135 CE). The nationalist significance of Hebrew manifested in various ways throughout this period. Michael Owen Wise notes that "Beginning with the time of the Hasmonean revolt [...] Hebrew came to the fore in an expression akin to modern nationalism. A form of classical Hebrew

4961-525: The Second Aliyah , it replaced a score of languages spoken by Jews at that time. Those languages were Jewish dialects of local languages, including Judaeo-Spanish (also called "Judezmo" and "Ladino"), Yiddish , Judeo-Arabic and Bukhori (Tajiki), or local languages spoken in the Jewish diaspora such as Russian , Persian and Arabic . The major result of the literary work of the Hebrew intellectuals along

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5082-409: The biblical holidays . Like kiddush , havdalah is recited over a cup of kosher wine or grape juice , although other important beverages ( chamar ha-medinah ) may be used if wine or grape juice are not available. Spices, called besamim in Hebrew, often stored in an artistically-decorative spice container in order to beautify and honor the mitzvah , are handed around so that everyone can smell

5203-455: The literary and liturgical language into everyday spoken language . However, his brand of Hebrew followed norms that had been replaced in Eastern Europe by different grammar and style, in the writings of people like Ahad Ha'am and others. His organizational efforts and involvement with the establishment of schools and the writing of textbooks pushed the vernacularization activity into

5324-456: The medieval period as the language of Jewish liturgy , rabbinic literature , intra-Jewish commerce, and Jewish poetic literature . The first dated book printed in Hebrew was published by Abraham Garton in Reggio ( Calabria , Italy) in 1475. With the rise of Zionism in the 19th century, the Hebrew language experienced a full-scale revival as a spoken and literary language. The creation of

5445-414: The rabbi or gabbai recites the kiddush . Some Jews make kiddush on Shabbat morning over liquor instead of wine. When this is done, the blessing recited is she-hakol nihyeh bid'varo instead of borei p'ri ha-gafen . The Mishnah Berurah (an authoritative Ashkenazi halakhic text) rules that under extenuating circumstances, liquor may be substituted for wine on the grounds that it is Hamar Medina,

5566-547: The 1980s in the USSR , Hebrew studies reappeared due to people struggling for permission to go to Israel ( refuseniks ). Several of the teachers were imprisoned, e.g. Yosef Begun , Ephraim Kholmyansky , Yevgeny Korostyshevsky and others responsible for a Hebrew learning network connecting many cities of the USSR. Standard Hebrew, as developed by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, was based on Mishnaic spelling and Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation. However,

5687-601: The 19th century was a lexical modernization of Hebrew. New words and expressions were adapted as neologisms from the large corpus of Hebrew writings since the Hebrew Bible, or borrowed from Arabic (mainly by Ben-Yehuda) and older Aramaic and Latin. Many new words were either borrowed from or coined after European languages, especially English, Russian, German, and French. Modern Hebrew became an official language in British-ruled Palestine in 1921 (along with English and Arabic), and then in 1948 became an official language of

5808-746: The Aramaized Rabbinic Hebrew of the Talmud. Hebrew persevered through the ages as the main language for written purposes by all Jewish communities around the world for a large range of uses—not only liturgy, but also poetry, philosophy, science and medicine, commerce, daily correspondence and contracts. There have been many deviations from this generalization such as Bar Kokhba 's letters to his lieutenants, which were mostly in Aramaic, and Maimonides' writings, which were mostly in Arabic; but overall, Hebrew did not cease to be used for such purposes. For example,

5929-520: The Ashkenazic version (beginning הנה אל, Hinei El ) are taken from the biblical books of Isaiah , Psalms and Esther . In the Sephardic liturgy, the introduction begins with the words ראשון לציון, Rishon L'tsion and consists of biblical verses describing God giving light and success interspersed with later liturgical prose. The Italian Nusach has a third selection of verses. The verses are omitted at

6050-668: The British Mandate who at the turn of the 20th century were arriving in large numbers from diverse countries and speaking different languages. A Committee of the Hebrew Language was established. After the establishment of Israel, it became the Academy of the Hebrew Language . The results of Ben-Yehuda's lexicographical work were published in a dictionary ( The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew , Ben-Yehuda Dictionary ). The seeds of Ben-Yehuda's work fell on fertile ground, and by

6171-463: The Children of Israel shall observe the Shabbat, by establishing the Shabbat for their generations as an eternal covenant. Between Me and the Children of Israel it is an eternal sign, that [in] six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He ceased from work and rested. ) (Remember the Shabbat day to sanctify it. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day

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6292-516: The Friday night kiddush begins with a passage from Genesis 2:1–3, as a testimony to God's creation of the world and cessation of work on the seventh day. Some people stand during the recital of these Biblical verses (even if they sit for kiddush), since according to Jewish law testimony must be given standing. There are different customs regarding sitting or standing while reciting kiddush depending on communal and family tradition. Some Hasidic and Sephardic Jews pour small amounts of water into

6413-617: The Goldschmidt Edition), there is a picture of a hunter chasing a hare. This picture is a useful mnemonic for the acrostic יקנה"ז Yaknhaz as it can be described by a Yiddish or German sentence that sounds like Yaknhaz . The Yiddish sentence יאָג 'ן האָז yog 'n hoz means "hunt a/the hare!" (cf. Yiddish יאָג דעם האָז yog dem hoz ). The colloquial German sentence Jag 'en Has' [jakenhaz] also means "hunt a/the hare!" (cf. German Jag einen/den Hasen! ). The verses recited before Havdalah differ by community. The introductory verses in

6534-516: The Great conquered Babylon, he allowed the Jewish people to return from captivity. In time, a local version of Aramaic came to be spoken in Israel alongside Hebrew. By the beginning of the Common Era , Aramaic was the primary colloquial language of Samarian , Babylonian and Galileean Jews, and western and intellectual Jews spoke Greek , but a form of so-called Rabbinic Hebrew continued to be used as

6655-562: The Havdalah ceremony, it is customary to sing " Eliyahu Hanavi " (" Elijah the Prophet") and/or HaMavdil Bein Kodesh LeChol ("Who separates Holy from ordinary/weekday"), and to bless one another with shavua tov (Hebrew) or a gute vokh (Yiddish), meaning "Have a good week". Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of the following biblical holidays : Rosh Hashanah ; Yom Kippur ;

6776-588: The Hebrew Bible. The Masoretes inherited a biblical text whose letters were considered too sacred to be altered, so their markings were in the form of pointing in and around the letters. The Syriac alphabet , precursor to the Arabic alphabet , also developed vowel pointing systems around this time. The Aleppo Codex , a Hebrew Bible with the Masoretic pointing, was written in the 10th century, likely in Tiberias, and survives into

6897-454: The Israeli population speaks Hebrew as a native language, while most of the rest speak it fluently. In 2013 Hebrew was the native language of 49% of Israelis over the age of 20, with Russian , Arabic , French , English , Yiddish and Ladino being the native tongues of most of the rest. Some 26% of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 12% of Arabs reported speaking Hebrew poorly or not at all. Steps have been taken to keep Hebrew

7018-588: The Lord our God, King of the Universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine. (Amen) Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments, and hoped for us, and with love and intent invested us with His sacred Sabbath, as a memorial to the deed of Creation. It is the first among the holy festivals, commemorating the exodus from Egypt. For You chose us, and sanctified us, out of all nations, and with love and intent You invested us with Your Holy Sabbath. Blessed are You, Adonai, Sanctifier of

7139-471: The Middle East was the closely related Aramaic language, then Greek , scholarly opinions on the exact dating of that shift have changed very much. In the first half of the 20th century, most scholars followed Abraham Geiger and Gustaf Dalman in thinking that Aramaic became a spoken language in the land of Israel as early as the beginning of Israel's Hellenistic period in the 4th century BCE, and that as

7260-677: The Sabbath. (Amen) (זָכוֹר אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת, לְקַדְּשׁוֹ. שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים תַּעֲבֹד, וְעָשִׂיתָ כָּל-מְלַאכְתֶּךָ. וְיוֹם, הַשְּׁבִיעִי—שַׁבָּת, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ: לֹא-תַעֲשֶׂה כָל-מְלָאכָה אַתָּה וּבִנְךָ וּבִתֶּךָ, עַבְדְּךָ וַאֲמָתְךָ וּבְהֶמְתֶּךָ, וְגֵרְךָ, אֲשֶׁר בִּשְׁעָרֶיךָ. כִּי שֵׁשֶׁת-יָמִים עָשָׂה יְהוָה אֶת-הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֶת-הָאָרֶץ, אֶת-הַיָּם וְאֶת-כָּל-אֲשֶׁר-בָּם, וַיָּנַח, בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי; עַל-כֵּן, בֵּרַךְ יְהוָה אֶת-יוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת—וַיְקַדְּשֵׁהוּ.) ‎ (סברי מרנן ורבנן ורבותי) ‎ בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הַגָּפֶן. ‎ (And

7381-432: The Talmud, is euphemistic. There are different versions for the kiddush on Sabbath morning, and it is generally shorter than the Friday night kiddush. Originally, this kiddush consisted only of the blessing over the wine. Later, additional verses related to Shabbat were added. However, there are a wide variety of customs as to which verse are recited, and in some communities no verses at all are recited. Some communities have

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7502-605: The Talmud, the Gemara , generally comments on the Mishnah and Baraitot in two forms of Aramaic. Nevertheless, Hebrew survived as a liturgical and literary language in the form of later Amoraic Hebrew, which occasionally appears in the text of the Gemara, particularly in the Jerusalem Talmud and the classical aggadah midrashes . Hebrew was always regarded as the language of Israel's religion, history and national pride, and after it faded as

7623-509: The Talmud, various regional literary dialects of Medieval Hebrew evolved. The most important is Tiberian Hebrew or Masoretic Hebrew, a local dialect of Tiberias in Galilee that became the standard for vocalizing the Hebrew Bible and thus still influences all other regional dialects of Hebrew. This Tiberian Hebrew from the 7th to 10th century CE is sometimes called "Biblical Hebrew" because it

7744-480: The ability to speak the language and attempted to promote its use. According to the Jerusalem Talmud , Megillah 1:9: "Rebbi Jonathan from Bet Guvrrin said, four languages are appropriate that the world should use them, and they are these: The Foreign Language (Greek) for song, Latin for war, Syriac for elegies, Hebrew for speech. Some are saying, also Assyrian (Hebrew script) for writing." The later section of

7865-411: The above phases of spoken Classical Hebrew are simplified into "Biblical Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 10th century BCE to 2nd century BCE and extant in certain Dead Sea Scrolls) and "Mishnaic Hebrew" (including several dialects from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE and extant in certain other Dead Sea Scrolls). However, today most Hebrew linguists classify Dead Sea Scroll Hebrew as

7986-400: The appearance of three stars in the sky. If one forgot or was otherwise not able to recite Havdalah earlier, it may be performed as late as sunset of the Tuesday following Shabbat; however, when it is recited after Saturday night the blessings of the spices and candle are omitted, and only the blessings on the wine and the havdalah itself are recited. Havdalah is also recited at the conclusion of

8107-455: The average Jew, and that the language had evolved since Biblical times as spoken languages do. Recent scholarship recognizes that reports of Jews speaking in Aramaic indicate a multilingual society, not necessarily the primary language spoken. Alongside Aramaic, Hebrew co-existed within Israel as a spoken language. Most scholars now date the demise of Hebrew as a spoken language to the end of the Roman period , or about 200 CE. It continued on as

8228-428: The beginning of the 20th century, Hebrew was well on its way to becoming the main language of the Jewish population of both Ottoman and British Palestine. At the time, members of the Old Yishuv and a very few Hasidic sects, most notably those under the auspices of Satmar , refused to speak Hebrew and spoke only Yiddish. In the Soviet Union, the use of Hebrew, along with other Jewish cultural and religious activities,

8349-414: The blessing leishev ba-sukkah is recited at the end of Kiddush, after she-hechiyanu. On the second night in the Diaspora, some switch the order and recite leishev before she-hechiyanu. During the daytime kiddush, leishev is recited after the blessing on wine, before drinking. On the Sabbath of Chol Hamoed of Sukkot, leishev is recited at the end of kiddush. When a festival is on Saturday night , Kiddush

8470-421: The blessing over bread takes precedence to the blessing over wine. However, in the interests of beginning the meal with kiddush , the challah is covered to "remove" it from the table (some do not have the challah on the table at all during kiddush ). Wine or grape juice may be used for kiddush. The Talmud permits the use of unfermented fresh grape juice for sacramental use. While later legal codes have expressed

8591-415: The city in whose proximity it was found) is written in an old Semitic script, akin to the Phoenician one that, through the Greeks and Etruscans , later became the Latin alphabet of ancient Rome . The Gezer calendar is written without any vowels , and it does not use consonants to imply vowels even in the places in which later Hebrew spelling requires them. Numerous older tablets have been found in

8712-596: The composition of 1 Maccabees in archaizing Hebrew, Hasmonean coinage under John Hyrcanus (134-104 BCE), and coins from both the Great Revolt and Bar Kokhba Revolt featuring exclusively Hebrew and Palaeo-Hebrew script inscriptions. This deliberate use of Hebrew and Paleo-Hebrew script in official contexts, despite limited literacy, served as a symbol of Jewish nationalism and political independence. The Christian New Testament contains some Semitic place names and quotes. The language of such Semitic glosses (and in general

8833-612: The conclusion of Festivals (except when coinciding with the Sabbath), when Havdalah is not recited immediately at the conclusion of the Sabbath (including when Tisha Bav falls on Sunday, and Havdalah is delayed until Sunday night at the conclusion of Tisha Bav), and in the Ashkenazic rite they are omitted also when Havdalah is recited as part of the Synagogue service. The four blessings over the wine, spices, candle and praising God for separation between holy and profane are virtually identical between

8954-442: The conclusion of Yom Kippur, when the blessing over the candle is recited, if it was lit from a candle that was lit all of Yom Kippur; when Yom Kippur falls on a weekday, the blessing on spices is not recited, and when it falls on the Sabbath customs differ. When a major holiday follows Shabbat, the Havdalah service is recited as part of the holiday kiddush and the blessing over spices is not said. The special braided Havdalah candle

9075-401: The cup, smell the spices, see the flame of the candle, hear the blessings and taste the wine. Following a normal Shabbat, the order of the prayers corresponds to the acrostic יבנ"ה Yavneh . This acrostic consists of the initials Y ayin (wine), B esamim (spices), N er (candle), and H avdalah (the Havdalah prayer). The order of elements when Havdalah is combined with kiddush (e.g., on

9196-461: The custom is to serve dairy foods such as cheesecake and cheese blintzes for the kiddush. According to the Shulchan Aruch , kiddush should be recited preceding the Shabbat meal. Eating mezonot such as cake or cookies or drinking an additional revi'it of wine is also sufficient according to the opinion of most Rishonim. Nevertheless, some Jews recite kiddush only when about to partake of

9317-525: The day, and specifically through the kiddush ceremony. Reciting kiddush before the meal on the eve of Shabbat and Jewish holidays is thus a commandment from the Torah (as it is explained by the Oral Torah ), although one can also fulfill the Biblical commandment by reciting Maariv of the Sabbath which also mentions the holiness of the day. Reciting kiddush before the morning meal on Shabbat and holidays

9438-563: The dialects of Classical Hebrew that functioned as a living language in the land of Israel. A transitional form of the language occurs in the other works of Tannaitic literature dating from the century beginning with the completion of the Mishnah. These include the halachic Midrashim ( Sifra , Sifre , Mekhilta etc.) and the expanded collection of Mishnah-related material known as the Tosefta . The Talmud contains excerpts from these works, as well as further Tannaitic material not attested elsewhere;

9559-513: The earliest speakers of Modern Hebrew had Yiddish as their native language and often introduced calques from Yiddish and phono-semantic matchings of international words. Despite using Sephardic Hebrew pronunciation as its primary basis, modern Israeli Hebrew has adapted to Ashkenazi Hebrew phonology in some respects, mainly the following: The vocabulary of Israeli Hebrew is much larger than that of earlier periods. According to Ghil'ad Zuckermann : The number of attested Biblical Hebrew words

9680-570: The early 6th century BCE, the Neo-Babylonian Empire conquered the ancient Kingdom of Judah , destroying much of Jerusalem and exiling its population far to the east in Babylon . During the Babylonian captivity , many Israelites learned Aramaic, the closely related Semitic language of their captors. Thus, for a significant period, the Jewish elite became influenced by Aramaic. After Cyrus

9801-436: The finding of what he claims to be the oldest known Hebrew inscription, a curse tablet found at Mount Ebal , dated from around 3200 years ago. The presence of the Hebrew name of god , Yahweh, as three letters, Yod-Heh-Vav (YHV), according to the author and his team meant that the tablet is Hebrew and not Canaanite. However, practically all professional archeologists and epigraphers apart from Stripling's team claim that there

9922-703: The first Middle East printing press, in Safed (modern Israel), produced a small number of books in Hebrew in 1577, which were then sold to the nearby Jewish world. This meant not only that well-educated Jews in all parts of the world could correspond in a mutually intelligible language, and that books and legal documents published or written in any part of the world could be read by Jews in all other parts, but that an educated Jew could travel and converse with Jews in distant places, just as priests and other educated Christians could converse in Latin. For example, Rabbi Avraham Danzig wrote

10043-532: The first days (first day in Israel) of Sukkot ; Simchat Torah ; Passover ( Pesach ), both its first and last days; and Shavuot . It is omitted, however, if the Sabbath falls immediately after the Festival. At the conclusion of a Festival that is not at the conclusion of the Sabbath, on the blessings over the wine and the blessing separating the holy from the everyday, but the spices and the havdalah candle are omitted. At

10164-437: The fragrance. In many Sefardic and Mizrahi communities, branches of aromatic plants are used for this purpose, while Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally used cloves . A special braided havdalah candle with more than one wick is lit, and a blessing is recited. If a special havdalah candle is not available, two candles can be used, and the two flames joined when reciting the blessing. Either right before or right after reciting

10285-406: The generic term for these passages is Baraitot . The dialect of all these works is very similar to Mishnaic Hebrew. About a century after the publication of the Mishnah, Mishnaic Hebrew fell into disuse as a spoken language. By the third century CE, sages could no longer identify the Hebrew names of many plants mentioned in the Mishnah. Only a few sages, primarily in the southern regions, retained

10406-487: The holy tongue ' or ' the tongue [of] holiness ' ) since ancient times. The language was not referred to by the name Hebrew in the Bible , but as Yehudit ( transl.  ' Judean ' ) or Səpaṯ Kəna'an ( transl.  "the language of Canaan " ). Mishnah Gittin 9:8 refers to the language as Ivrit , meaning Hebrew; however, Mishnah Megillah refers to the language as Ashurit , meaning Assyrian , which

10527-574: The language of the Hebrew people; its later historiography, in the Book of Kings , refers to it as יְהוּדִית Yehudit " Judahite (language)". Hebrew belongs to the Canaanite group of languages . Canaanite languages are a branch of the Northwest Semitic family of languages. Hebrew was the spoken language in the Iron Age kingdoms of Israel and Judah during the period from about 1200 to 586 BCE. Epigraphic evidence from this period confirms

10648-458: The language spoken by Jews in scenes from the New Testament) is often referred to as "Hebrew" in the text, although this term is often re-interpreted as referring to Aramaic instead and is rendered accordingly in recent translations. Nonetheless, these glosses can be interpreted as Hebrew as well. It has been argued that Hebrew, rather than Aramaic or Koine Greek, lay behind the composition of

10769-464: The language. The revival of the Hebrew language as a mother tongue was initiated in the late 19th century by the efforts of Ben-Yehuda. He joined the Jewish national movement and in 1881 immigrated to Palestine , then a part of the Ottoman Empire . Motivated by the surrounding ideals of renovation and rejection of the diaspora " shtetl " lifestyle, Ben-Yehuda set out to develop tools for making

10890-494: The languages themselves in that period, remains unclear", and suggested that calling the text Hebrew might be going too far. The Gezer calendar also dates back to the 10th century BCE at the beginning of the Monarchic period , the traditional time of the reign of David and Solomon . Classified as Archaic Biblical Hebrew , the calendar presents a list of seasons and related agricultural activities. The Gezer calendar (named after

11011-414: The nations, [and Shabbat] and Your holy festivals [in love and in avor] in happiness and in joy You have given us as a heritage. Blessed are You, God, Who sanctifies [the Shabbat and] Israel and the holiday seasons. (Amen) (On Sukkot, if the meal takes place in a kosher sukkah :) Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to dwell in

11132-720: The newly declared State of Israel . Hebrew is the most widely spoken language in Israel today. In the Modern Period, from the 19th century onward, the literary Hebrew tradition revived as the spoken language of modern Israel, called variously Israeli Hebrew , Modern Israeli Hebrew , Modern Hebrew , New Hebrew , Israeli Standard Hebrew , Standard Hebrew and so on. Israeli Hebrew exhibits some features of Sephardic Hebrew from its local Jerusalemite tradition but adapts it with numerous neologisms, borrowed terms (often technical) from European languages and adopted terms (often colloquial) from Arabic. The literary and narrative use of Hebrew

11253-405: The opposite case, when Shabbat follows a festival, the regular Shabbat kiddush is recited, with no variations. While on a year-round Motzai Shabbat one can extinguish the candle used for Havdalah , this is not permitted when the evening coincides with a Holiday date (Yom Tov). Rather than simply picking up two of the candles already lit for Yom Tov when the blessing for fire is recited as part of

11374-528: The other being Aramaic , still spoken today. The earliest examples of written Paleo-Hebrew date back to the 10th century BCE. Nearly all of the Hebrew Bible is written in Biblical Hebrew , with much of its present form in the dialect that scholars believe flourished around the 6th century BCE, during the time of the Babylonian captivity . For this reason, Hebrew has been referred to by Jews as Lashon Hakodesh ( לְשׁוֹן הַקֹּדֶש , lit.   '

11495-402: The person reciting the kiddush drinks from the wine, the rest of it is passed around the table or poured out into small cups for the other participants. Alternatively, wine is poured for each of the participants before kiddush. Before reciting kiddush , the challah , which will be the next food item eaten in honor of the Shabbat or holiday, is first covered with a cloth. According to Halakha ,

11616-630: The present day. It is perhaps the most important Hebrew manuscript in existence. During the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain , important work was done by grammarians in explaining the grammar and vocabulary of Biblical Hebrew; much of this was based on the work of the grammarians of Classical Arabic . Important Hebrew grammarians were Judah ben David Hayyuj , Jonah ibn Janah , Abraham ibn Ezra and later (in Provence ), David Kimhi . A great deal of poetry

11737-562: The primary language of use, and to prevent large-scale incorporation of English words into the Hebrew vocabulary. The Academy of the Hebrew Language of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem currently invents about 2,000 new Hebrew words each year for modern words by finding an original Hebrew word that captures the meaning, as an alternative to incorporating more English words into Hebrew vocabulary. The Haifa municipality has banned officials from using English words in official documents, and

11858-418: The radiance of the fire), then a modified havdalah blessing (ending with "Who differentiates between (one level of) holiness and (another level of) holiness"), and then the shehecheyanu blessing (omitted on the final days of Passover ; see above). Essentially, the havdalah blessings are recited after kiddush, but before shehechiyanu, which is usually the last blessing to ever be recited. Spices are not used. In

11979-451: The region was Old Aramaic . Hebrew was extinct as a colloquial language by late antiquity , but it continued to be used as a literary language, especially in Spain, as the language of commerce between Jews of different native languages, and as the liturgical language of Judaism, evolving various dialects of literary Medieval Hebrew , until its revival as a spoken language in the late 19th century. In May 2023, Scott Stripling published

12100-431: The region with similar scripts written in other Semitic languages, for example, Proto-Sinaitic . It is believed that the original shapes of the script go back to Egyptian hieroglyphs , though the phonetic values are instead inspired by the acrophonic principle. The common ancestor of Hebrew and Phoenician is called Canaanite , and was the first to use a Semitic alphabet distinct from that of Egyptian. One ancient document

12221-657: The rest of the Middle East; and eventually Greek functioned as another international language with the eastern areas of the Roman Empire. William Schniedewind argues that after waning in the Persian period, the religious importance of Hebrew grew in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and cites epigraphical evidence that Hebrew survived as a vernacular language – though both its grammar and its writing system had been substantially influenced by Aramaic. According to another summary, Greek

12342-485: The southern villages of Judea." In other words, "in terms of dialect geography, at the time of the tannaim Palestine could be divided into the Aramaic-speaking regions of Galilee and Samaria and a smaller area, Judaea, in which Rabbinic Hebrew was used among the descendants of returning exiles." In addition, it has been surmised that Koine Greek was the primary vehicle of communication in coastal cities and among

12463-468: The spoken language of the Russian Jews, should be treated as their only national language, while Hebrew was to be treated as a foreign language. Hebrew books and periodicals ceased to be published and were seized from the libraries, although liturgical texts were still published until the 1930s. Despite numerous protests, a policy of suppression of the teaching of Hebrew operated from the 1930s on. Later in

12584-470: The sukkah. (Amen) (On all holiday nights except on the last two nights of Passover:) Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has kept us alive and sustained us and brought us to this season. (Amen) (These are the festivals of God, holy convocations, that you should announce at their appointed times. ) (And Moses declared the festivals of the Lord to the Children of Israel ) Attention, Gentlemen! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of

12705-488: The traditions. The phrase בין ישראל לעמים, bein Yisrael l'amim 'between Israel and the nations' is based on Leviticus 20:26 . In Reconstructionist Judaism , however, the phrase is omitted, as part of founder Mordechai Kaplan 's rejection of the Biblical idea of chosenness . Modern tunes for Havdalah are based on melodies by Shlomo Carlebach , Neshama Carlebach and Debbie Friedman . The Ashkenazi liturgy for havdala after

12826-454: The universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and elevated us above all tongues, and sanctified us with His commandments. And You gave us, Lord our God, with love, [Sabbaths for rest and] festivals for happiness, holidays and times for joy, this day [of Shabbat and this day of] [With love], a holy convocation, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt. Because You chose us, and sanctified us from all

12947-424: The universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen) (When the holiday coincides with Shabbat (Friday night), the verses from Genesis (Evening became... had performed) precede this kiddush, and the sections in brackets are added.) Attention, gentlemen, [rabbis, and my teachers]! Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen) Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of

13068-547: The universe, who creates the fruit of the vine. (Amen) On Rosh Hashanah , the night Kiddush is similar to that of the other festivals. Where it differs, it is usually to follow the pattern of middle blessing of the Amidah . (An example is the concluding formula "Blessed are You, the LORD, King over the entire world, Who sanctifies [the Sabbath,] Israel, and the Day of Remembrance.") During the day,

13189-580: The upper class of Jerusalem , while Aramaic was prevalent in the lower class of Jerusalem, but not in the surrounding countryside. After the suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt in the 2nd century CE, Judaeans were forced to disperse. Many relocated to Galilee, so most remaining native speakers of Hebrew at that last stage would have been found in the north. Many scholars have pointed out that Hebrew continued to be used alongside Aramaic during Second Temple times, not only for religious purposes but also for nationalistic reasons, especially during revolts such as

13310-415: The verses Psalms 81:4–5 (Ashkenazi) or Numbers 10:10 (Sephardic) are recited prior to the blessing over wine. Many also say the festival verses (usually first), and on Shabbat all recite the relevant verses (see above) at the very beginning. On Yom Kippur , being a fast day, no kiddush is recited, even by one who will be eating for medical reasons, and even on Shabbat. On the first two nights of Sukkot,

13431-413: The widely accepted view that the earlier layers of biblical literature reflect the language used in these kingdoms. Furthermore, the content of Hebrew inscriptions suggests that the written texts closely mirror the spoken language of that time. Scholars debate the degree to which Hebrew was a spoken vernacular in ancient times following the Babylonian exile when the predominant international language in

13552-501: The wine before kiddush on Friday night. This is done either to commemorate the old custom of "mixing of the wine" in the days when wine was too strong to be drunk without dilution, or to infuse the water (wine?) with the quality of mercy which is symbolized by water (wine?). Since the Shabbat morning kiddush is rabbinically rather than biblically mandated, it has a lesser status than the Friday night kiddush . Its name Kiddusha Rabba (קידושא רבא, "The Great Kiddush "), first mentioned in

13673-456: The words " Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha'olam, bo're m'orei ha'esh ," it is customary for the participants to hold their hands up to the candle and gaze at the reflection of the light in their fingernails. This custom was first recorded in the Or Zarua II    [ he ] ( c.  1300 ). At the conclusion of Havdalah, some or all of the leftover wine is poured into

13794-421: Was a spoken language , and Amoraic Hebrew (also called Late Rabbinic Hebrew or Mishnaic Hebrew II), which was a literary language . The earlier section of the Talmud is the Mishnah that was published around 200 CE, although many of the stories take place much earlier, and were written in the earlier Mishnaic dialect. The dialect is also found in certain Dead Sea Scrolls. Mishnaic Hebrew is considered to be one of

13915-468: Was instituted in ancient times on behalf of guests who slept in the synagogue and did not have a place to eat, and Halachic authorities debate whether it is proper to continue this practice. The term kiddush also refers to refreshments served either at home or at the synagogue following prayer services on Shabbat or Yom Tov, which begin with the recitation of kiddush. Cake , crackers , and gefilte fish are traditionally served. On Shavuot morning,

14036-487: Was now a more significant written language than Aramaic within Judaea." This nationalist aspect was further emphasized during periods of conflict, as Hannah Cotton observing in her analysis of legal documents during the Jewish revolts against Rome that "Hebrew became the symbol of Jewish nationalism, of the independent Jewish State." The nationalist use of Hebrew is evidenced in several historical documents and artefacts, including

14157-618: Was revived beginning with the Haskalah movement. The first secular periodical in Hebrew, Ha-Me'assef (The Gatherer), was published by maskilim in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad ) from 1783 onwards. In the mid-19th century, publications of several Eastern European Hebrew-language newspapers (e.g. Hamagid , founded in Ełk in 1856) multiplied. Prominent poets were Hayim Nahman Bialik and Shaul Tchernichovsky ; there were also novels written in

14278-527: Was suppressed. Soviet authorities considered the use of Hebrew "reactionary" since it was associated with Zionism, and the teaching of Hebrew at primary and secondary schools was officially banned by the People's Commissariat for Education as early as 1919, as part of an overall agenda aiming to secularize education (the language itself did not cease to be studied at universities for historical and linguistic purposes ). The official ordinance stated that Yiddish, being

14399-540: Was the language of government, Hebrew the language of prayer, study and religious texts, and Aramaic was the language of legal contracts and trade. There was also a geographic pattern: according to Bernard Spolsky , by the beginning of the Common Era, " Judeo-Aramaic was mainly used in Galilee in the north, Greek was concentrated in the former colonies and around governmental centers, and Hebrew monolingualism continued mainly in

14520-408: Was to a certain extent a pidgin . Near the end of that century the Jewish activist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda , owing to the ideology of the national revival ( שיבת ציון , Shivat Tziyon , later Zionism ), began reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language. Eventually, as a result of the local movement he created, but more significantly as a result of the new groups of immigrants known under the name of

14641-570: Was written, by poets such as Dunash ben Labrat , Solomon ibn Gabirol , Judah ha-Levi , Moses ibn Ezra and Abraham ibn Ezra , in a "purified" Hebrew based on the work of these grammarians, and in Arabic quantitative or strophic meters. This literary Hebrew was later used by Italian Jewish poets. The need to express scientific and philosophical concepts from Classical Greek and Medieval Arabic motivated Medieval Hebrew to borrow terminology and grammar from these other languages, or to coin equivalent terms from existing Hebrew roots, giving rise to

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