Language as a Human Right: The Ideology of Eastern European Zionists in the Early Twentieth Century

The use of Hebrew or Arabic, especially among Jews and Arabs, often becomes an ideological issue. This essay examines how some early Zionists (most particularly and at greatest length, Hayyim Nahman Bialik, but also noting Ahad HaAm, Martin Buber, and Shemarya Levin) claimed that the opportunity to speak one's native language was a human right, a right that for Jews translated into a revival of Hebrew as a spoken language. The essay notes how this ideological position conflicted with the views of the Yiddishists, denigrated the achievements of the German Jewish Enlightenment (the Haskalah), sought "normalization" of Jewish life. It concludes by suggesting that the ideology of language arises from the social and political needs of an elitist leadership group and may well need alteration when circumstances demand a different type of leader.