Tel-Aviv, the First Century: Visions, Designs, Actualities

10 Tel-Aviv Language Police

This anecdote, adduced by Alter Druyanov,1 reflects the great pride of the Jewish Yishuv in Tel-Aviv’s children, whose Hebrew was natural and native. Speaking Hebrew became one of the symbols of the city of Tel-Aviv and was a point of pride for its leaders. The creation of TelAviv as a Hebrew city symbolized its uniqueness and the great promise it held. The city’s leaders, teachers, and writers, as well as other public figures, joined in the constant struggle to maintain the city’s Hebrew character. The Hebraization project, established to create a common language and culture for Jews who had immigrated to Eretz-Israel in order to build their national homeland, was seen as the emblem of the Zionist endeavor. It was believed that only a common Hebrew culture would make the transformation of a variety of groups with different languages, symbol systems, and cultural codes into a national society with a shared value system. ten Tel-Aviv Language Police Zohar Shavit Tel-Aviv . . . Herzl St. boys and girls were pouring out of Gymnasia Herzliya at the end of the school day. Just then, two famous Yiddishists who were traveling around the country found themselves in front of the school. The greater of the two said to his companion: “The Zionists boast that Hebrew has become second nature to the children of Eretz-Israel. Now you’ll see that their boast is nothing but lies. I’ll tweak a child’s ear and I’m sure he won’t yell ‘Imma!’ [Mother!] in Hebrew, but rather ‘Mamme!’ in Yiddish.” He did as he said he would: he walked up behind a child and tweaked his ear, and the child immediately turned and yelled at him in Hebrew, “Hamor!” [What an ass!]. The famous Yiddishist turned to his companion and said, “I’m afraid they’re right . . .” 192 Zohar Shavit In February 1914, a few months before the outbreak of World War I, the “Language War” ended with the victory of the Hebrew camp. Ezra (Help), a German-Jewish philanthropic organization that established and fostered educational institutions in Eretz-Israel, agreed that Hebrew would be the language of instruction in physics and mathematics in the Technikum (later called the Technion), and that all the teachers and professors who did not have a command of the language would have to learn it within four years. In 1925, when the Hebrew University was established in Jerusalem, nearly all the courses were taught in Hebrew. During the British Mandate, Hebrew became established as the main spoken language of the Jews of Eretz-Israel. In 1922, the Mandate authorities decreed that English, Arabic, and Hebrew would be the official languages, and that all governmental orders , official announcements, and official forms must be in Arabic and Hebrew. Joseph Klausner, in a front-page article in the daily Ha’aretz, had good reason to refer to the high commissioner’s order as “a historic event” and “the bill of rights of our national language.”2 The Yishuv witnessed a surge of publications in Hebrew. Especially notable was a wide range of literature and newspapers. Cultural entrepreneurs and cultural agents made great efforts to introduce the Hebrew language into all spheres of life and to disseminate Hebrew culture. To this end they enlisted every possible verbal and non-verbal text. Starting in 1936, the programs of Kol Yerushalayim (the Voice of Jerusalem), the Eretz-Israel radio station, were also recruited for the promotion of Hebrew language and culture. The Hebrew revival project bore fruit and came to be nationally recognized as a success story, perhaps one of the greatest achievements of the Zionist movement. Hebrew and Other Languages Despite recognizing that the Hebraization project was a success story, I contend that the project did not come to full fruition in many parts of the private sphere or in certain parts of the public sphere, even before the large waves of immigration of the Fourth and Fifth Aliya, and especially after. If not for the unrelenting, sometimes even violent, campaign that took place mostly in the first Hebrew city, the Hebrew language would 193 Tel-Aviv Language Police not have triumphed over other languages—mainly Yiddish—and would not have become the national language of the Yishuv or the official language of the State of Israel. A considerable part of the first generation of immigrants to the country, and some of the...