The Jewish and Irish Debates Over a �National Language�

New English Review







Recent Publications by New English Review Authors
	The West Speaks interviews by Jerry Gordon
	Mohammed and Charlemagne Revisited: The History of a Controversy Emmet Scott
	Why the West is Best: A Muslim Apostate's Defense of Liberal Democracy Ibn Warraq
	Anything Goes by Theodore Dalrymple
	Karimi Hotel De Nidra Poller
	The Left is Seldom Right by Norman Berdichevsky
	Allah is Dead: Why Islam is Not a Religion by Rebecca Bynum
	Virgins? What Virgins?: And Other Essays by Ibn Warraq
	An Introduction to Danish Culture by Norman Berdichevsky
	The New Vichy Syndrome: by Theodore Dalrymple
	Jihad and Genocide by Richard L. Rubenstein
	Second Opinion by Theodore Dalrymple
	Not With a Bang But a Whimper: The Politics and Culture of Decline by Theodore Dalrymple
	In Praise of Prejudice: The Necessity of Preconceived Ideas by Theodore Dalrymple
	Defending The West: by Ibn Warraq
	Nations, Language and Citizenship: by Norman Berdichevsky
	Romancing Opiates by Theodore Dalrymple
	Which Koran? by Ibn Warraq
	Our Culture, What's Left of It by Theodore Dalrymple
	What The Koran Really Says by Ibn Warraq
	Life at the Bottom by Theodore Dalrymple
	The Origins of the Koran by Ibn Warraq
	Why I Am Not Muslim by Ibn Warraq
	Spanish Vignettes: An Offbeat Look Into Spain's Culture, Society & History by Norman Berdichevsky
	Leaving Islam Edited by Ibn Warraq
	The Danish-German Border Dispute, 1815-2001: Aspects of Cultural and Demographic Politics by Norman Berdichevsky
	What's Love Got to Do with It?: Emotions and Relationships in Pop Songs by Thomas J. Scheff

The Iconoclast

Email This Article
Your Name:
Your Email:
Email To:
Comment: Optional
Authentication:
8 + 8 = ?:	(Required) Please type in the correct answer to the math question.

You are sending a link to...
The Jewish and Irish Debates Over a �National Language�

by Norman Berdichevsky (April 2009)

Israel succeeded in reviving and modernizing an ancient language by linking it to its historic past, a goal sought, but not as well achieved, by the Irish national movement. In the State of Israel, independence was recreated along with a cultural rebirth in the face of great odds and massive doubts regarding the viability of both modern nationhood and the language. Even Theodore Herzl, the founder of the Zionist vision that launched the political efforts to create a Jewish state, skeptically asked at the time of the First Zionist Congress in 1897, “Who among us can as much as ask for a train ticket in Hebrew?” His skepticism was shared by many European Jews who felt that reviving the language was an impossible task (or a profane or even a sacrilegious one). In Herzl’s romantic, utopian novel of a future idealized modern Jewish state, Altneuland (Old-New Land), Jews are pictured as cosmopolitan multilingual speakers of major European languages. Neither Yiddish nor Hebrew is mentioned. more>>>

Most Recent Posts at The Iconoclast

22-May-2012
A Musical interlude: Then I'll Be Tired Of You (Ambrose Orch., voc. Sam Browne) 22-May-2012
Lebanese Shi'ites Kidnapped In Syria 22-May-2012
The Far-Left Fanatic Melenchon Wants To "Eradicate" The Front National 22-May-2012
David Littman Remembered for Clandestine Rescue of Moroccan Jews 22-May-2012
Hufffington Post UK Hires Mehdi Hasan as Senior Staffer 22-May-2012
Shafilea Ahmed murder: parents 'suffocated teenager in front of their other daughter' 22-May-2012
Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Spells Out Iran's Position on Israel - Just in case it wasn't clear 22-May-2012
Pseudsday Tuesday 22-May-2012
Makari's Ministry of Misinformation 22-May-2012
Yemen suicide bomb massacre ‘beginning of Jihad,’ says Al Qaeda 22-May-2012
Dewsbury: 11 years for rape of teenage girl 22-May-2012
Mustafa new name, moans hater Hamza 22-May-2012
US Sen. Mark Kirk wants to stop Palestinian Rights of Return 21-May-2012
German Iranian Rapper Shehin Najahi Learns You Don’t Invoke the 10th Imam Against the Islamic Republic 21-May-2012
Brighton police release images of men wanted in connection with March for England violence

Search The Iconoclast

Enter text, Go to search:

The Iconoclast Posts by Author

Ali Sina (1) Artemis Gordon Glidden (881) Bat Ye'or (2) Brian of London (10) Christina McIntosh (262) David Wemyss (1) Dexter Van Zile (41) DL Adams (21) Dr. Michael Welner (3) Esmerelda Weatherwax (5718) G. Murphy Donovan (4) Geert Wilders (4) Geoffrey Clarfield (24) Hugh Fitzgerald (12903) Ibn Warraq (3) Jerry Gordon (1167) John M. Joyce (307) Jonathan Hausman (1) Kenneth Timmerman (1) Mark Anthony Signorelli (11) Mark Durie (2) Mary Jackson (4882) NER (1106) Nicolai Sennels (1) Nidra Poller (18) Nonie Darwish (2) Norman Berdichevsky (51) Rebecca Bynum (5202) Richard L. Benkin (15) Richard L. Rubenstein (21) Robert Harris (5) Sam Bluefarb (1) The Law (59) Theodore Dalrymple (189) Thomas J. Scheff (4) Walid Phares (2) z - all below inactive (7) z - Ares Demertzis (2) z - Andrew Bostom (74) z - Andy McCarthy (536) z - John Derbyshire (1013) z - Marisol Seibold (25) z - Mark Butterworth (49) z- Robert Bove (1189)

The Iconoclast Archives

2012
January February March April May 2011
January February March April May June July August September October November December 2010
January February March April May June July August September October November December 2009
January February March April May June July August September October November December 2008
January February March April May June July August September October November December 2007
January February March April May June July August September October November December 2006
January February March April May June July August September October November December

sun

mon

tue

wed

thu

fri

sat

RSS Site Feed