Misplaced Pages

#41958

140-601: A mezuzah ( Hebrew : מְזוּזָה "doorpost"; plural: מְזוּזוֹת ‎ mezuzot ) is a piece of parchment inscribed with specific Hebrew verses from the Torah , which Jews affix in a small case to the doorposts of their homes. These verses are the Biblical passages in which the use of a mezuzah is commanded ( Deuteronomy 6:4–9 and 11:13–21 ); they also form part of the Shema prayer. According to traditional Jewish law ,

280-408: A mezuzah must be placed on every post-and-lintel entrance to a residence, courtyard, or city. Since the time of Meir of Rothenburg ( c.  1215–1293 ), religious Jews have increasingly also placed mezuzot on the entrances to non-residential buildings such as synagogues and offices, and on each internal doorway of the home or building, with the exception of bathrooms (where the name of God

420-685: 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

560-595: 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

700-661: 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

840-579: 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

980-594: 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

1120-549: A grave sin. It was the Hasid's goal to enlighten those who needed enlightenment. On the flip side, those who did not adhere to the "proper" lifestyle proscribed by Sefer Hasidim were constantly labeled as reshaim (wicked ones). The "wicked" or the "unrighteous ones" were not to be called to the Torah, be given honors in the services, blow the shofar , or serve as sandek . It is clear from Sefer Hasidim itself that this class of people

1260-468: 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

1400-536: 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 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

1540-462: A mezuzah on their doorpost as well. The Karaite version of the mezuzah is fixed to the doorways of public buildings and sometimes to private buildings, too. The Samaritans interpret the deuteronomic commandment to mean displaying any select text from the Samaritan version of the five Books of Moses . This can contain a blessing or a particularly holy or uplifting message. In the past they placed

SECTION 10

#1732780403042

1680-629: A particular group or movement, but rather to honest members of the community who fulfilled their religious and social obligations. In some ways, Hasidic communities originating in Hungary, such as Satmar, have more influence from Hassidei Ashkenaz than they do from the modern Hasidic movement, for example maintaining Ashkenazic practices such as reciting Shir HaYihud and Yotzerot, that many Hasidic communities from Poland and Russia do not maintain. Secular Jewish philosopher Martin Buber twice stated that he

1820-526: A pious person is forbidden to derive benefit from it. Ashkenazi Hasidic theology contained some similarities to the theologies the early kabbalists and of Saadia Gaon . Saadia, in his Book of Beliefs and Opinions (אמונות ודעות) grapples with the following conundrum: throughout the Tanakh , prophets frequently describe visions of God sitting on His heavenly throne , surrounded by the heavenly host . Since believing that God has perceivable, physical features

1960-538: A qualified scribe check the mezuzot parchments for defects (such as small tears or faded lettering) at least twice every seven years. This job can be done by a sofer (scribe) or by anyone with similar training. A sofer also can make new mezuzot parchments which are in accordance with Jewish law. This article deals mainly with the mezuzah as it is used in Rabbinic Judaism, but Karaite Judaism and Samaritanism have their own traditions. In Karaite Judaism

2100-403: A restriction, although one of them agreed to modify its rule. On reading a news report of the mezuzah dispute, Chicago alderman Burton Natarus drafted an amendment to the city's municipal code which made it illegal for a renter or owner of an apartment, house, or condo to be prohibited from "placing or affixing a religious sign, symbol or relic on the door, door post or entrance." Although there

2240-548: 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

2380-423: A sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates. In later generations, though, the mezuzah began to be interpreted as an apotropaic device, protecting the house from forces of evil. A culture-comparative analysis suggests that the objects placed on domestic thresholds often bear the function of an amulet repelling

2520-400: A similar manner to the way that light emanates from the sun. What emerged is a tripartite system composed of God, the higher Kavod, and the lower Kavod. God is beyond human comprehension and impossible for man to relate to. The higher Kavod emanates from God, and is still very distant from man, but slightly more accessible. And finally, the lower Kavod is the element that man can access. It is at

2660-463: A slightly revised version (HB1278) was signed into law by Texas Governor Rick Perry . A bill designed to prevent mezuzah bans nationwide was proposed in 2008 (H.R. 6932) by U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler . It never became law. Hebrew language Hebrew ( Hebrew alphabet : עִבְרִית ‎, ʿĪvrīt , pronounced [ ʔivˈʁit ] or [ ʕivˈrit ] ; Samaritan script : ࠏࠨࠁࠬࠓࠪࠉࠕ ‎ ʿÎbrit )

2800-668: 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

2940-590: A stone plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments above the house door, some examples dating back to the Byzantine (4th–7th century) and Early Muslim (7th–11th century) periods being now shown in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. Nowadays a Samaritan mezuzah is usually made of either marble, a wooden plate, or a sheet of parchment or high quality paper, on which they inscribe select verses from

SECTION 20

#1732780403042

3080-420: 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

3220-558: 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

3360-656: A woman in a condo building in Fort Lauderdale, Florida , was instructed to remove the mezuzah from her hallway unit and threatened with a fine. After a lengthy legal battle, the condo association was found guilty of discrimination. In 2008, House Bill 995, an amendment to the Florida Condominium Act, modeled on the Illinois state legislation, became law. In Texas in 2007, a couple living in Houston

3500-518: 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

3640-576: Is a Caesar cipher —a one-letter shift—of the third, fourth, and fifth words of the Shema, "Adonai, Eloheinu, Adonai" , "The Lord, our God, the Lord"; it is written on the back of the case, opposite the corresponding words on the front. This inscription dates from the 11th century and is found among the Hasidei Ashkenaz (medieval German Jewish mystics). The Sephardic custom ( minhag ) leaves out

3780-644: Is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family . A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages , it was natively spoken by 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

3920-590: Is a Hasid whose heart desires, out of love for his creator do His will, but he is unaware of all these things [i.e. demands]- which thing to avoid and how to execute profoundly the wish of the Creator... For this reason, the Sefer Hasidim was written so that all who fear God and those returning to their Creator with an undivided heart may read it and know and understand what is incumbent upon them to do and what they must avoid. The quest to fulfill retzon haborei

4060-414: Is a common custom to write [God's name,] Shaddai, on the outside of a mezuzah opposite the empty space left between the two passages. There is no difficulty in this, since [the addition is made] outside. Those, however, who write the names of angels, other sacred names, verses, or forms, on the inside [of a mezuzah] are among those who do not have a portion in the world to come. Not only do these fools nullify

4200-466: Is an "enormous anthology, reflecting the work of generations of Ashkenazi Hasidic leaders". This led him to formulate this phenomenon as a movement which existed for generations and had a distinct group of leaders. Ivan G. Marcus raised support for the community's historicity by pointing out references to Chassidei Ashkenaz practices in Arba'ah Turim and Sefer ha-Manhig . He further admitted that all of

4340-505: Is blasphemous for Saadia, he concludes that the visions do not portray God, but rather portray God's created glory. This glory is God's created messenger, his exalted angel, created to give the prophets something concrete to visualize. The torat hakavod (Hebrew תורת הכבוד) of the Ashkenazi Hasidim echoes Saadia's theory, but with a fundamental difference. For the latter, the glory was not created by God, but emanated from God in

Mezuzah - Misplaced Pages Continue

4480-454: Is disputed: In the biblical verses where the mezuzah command is found, the purpose is educational, to constantly remind a person of God's commandments: And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for

4620-567: 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

4760-431: Is forbidden) and small closets. The klaf is prepared by a qualified scribe (" sofer stam " ) who has undergone training, both in studying the relevant religious laws, and in the more practical parts—i.e., carving the quill and practising writing. The verses are written in indelible black ink with a special quill pen made either from a feather or, now quite rare, a reed . The klaf is then rolled up and placed inside

4900-420: Is no reference in any Ashkenazic literature to any of its particular ideas. Additionally, there is no external proof of existence for Pietistic communities. A controversial movement such as this one, which castigated much of the broader community, labeling them reshaim (wicked), would certainly have been referenced by contemporary literature. However, others such as Isaiah Tishby maintain that Sefer Chassidim

5040-436: Is not just a commendable, optional one; rather, it is a requisite aspect of proper divine service: And we find in the Torah that anyone who was capable of understanding [a demand] even though he was not [explicitly] commanded is punished for not realizing [the requirement] on his own. As is said, “And Moses was angry with the officers of the army ... who had come from the service of the war. And he said to them, ‘Have you let all

5180-711: 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. Chassidei Ashkenaz The movement is known for its strict asceticism and mystical doctrine who radically reimagined Jewish ethics, holding themselves accountable to din shamayim (an unwritten Law of Heaven) in addition to traditional halakha . Some posit that its theology fits into

5320-469: Is prevalent in modern times as well. In the 1970s, after a series of terrorist attacks in Ma'alot , the representatives of Chabad started the campaign for the systematic checking of mezuzahs. The general assumption underlying the action was that adhering to the mitzvot would guarantee personal safety. According to various pieces of sociological research, approximately three-quarters of adults in Israel believe

5460-573: 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 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

5600-457: 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

5740-547: 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

Mezuzah - Misplaced Pages Continue

5880-650: 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

6020-727: 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 is believed to be based on the Semitic root ʕ-b-r ( ע־ב־ר ‎), meaning "beyond", "other side", "across"; interpretations of

6160-547: 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 the widely accepted view that the earlier layers of biblical literature reflect the language used in these kingdoms. Furthermore,

6300-572: 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

6440-495: 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 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

6580-682: 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

6720-556: The Samaritan alphabet . The more such mezuzot there are in the house, the better it is considered to be. The Jewish practice of affixing a mezuzah to the entranceway of a residential unit was rarely challenged in the United States or Canada, However, in Chicago in 2001, a condominium association at Shoreline Towers banned "mats, boots, shoes, carts or objects of any sort… outside unit entrance doors", which by board vote in 2004

6860-536: 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

7000-492: The Tur and Sefer Hamanhig , neither of which grants them respect), in opposition to Dan's assumption that such hostility would have led to greater mention. Prior to Dan, no one questioned their existence over the centuries in which the book was studied. The suggestion that a particular movement termed Hasidim existed was challenged recently by Elisheva Baumgarten , who has studied the term Hasid/ah, and suggested it did not refer to

7140-462: 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

SECTION 50

#1732780403042

7280-414: The mezuzah should be placed on the right side of the door or doorpost, in the upper third of the doorpost (i.e., approximately shoulder height), within approximately 3 inches (8 cm) of the doorway opening. Care should be taken to not tear or damage the parchment or the wording on it, as this will invalidate the mezuzah . Where the doorway is wide enough, many Ashkenazi Jews tilt the mezuzah so that

7420-620: 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 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

7560-543: 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

7700-607: 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 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

7840-570: The 10th century; and the Abun family of France, among others, according to the sacred books they wrote at the close of the 10th century. The line of thought that developed into Ashkenazi Hasidicism traces its roots to the Gaonic scholar Abu Aaron and extended to the three seminal thinkers of the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Judah the Pious, Samuel the Pious, and Eleàzar of Worms. Rabbi Judah

7980-555: 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,

8120-611: 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

8260-570: The 2008 decision, and the case proceeded. Meanwhile, records of the Chicago Jewish Star were unsuccessfully subpoenaed, and Illinois' anti- SLAPP legislation was applied. In 2011, a confidential settlement to the Shoreline Towers disputes was achieved. In 2006, a more narrowly focused amendment to the state's Condominium Property Act was initiated by Illinois Senator Ira Silverstein , the first such state law. In 2006,

8400-604: 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.   ' 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

8540-766: 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,

SECTION 60

#1732780403042

8680-503: 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

8820-433: The Chassidei Ashkenaz. Sefer Hasidim contains over two thousand stories. Sefer Hasidim are told to individuals gathered around a leader and this leader was called a hasid bakhamor a Pietist Sage . The Pietist, as an individual but even more as a Sage, was existentially responsible for the transgressions of his fellows, indeed for the transgressions of Jewish society as a whole Samuel's son Judah went farther and depicted him as

8960-475: The Deuteronomic verse "And you shall write them on the doorposts of your houses and your gates" ( Deuteronomy 6:9; 11:20 ) is interpreted to be a metaphor and not as referring to the Rabbanite mezuzah . Thus Karaites do not traditionally use mezuzot , but put up a small plaque in the shape of the two Tablets of the Law with the Ten Commandments . In Israel, where they might try not to make other Jews feel uncomfortable, many Karaites make an exception and place

9100-416: 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

9240-432: 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 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

9380-437: 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

9520-454: 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

9660-417: 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

9800-419: The Pious ( Rav Yehuda Ha-Hassid ) of Regensburg was the foremost leader of the Ashkenazi Hasidim. His book Sefer Hasidim ( Book of the Pious ) is the most significant relic of this movement. He was born in 1150 in Speyer and died in 1217. He was a strong Talmudist and attended Tosafist schools. His experiences as a Tosafist may have contributed to his desperate plea to focus on the practical aspects of

9940-516: The Pious, a poem written in praise of the Kavod. Their devotion were expressed in both esoteric and perfectionist ways. Their esoteric expression was in their dedication to prayer. They believed that you may rise spiritually toward communion with God through the knowledge of prayer. As portrayed in Sefer Hasidim, the Hasid is assertive and in certain senses extreme in his efforts to impose his system upon his surroundings. The Hasid did not view his religious observance as merely admirable; he viewed it as

10080-531: The Samaritan Torah. This they place either above the house door, or inside the house, in the entrance hall or at a prominent place on a large wall. These mezuzot are found in every Samaritan household as well as in the synagogue. Today some Samaritans would also use a Jewish-style mezuzah case and place inside it a small written Samaritan scroll, i.e. a text from the Samaritan Torah , written in

10220-621: 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

10360-772: The Talmud, the Halacha . He was taught the Kabbala at a young age by his father, Samuel of Speyer (Samuel the Pious). Samuel the Pious is said to have contributed some of the sections in Sefer Hasidim , and as the father and teacher of Judah the Pious, he directly contributed to much of this movement's thought. He authored the Shir Hakavod ("Song of the Glory"), which poetically describes Ashkenazi Hasidic theology, namely,

10500-460: 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

10640-488: 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

10780-478: 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

10920-421: The ages. Mezuzah cases are produced from a wide variety of materials, from silver and precious metals, to wood, stone, ceramics, pewter, and even polymer clay . Some dealers of mezuzah cases will provide or offer for sale a copy of the text that has been photocopied onto paper; this is not a kosher (valid) mezuzah, which must be handwritten onto a piece of parchment by a qualified scribe. According to halakha ,

11060-506: 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

11200-547: 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,

11340-402: The broadly understood evil. Some early Rabbinic sources (including JT Megillah 4:12, BT Bava Metziya 102a, and BT Pesahim 113b) explicitly witness the belief in the anti-demonic function of mezuzot. While some Jewish sources indicate that mezuzah is construed as a device protecting against divine anger, others vehemently reject such an interpretation. The belief in the protective power of mezuzah

11480-561: The case. In the Bible, the word mezuzah only refers to the two ' doorposts ' or 'doorjambs' of a door, the upright posts on either side of it which support the lintel , and appears in various contexts unrelated to any religious commandment or parchment. The word later acquired the modern meaning of piece of parchment in post-Biblical Hebrew due to the Deuteronomy commandment above requiring to write verses on doorposts. The word's origin

11620-481: The common reader. His prediction of coming of the messianic age to begin in 1226 and come to fruition in 1240 spread far and wide in Jewish communities. He was the last major member attributed to this movement and died in 1230. Sefer Hasidim , by Rabbi Judah the Pious, is the most important work of the Chassidei Ashkenaz. The themes depicted within it most significantly portray the religious ideology of

11760-602: 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

11900-410: 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 the region was Old Aramaic . Hebrew was extinct as a colloquial language by late antiquity , but it continued to be used as

12040-568: 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;

12180-423: 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 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

12320-513: 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

12460-516: The early 16th century (1500–1503) at Jewish museums, on leaf 221 mentions 'Eleazar Ben Yehudah Ben Kalonymous of Worms', the son of Judah the Pious. It then takes a page to discuss his book Yera'i El ( Fear of God ) which is clearly a successor to the Pious of Ashkenaz book of this article. The book discusses many ideas including ideas of the three parts of God, etc. (not to be confused with Christianity; it makes clear, as all Judaism does, that God

12600-532: 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

12740-604: The extent and influence of the movement in the Middle Ages and beyond. Joseph Dan posits that Sefer Chassidim was an individual work by Rabbi Judah the Pious, not a "national work" of Ashkenazic Jewry. He concludes that the community depicted within Sefer Chassidim was merely a blueprint for a structure that was never built: Rabbi Judah's plans were never carried out, and the envisioned pious community never existed. Many proofs motivated this approach. First, there

12880-711: 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

13020-466: The general canon of Jewish mysticism . It certainly parallels other Jewish mysticism; however in other ways it was very original. The extent of this community's effect and influence during Middle Age German Judaism has not been studied. The leaders of the community of the Ashkenazi Hasidim movement were descended from the Kalonymos family of northern Italy , a family that had immigrated to Germany in

13160-406: 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

13300-586: The head of a sect. Two versions of the Sefer Hasidim exist, the Bologna Edition and the Parma MS Edition, and a debate about which one represents an earlier version persists. One of Ashkenazi Hasidism's most central concepts was the "will of the Creator" ( retzon haborei ), that is to say, those standards of thought and behavior which God requires from humans, which the true worshiper of God seeks to fulfill, but which are not fully described in

13440-462: The language as Ivrit , meaning Hebrew; however, Mishnah Megillah refers to the language as Ashurit , meaning Assyrian , which 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

13580-465: 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

13720-471: 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

13860-640: The lower Kavod and higher Kavod is crucial for the Chassidei Ashkenaz. The lower Kavod is not separate from the higher Kavod but instead emanates from it. As in Kabbala, there are many symbols and descriptions used to explain and refer to the Kavod. For example, in various Ashkenazi Hasidic works, the Kavod is referred to by the names of Demut Yakov Chakuk al Kisai HaKavod , Tiferet Yisrael , Kruv , Kisai Hakavod , Atara , Shin , Bas , and Sod . Many of these references are present in Shir Hakavod by Rabbi Samuel

14000-462: The lower Kavod that man can attempt to understand. This description of God and His divine realm directly parallels the kabbalistic system of sefirot , with Ein Sof (Hebrew אין סוף) beyond knowledge on the top, and the ten sefirot emanating downward; the lower the sefira , the more relatable it becomes. Just as the unity of the sefirot is an indispensable concept in Kabbala, the inter-connectedness of

14140-482: The mezuzah guards their houses. The mezuzah must be written on parchment ( klaf ) by a specially trained scribe ( sofer ). It is customary to write two inscriptions on the back of the parchment: Shaddai , ["Almighty"] one of the biblical names of God , also serves here as an acronym for Shomer Daltot Yisrael , "Guardian of Israel's doors". Many mezuzah cases are also marked with the Hebrew letter ש ‎ (Shin), for Shaddai . " כוזו במוכסז כוזו ‎ "

14280-428: The mezuzah is affixed immediately upon moving in. The reason for this difference is that there is an assumption that when a Jew lives in Israel, Israel shall remain their permanent residence, whereas a home in the diaspora is temporary. The procedure is to hold the mezuzah against the spot upon which it will be affixed, then recite a blessing: Any Jew can recite the blessing, provided they are old enough to understand

14420-476: The mezuzah vertically, though Spanish and Portuguese Jews living in countries where the majority of Jews are Ashkenazim usually place it slanting. Generally, halakha requires Jews living in the diaspora (i.e., outside of the Land of Israel ) to affix a mezuzah within 30 days of moving into a rented house or apartment. For a purchased home or apartment in the diaspora, or a residence in Israel (owned or rented),

14560-545: The mitzvah, but furthermore, they make from a great mitzvah [which reflects] the unity of the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, the love of Him, and the service of Him, a talisman for their own benefit. They, in their foolish conception, think that this will help them regarding the vanities of the world. While the most important part of the mezuzah is the klaf , or the parchment, and not the case itself, designing and producing mezuzah cases has been elevated to an art form over

14700-727: 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

14840-534: 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 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

14980-614: The phrase " כוזו במוכסז כוזו ‎" , and only the Hebrew word שדי ‎ ( Shaddai ) is written on the back of the mezuzah. This follows the Shulchan Aruch and the writings of the Rambam . The Ashkenazi custom of writing both phrases, however, was supported in the writings of the Remo . (Yoreh De'ah 288:15) In this regard it is worthwhile to refer to the often cited passage from Rambam's Mishneh Torah which states: It

15120-512: The points questioning its existence do raise questions, but the questions raised by Dan and Gruenwald "do not prove that the pietist world as described in SH [ Sefer Hasidim ] did not exist", and "the existence of the hasidim per se and the influence of their customs are attested in non-pietist rabbinic sources". Tishby also postulates that their hostile attitude towards non-Hasidim led non-Hasidic texts to mostly ignore them (as they are only mentioned in

15260-568: The presence of the divine glory ( kavod כבוד). He also authored the Book of the Fear of God ( Sefer Hayirah ) and Book of Repentance ( Sefer Hateshuva ). Rabbi Eleazar of Worms was a leading Talmudist and Kabbalist in the 13th century and was the prime disciple of Judah the Pious. He is best known for his work, Sefer HaRokeah ( Book of the Perfumer ), a halakhic guide to ethics and Jewish law for

15400-591: 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

15540-635: 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

15680-734: 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

15820-441: The significance of the mitzvah . After the blessing, the mezuzah is attached. When affixing several mezuzot , it is sufficient to recite the blessing once, before affixing the first one. Whenever passing through the doorway, many people touch a finger to the mezuzah as a way of showing respect to God. Many people also kiss their finger after touching it to the mezuzah. Many observant Jews from all Jewish denominations have

15960-493: 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

16100-474: 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

16240-414: The standard duties of any Jew. Therefore, integral to the Hasid's divine worship was an aspiration to positively influence others. In part, Sefer Hasidim is sated with praise for those who serve the public and equally filled with admonition for those who cause others to stumble. Acting for the common good became a leitmotif in Sefer Hasidim, and failure to take a public stand against wrongdoing is perceived as

16380-470: 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 the Euphrates , Jordan or Litani ; or maybe the northern Arabian Desert between Babylonia and Canaan ). Compare

16520-531: The top slants toward the room into which the door opens. This is done to accommodate the variant opinions of Rashi (1040–1105) and of his grandson, Rabbeinu Tam , as to whether it should be placed vertically (Rashi) or horizontally (Rabbeinu Tam), and also to imply that God and the Torah (which the mezuzah symbolizes) are entering the room. The compromise solution was suggested by Rabbi Jacob ben Asher ( c.  1269  – c.  1343 ). Most Sephardi Jews , Mizrahi Jews and other non-Ashkenazi Jews affix

16660-580: 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

16800-465: The will of the creator, nor did it address itself to the needs of man. Thus, Sefer Hasidim presents an abundance of novel directives, each one representing retzon haborei . In fact, Rabbi Judah the Pious stipulates in the introduction to the book that one of his primary goals in writing Sefer Hasidim was to make this hidden will of God accessible to those who wish to find it: [This book] is written for those who fear God and are mindful of His name. There

16940-535: The women live?’” ( Num 31:14–15 ). Why did they not reply, “You did not command us, for you did not tell us to kill the women”? But Moses knew that they were wise and perspicacious enough to infer [this command] on their own... For this reason I set myself to writing a book for the God-fearing, lest they be punished and think [it is] for no reason. Far be it from God to do such a thing! (Gen. 18:25) ... Therefore I have set forth this Book of Fear so that those who fear

17080-455: 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 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

17220-487: The word of God can take heed. “More than these, my son, must you take heed” (Eccl. 12:12). Sefer Hasidim contains many instructions that illuminate this theme of searching beyond the revealed instructions of the written and oral Torah for retzon haborei . One example is the law of chelev . Even though the oral law states clearly that one is permitted to derive benefit from chelev , the Sefer Hasidim posits that if not for man's weaknesses it would have been forbidden, and thus

17360-539: 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" is derived from Old French Ebrau , via Latin from

17500-649: The written and oral Torah. Despite their lack of formal legal definition, these standards can be deduced from other sources such as Biblical narrative. On this basis, the Hasidism called for numerous new guidelines, both ethical (e.g. humility, honesty, and equity) and ritual, which they called din shamayim ("Law of Heaven"). According to Sefer Hasidim, the laws of the Torah are insufficient to describe God's will for humans: "We have not found it [the Torah] of ample strength" ( Job 37:23 ): [The Torah] did not [fully] express

17640-544: Was "wicked" simply from the perspective of the Hasidim. From the non-Hasid perspective, these often were scholars who make serious contributions to Halachic thought and give influential rulings on religious matters. Other themes include penance, lilmod al menat lekayem (learn in order to fulfill), Jewish travel, and the attitude toward music. According to Haim Soloveitchik , the Ashkenazi Hasidic movement

17780-421: 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

17920-492: Was a backlash to the culture which accompanied some parts of the Tosafist movement, where the creation of new Torah insights was especially prized, and thus one could achieve social stature on the basis of intellectual accomplishments without corresponding character growth. In response, the Ashkenazi Hasidim formulated a code of behavior that emphasized extreme expressions of good character. There has been much debate regarding

18060-457: 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 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

18200-507: Was influenced by the books of the Hassidei Ashkenaz, once in a letter to Jewish Nietzschean story-teller Micha Josef Berdyczewski , and a second time in his 1906 book Die Geschichten des Rabbi Nachman , which connects these ancient Jews to the 18th century Hassidism of Nachman of Breslov . Though there may be earlier printed mentions that still exist, the book Yuḥasin by Abraham Zacuto , of which two original texts exist from

18340-462: Was instructed to "remove the item attached to your door frame" to avoid violating association rules. A legal battle ensued, during which a U.S. District Court judge ruled in 2008 on behalf of the condo association. Subsequently, the couple turned to Texas House of Representatives member Garnet F. Coleman . His bill to protect such religious displays, as introduced in 2009, was not adopted, but in June 2011

18480-485: Was interpreted to be absolute. Shoreline Towers management removed the hallway mezuzot of condominium tenants. Complaints were subsequently filed with the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, Illinois Attorney General , and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development , alleging housing discrimination on the basis of religion. Shoreline Towers was not the sole condominium association in Chicago with such

18620-491: 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

18760-564: Was opposition, it became law in Chicago that December. The first such legislation in North America, it included a maximum $ 500 fine for its violation. Notwithstanding this legislation, in 2006, a federal court judge determined that the rule did not violate the Federal Fair Housing Act ; the district court upheld the opinion on appeal in 2008; in 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Chicago reversed

18900-566: 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 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

19040-629: 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

19180-531: 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

19320-551: 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

19460-408: 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

19600-570: 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

#41958