Ivrit

The story of Hebrew -- its origins, revival and continuing evolution - is the story of a people.


"Our religion, our story, is, at its heart, a love of this language and a refusal to let it go."--Ben Judah

Ivrit explores the remarkable evolution and revival of Hebrew -- a language whose trajectory charts the recent history of the Jewish people. In a colourful, in-depth essay, award-winning writer Ben Judah explores the crucial role of modern Hebrew in defining and reshaping Israel and the Jewish people. He brings key figures to life, including his own ancestors, and contends that, while the dreams of Zionism are a mix of tragic successes and partial failures, the dream of the Hebraists is the one complete triumph.

The issue also includes a short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer translated into English for the first time, cultural criticism by Joanna Rakoff about literary accounts of female publishing assistants, an essay by Marta Figlerowicz about the Polish writer and artist Bruno Schulz, and a delicious celebration of Jewish-Italian food by Luisa Weiss.