Reviving Hebrew

On October 13th, 1881, the linguist and grammarian Eliezer Ben-Yehuda held what is thought to have been the first modern conversation in Hebrew with two friends at a Paris café. The conversation would have had some serious stumbling blocks, given that the language was still missing numerous modern words including bicycle, towel, and – crucially for being in a cafe – a word for coffee. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discuss the connection between Hebrew's revival and growing Jewish nationalism; look at the personal lengths Ben-Yehuda was willing to go to make the language take off, including speaking to his son exclusively in Hebrew; and explain why, in the early days, conversing in an ancient language must have been like speaking exclusively in David Bowie song lyrics… Further Reading: • ‘Revival of the Hebrew language’ (The Jerusalem Post, 2010): https://www.jpost.com/jewish-world/jewish-news/this-week-in-history-revival-of-the-hebrew-language  • ‘How to revive an ancient language, according to 19th-century Hebrew and Persian revivalists’ (University of Washington, 2018): https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/israel-hebrew/reviving-hebrew-persian-ancient-languages-eliezer-ben-yehuda-manekji-limji-hataria/  • ‘Hebrew wasn’t spoken for 2,000 years. Here’s how it was revived’ (National Geographic, 2023): https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/hebrew-wasnt-spoken-for-2000-years-heres-how-it-was-revived  • ‘The History & Revival of the Hebrew Language’ (Unpacked, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBiiad9fO-g  Love the show? Support us!  Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY…  … Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content.  Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️ The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026. This episode originally aired in 2023. #Religion #Jewish #France Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices