Modern Hebrew : the past and future of a revitalized language / Norman Berdichevsky

This book examines the many changes that occurred in the transition to Modern Hebrew to acquaint new students of the language with its role as a model for other national revivals, how it overcame many obstacles to become a spoken vernacular. It deals primarily with the social and political use of the language and does not cover literature. It is the epic story of Ben-Yehuda's vision of a Modern Hebrew that eventually came to animate a large part of the Jewish world, gave new confidence and pride to Jewish youth during the most difficult period of modern history and infused Zionism with a dynamic cultural content. It exams the dilemmas facing the language due to the fact that Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora ""don't speak the same language"" while Israeli Arabs and Jews do.