Why Hebrew, here and now? What is its value for contemporary Americans? In What We Talk about When We Talk about Hebrew (and What It Means to Americans) scholars, writers, and translators tackle a series of urgent questions that arise from the changing status of Hebrew in the United States. To what extent is that status affected by evolving Jewish identities and shifting attitudes toward Israel and Zionism? Will Hebrew programs survive the current crisis in the humanities on university campuses? How can the vibrancy of Hebrew literature be conveyed to a larger audience?
The volume features a diverse group of distinguished contributors, including Sarah Bunin Benor, Dara Horn, Adriana Jacobs, Alan Mintz, Hannah Pressman, Adam Rovner, Ilan Stavans, Michael Weingrad, Robert Whitehill-Bashan, and Wendy Zierler. With lively personal insights, their essays give fellow Americans a glimpse into the richness of an exceptional language.
Celebrating the vitality of modern Hebrew, this book addresses the challenges and joys of being a Hebraist in America in the twenty-first century. Together these essays explore ways to rekindle an interest in Hebrew studies, focusing not just on what Hebrew means―as a global phenomenon and long-lived tradition―but on what it can mean to Americans.
Nonfiction
What We Talk about When We Talk about Hebrew (and What It Means to Americans)
January 1, 2013
Discussion Questions
What We Talk About When We Talk About Hebrew, subtitled And What It Means to Americans, is a fascinating collection of essays extolling the beauty and depth of the Hebrew language.
This theme – that even modern Ivrit draws upon biblical context and images in subtle yet unmistakable ways – is discussed in multiple essays by scholars, writers, and poets. Several professors of Hebrew who have taught in both the U.S. and Israel reveal how differently students understand Hebrew literature in English translation as opposed to the Hebrew original, where biblical context and allusions are deeply rooted. Examples include not only familiar Hebrew writers (Agnon and Bialik) but modern Hebrew poetry in which the biblical echoes are equally clear.
This collection is not only for scholars of literature, however. The essays leave no doubt that the oft-discussed differences between Israelis and non-Hebrew speaking American Jews reflects a fundamental disparity in language as well as thought. Yet you cannot read this book without coming away with a desire to learn Hebrew. If you ever wanted to learn Hebrew, this collection will rekindle the urge. If you haven’t had that urge, read this remarkable book and you will. And then maybe we – Israelis and American Jews – will be able to understand each other better.
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