Modern Jewish History: The Search for Jewish Identity
Hebrew as a Living Language: Hayim Nahman Bialik
Author, lecturer, and philosopher Dr. Eugene Borowitz discusses the evolution of Hebrew as a modern, living language. This lecture is part of a series exploring the modern Jewish identity. Borowitz reviews the modern development of Hebrew semantically and then culturally. He contends that the two main challenges of disseminating Hebrew as a modern language are authenticity and modernity, that is, remaining true to the tradition of the language while also allowing it to be relevant and useful for modern people. He frames his discussion around three primary figures: Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the Russian linguist who developed the first Hebrew dictionary; Shaul Tchernichovsky, a Hebrew poet influenced by ancient Greece; and Hayim Nahman Bialik, a Hebrew poet more directly inspired by Jewish tradition. The lecture is followed with questions from the audience.
Did you know that donations cover nearly half of our costs?
As a nonprofit community and cultural center, The 92nd Street Y, New York relies on support from people like you. Your donation today helps us continue connecting you to the programs you love, no matter where in the world you are.
Sign up for access
To find out what personal data we collect and how we use it, view our
privacy policy.
© 2024 The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association
All Rights Reserved.
All material accessed via the 92NY website (“content”) is protected by copyright under U.S. Copyright laws and is the property of The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association or the party credited as the provider of the content. You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, modify, create derivative works, transmit, or in any way exploit any such content, nor may you distribute any part of this content over any network, including a local area network, sell or offer it for sale, or use such content to construct any kind of database. You may not alter or remove any copyright or other notice from copies of the content accessed via 92NY’s website. Copying or storing any content except as provided above is expressly prohibited without prior written permission of 92NY or the copyright holder identified in the individual content’s copyright notice.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this collection do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.