“Tongue of the Prophets: The Life Story of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the Incredible Revival of Hebrew” is the latest volume in the “Jewish Library” book series by the JCU
“Tongue of the Prophets: The Life Story of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda and the Incredible Revival of Hebrew” is the latest volume in the “Jewish Library” book series. After the success of the book ““Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Secret Service”, which became the bestseller of the publishing house “Our Format” in 2022, I am sure that this volume will also receive a lot of positive feedback from Ukrainian readers.
Language is the basis of independence. It is obvious for Ukrainians today, and Eliezer Ben-Yehuda was sure of it at the end of the 19th century. He devoted his life to ensuring that Jews spoke their own language.
Hebrew existed, but for many centuries it remained only the language of worship. It was impossible to use it in everyday life. The deficit of necessary words was especially felt against the background of the industrial revolution of the late 19th — early 20th centuries.
Ben-Yehuda did not live to see the independence of Israel. However, by the time of its proclamation, Jews already had their own language, largely “constructed” by Ben-Yehuda. There is no telling how the fate of Israel would have turned out if Ben-Yehuda had not taken care of the linguistic unification of future Israelis.
The story of Ben-Yehuda, who during his lifetime was often considered both an eccentric and a fanatic, is interesting in itself. Written by Robert St. John, a famous American writer and journalist, a classmate of Ernest Hemingway, it is also a fascinating biographical novel. It has been reprinted many times and translated into many languages. This time into Ukrainian.
Let me remind you that world bestsellers about Jews and Israel are published for the first time in the Ukrainian language in the “Jewish Library” series, established by the Jewish Confederation of Ukraine. Like all previous books of the “Jewish Library”, this volume has been also published by “Our Format” publishing house. Special thanks to the Spektor family for their help in publishing the book.
