[Jpost] A recent op-ed in the New York Times has stirred controversy by suggesting that the Hebrew language "symbolizes far-right Israeli militarism." This provocative assertion ignited a significant response online.
The piece, penned by Ilan Stavans
A professional "anti-Zionist" Jew
— a consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary and co-editor of "How Yiddish Changed America and How America Changed Yiddish" — states, "Hebrew, officially recognized as the national language of Israel in 1948, is spoken by approximately nine million people globally. To some, however, this language represents far-right Israeli militarism."
| To some, however, up is down, left is right, and evil is good. Pretty much the same people, in fact. And in this case Mr. Stavans mistakes his personal academic interest for an international trend. |
Stavans' essay, entitled "Yiddish Is Having a Moment," delves into the historical trajectory and modern-day revival of Yiddish. Once on the brink of extinction, the Yiddish language is now undergoing a renaissance, propelled by online courses and translations of previously overlooked literary works.
| People now study Yiddish like they do Classic Latin and Greek. And Sanskrit, Native American languages, the languages of obscure tribes in the Amazon jungle, ancient Hittite, and so forth. It might be argued that the fact that it is being studied rather than spoken in community demonstrates that it is dying. |
Within the op-ed, Stavans highlights Yiddish's historical importance, its speakers, and its depiction in mainstream media. He also discusses his personal relationship with the language and its intricate ties to Jewish diaspora, Zionism, and secularism.
| But only the European Jewish diaspora, Zionism and secularism. The Jewish diaspora in the rest of the world has their own history of Zionism and their own secularism, for which they had their own languages based on Spanish and Arabic, among no doubt others. But we should not be surprised by Mr. Stavans’ narrowly racist parochialism, so typical of his milieu. |
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