Our history begins with our predecessor, the Language Committee, whose work we continue today. By the time the Academy was established in 1953, Hebrew was already the accepted lingua franca of the Jews in Israel, thanks to decades of concerted effort to revive and propagate spoken Hebrew. The Language Committee played an important role in that extraordinary endeavor.
The Work of the Language Committee
The Language Committee arose initially at the end of the 19th century as an offshoot of Safa Brura, an organization founded in 1889 by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (1858–1922, scholar and journalist) and some of his Jerusalem associates to promote Hebrew speech and to establish Hebrew as the accepted language of the Yishuv, the Jewish community in the Land of Israel. (The phrase safa brura appears in Zeph. 3:9, where it is often translated “a pure language.”)
Although Hebrew had remained in use in sacred contexts continuously since antiquity, it had last served as a language of day-to-day speech centuries earlier, so it lacked words for many basic things. Conducting lessons in Hebrew required schoolteachers to improvise Hebrew words, and as a result terminology differed from one school to the next. To address the need for Hebrew words and establish a shared vocabulary, Safa Brura soon formed a committee led by Ben-Yehuda to scour Hebrew literature and publish Hebrew words – resurrected or repurposed from the literature, newly coined, or adapted from Arabic – for adoption by the public. This committee, initially called Va'ad HaSifrut, the Literature Committee, soon changed its name to Va'ad HaLashon, the Language Committee. Safa Brura and its Language Committee disbanded in 1891 but had laid the groundwork for future efforts of this kind.
In the summer of 1904 the Language Committee was reestablished at the initiative of the Teachers’ Union (then called the Association of Teachers in the Land of Israel), which wanted to make Hebrew the language of instruction and common speech in schools and felt an urgent need for a body to guide the process of coining Hebrew words and terms for use by the teachers. The reconstituted Language Committee began convening that winter. Its seven members included both Hebrew scholars from Jerusalem and linguistically erudite members of the Teachers’ Union: Ben-Yehuda – chairman; H̱ayyim Arye Zuta (1868–1939, Hebrew educator and writer) – secretary; David Yellin (1864–1941, Hebrew educator and scholar); Dr. Aharon Me'ir Masie (1858–1930, physician and medical lexicographer); Joseph Meyouhas (1868–1942, educator and writer); Eliyahu Sappir (1869–1911, Hebrew educator); Rabbi Yeẖi'el Mikhl Pines (1843–1913, writer and Zionist activist). Abraham Moses Luncz (1854–1918, scholar, writer, publisher) joined around 1907.
The Language Committee in its early years faced numerous difficulties, including internal disagreements, lack of funding (which restricted the frequency of its meetings and the pace of its work), and challenges to its authority. Some critics contended that the Language Committee should consult with scholars from abroad; others, frustrated with its slow pace, attempted to form complementary or competing bodies. In 1911, Aẖad Ha'Am (pen name of Asher Ginzberg, a leading Zionist thinker) intervened and arranged a meeting of representatives of the Language Committee, the Committee for the Expansion of the Language that had arisen of late in Jaffa, and the Teachers’ Union. The participants agreed to grant the Language Committee final authority over terminology and to dissolve the Jaffa committee, and the representatives of the Teachers’ Union promised support and funding for the Language Committee’s work. Still, disagreements persisted.
Members and close associates of the Language Committee, 1912.
From 1912 to 1928 the Committee published six booklets of minutes, Zikhronot Va'ad HaLashon, containing lectures, discussions, decisions, and lists of new Hebrew terms (until then Ben-Yehuda had published the Committee’s new Hebrew terms in his newspapers). For instance, the Committee debated which pronunciation of the letters and vowels should become standard in modern spoken Hebrew and negotiated principles for establishing new Hebrew terms. The lists of Hebrew terms in the Zikhronot addressed everyday vocabulary needs of Hebrew speakers in a variety of domestic, educational, and vocational contexts. The topics include foods and cooking utensils, garments, furnishings, mathematics, geography, construction, carpentry, and leatherwork. The Zikhronot also contain a list of plant names and vocabulary lists for use in kindergarten and in exercise class.
World War I scattered the Committee members around the world, interrupting their work. After the British conquest of the Holy Land the Committee reconvened and resumed its activity with vigor, expanding its membership and increasing the frequency of the meetings. At this stage the Language Committee discussed its future; envisioning a place of study, scientific research, and innovation, the Committee briefly changed its name to Midrash HaLashon, the Language Institute.
The Language Committee began negotiations with the British over the acknowledgement of Hebrew as an official language alongside Arabic. By this time the Yishuv had undergone a linguistic transformation: Hebrew was now considered the national language of the Jewish settlement and its institutions. Though the Language Committee did not receive financial support from the Yishuv leadership, which remained a problem until the formal establishment of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, its scholars aided in answering questions and forming terms for the various Yishuv bodies.
Upon Ben-Yehuda’s death in 1922, the Committee suspended its activities. It restarted in 1924 when poet Haim Nachman Bialik made aliya and joined the Committee as its new president (alongside Yellin and Masie). By 1926, the Committee’s efforts advanced and additional scholars were appointed, including editors and journalists, grammarians, researchers, and authors. Various sub-committees were formed in specific fields with grammarians working alongside professionals to create new viable Hebrew terms.
The Language Committee in 1927. לפרטים
The quarterly publication, Lešonenu, was established in 1928, and many word lists and professional dictionaries were published: some 30,000 terms in 60 professions.
By the 1948 War of Independence, the Language Committee was active in several cities throughout the country and aided in the formation of governmental terms for the burgeoning state. During the war, however, when Jerusalem (the hub of activity) was isolated from the rest of the country, the work of the Language Committee slowed down substantially. This had a negative influence on the funding of the Language Committee since it had never been recognized as an official national body and received no financial support apart from a few private donations.
The Establishment of the Academy
It was understood, even before the foundation of the state, that it was necessary to establish an officially recognized institute of Hebrew language. In October 1948, a preliminary committee was formed to prepare the foundation for the Academy of the Hebrew Language as an official body for research and guidelines.
The establishment of the Academy of the Hebrew Language was declared in the presence of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion by January 1949 and was enacted into law in August 1953. The lag between the two events was due largely to disagreement about the name Akademya (Academy). Ben-Gurion objected to using a foreign word for the name of the institution, but the members of the Committee stood firm. In the end, the law stated explicitly that the institution had the right to name itself.
The first 15 members were chosen in 1953, and in their first meetings they decided upon the institution’s name, Ha'Akademya LaLashon Ha'Ivrit (the Academy of the Hebrew Language), and objectives:
- To gather and research Hebrew language vocabulary of all periods and levels
- To research the forms of Hebrew and its history
- To guide the natural development of the language according to the needs and possibilities in all fields, in vocabulary, grammar, writing, and transliteration.
The photo at right shows the festive dedication ceremony on May 27, 1959, inaugurating the Academy’s home on the Hebrew University campus at Giv'at Ram.
View the booklet (in Hebrew, with photos) recording the events of the dedication ceremony
Historic Cabinet Decision
4 Kislev 5773, 18 November 2012
In November 2012, in the midst of the Gaza conflict, the Cabinet approved the founding of a national Center for the Hebrew Language in Jerusalem. The new Center would house the Academy of the Hebrew Language and The Hebrew Museum – the first ever museum devoted to the history of the Hebrew language. The Center will serve as an attraction for visitors from Israel and abroad, and as a national and cultural meeting point for both Israelis, Diaspora Jews and other lovers and students of Hebrew.
The Academy of the Hebrew Language is charged with overseeing and guiding the founding of the Center. The Academy’s president at the time, Professor Moshe Bar-Asher, was appointed chairperson of the project’s steering committee and put in charge of coordinating the overall effort in cooperation with the Office of the Prime Minister and other government offices, the Jerusalem municipality, the World Zionist Organization, and donors. In addition, the government has committed funds for planning the Center. The Jerusalem municipality and the World Zionist Organization will assist in funding the planning stage, as well.
Professor Bar-Asher, in thanking the Prime Minister and the Cabinet for their decision, noted that this places Israel among the ranks of other states that have set their national language at the center of their existence and culture. He recalled how David Ben-Gurion sat in on the Cabinet session that approved the founding of the Academy of the Hebrew Language in the middle of the War of Independence. Ben-Gurion stated that the Israeli government would take the time, particularly during the war, to address the status of Hebrew and to establish a home for the Hebrew language.
The Minister of Culture and Sport at the time, MK Limor Livnat, expressed approval of the government decision and noted that this government has already devoted attention and resources to strengthening the status of the Hebrew language.
The Cabinet’s decision to create a lasting center for the Hebrew language is a historic one, because of the unique history of the Hebrew language, especially in the past 120 years, and because of the living, effervescent nature of Hebrew now and in the future in the State of Israel.