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Share(א) אֵלּוּ נֶאֱמָרִין בְּכָל לָשׁוֹן, פָּרָשַׁת סוֹטָה, וּוִדּוּי מַעֲשֵׂר, קְרִיאַת שְׁמַע, וּתְפִלָּה, וּבִרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן, וּשְׁבוּעַת הָעֵדוּת, וּשְׁבוּעַת הַפִּקָּדוֹן:
(1) These are recited in any language, not specifically Hebrew: The portion of the warning and the oath administered by the priest to a woman suspected by her husband of having been unfaithful [sota]; and the declaration of tithes, which occurs after the third and the sixth years of the seven-year Sabbatical cycle, when one declares that he has given his tithes appropriately; Shema; and the Amida prayer; and Grace after Meals; and an oath of testimony, where one takes an oath that he does not have any testimony to provide on a given issue; and an oath on a deposit, where one takes an oath that he does not have possession of another’s deposit.
(א) הַקּוֹרֵא אֶת הַמְּגִלָּה לְמַפְרֵעַ, לֹא יָצָא. קְרָאָהּ עַל פֶּה, קְרָאָהּ תַּרְגּוּם, בְּכָל לָשׁוֹן, לֹא יָצָא. אֲבָל קוֹרִין אוֹתָהּ לַלּוֹעֲזוֹת בְּלַעַז. וְהַלּוֹעֵז שֶׁשָּׁמַע אַשּׁוּרִית, יָצָא:
(1) With regard to one who reads the Megilla out of order, reading a later section first, and then going back to the earlier section, he has not fulfilled his obligation. If he read it by heart, or if he read it in Aramaic translation or in any other language that he does not understand, he has not fulfilled his obligation. However, for those who speak a foreign language, one may read the Megilla in that foreign language. And one who speaks a foreign language who heard the Megilla read in Ashurit, i.e., in Hebrew, has fulfilled his obligation.
Minor Tractate Sofrim Chapt.1, Mishnah 7“There were once five wise Jews who wrote the Torah in Greek for King Talmai, (the Greco-Egyptian King Ptolemy II, reigned 283 - 246 BCE), that day was as difficult for the people of Israel as the day the Golden Calf was made, the Torah could not be fully translated.”
“the uncomprehended Hebrew gives him more than the finest translation…. Jewish prayer means praying in Hebrew.” - Franz Rosenzweig (https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/hebrew-prayer/)
Ahad Ha'am (Asher Ginzberg)
In 1897, after two visits to Palestine, he founded the periodical Ha-Shiloaḥ, in which he severely criticized the political Zionism of Theodor Herzl, the foremost Jewish nationalist leader of the time. Aḥad Haʿam remained outside the Zionist organization, believing that a Jewish state would be the end result of a Jewish spiritual renaissance rather than the beginning. He called for a renaissance of Hebrew-language culture, and to that end he did urge the creation of a Jewish national homeland in Palestine as the centre and model for Jewish life in the Diaspora (i.e., the settlements of Jews outside Palestine).
Ahad Ha'am
Born in Ukraine, Ahad Ha’am joined Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) in Odesa and attended the First Zionist Congress but opposed political Zionism. He preferred cultural Zionism, creating a Jewish cultural center in Palestine as a buffer against Diaspora assimilation. He wrote for, founded and edited Hebrew journals. He served on the board and raised foundational money for the Technion. He advised Chaim Weizmann on the Balfour Declaration. (https://israeled.org/ahad-haam-asher-ginsberg-1856-1927)
Speak up the language of the Hebrew man
Loud and clear, the language of the Hebrew man
It is the language of the prophets, of the sign up on the wall
It is old and sacred, it will open up your soul
-Ehud Banai, "Hebrewman"
