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Bialik, the researcher and educator David Yalin, the writer and researcher

Yosef Clousner, the writer Yechiel M' Pinnes and others.

Ben Yehuda's Word
Ben Yehuda did not only invent new words, he also revived Hebrew
words from earlier times. One of his most important projects was

collecting all the Hebrew words known until his time ; including words
from the bible, form Chazal of the Middle Ages. He collected the words

for years and gathered them up in a huge 16 volume, 8,000 pages,
dictionary. He had so much work, he worked for hours and hours during
the day and even did it while standing, incase he falls asleep while

working.
When the Turks threw him in jail, following a libel, which was made up

by those who hated him, he found himself comfort: in jail at least he'll be
able to devote all his hours to completing his work. There, the daily
worries won't bother his work [craft].

The Hebrew Is Heard Again

The projects of Eliezer Ben Yehuda (EVI) were plenty: the foundation of
the first Hebrew home, renewing the words, writing a dictionary,
publishing a Hebrew news paper and founding the Hebrew language

committee. They were all dedicated to the struggle of the inconceivable
reviving of the Hebrew language. The good ending is known to us all: the

Hebrew won.
The Hebrew speech spread around, news papers were published in

Hebrew, children pleayed in Hebrew, and people bought train tickets - in
Hebrew. The Hebrew language came back to life swiftly, added words
and took root.

What did the Hebrew Sound Like Then

The writer Yemima Avidar-Tschernovich tells her grandchildren about
the Hebrew of the beginning of the century.

"Our family was one of the few families that the spoken language at
home, in the Diaspora, was Hebrew. My father wrote in Hebrew [in]
articles and books, and as a Zionist he educated his children to make

Aliya to Erets Israel and he and mom insisted that we speak Hebrew in
the house. The Hebrew language which we spoke was a little different

than the Hebrew spoken nowadays. We spoke with an Ashkenazi accent.

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