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language on the grounds of it not being suited as a every-day
language: you can't buy things in the market in Hebrew and you
can't learn calculus in Hebrew, because it lacks words.
Also writers, who wrote books and articles in Hebrew, objected
to renewing the Hebrew speech. Even Herzel, who thought of
the idea of founding a state for the Jews, thought that renewing
the Hebrew language is an impractical idea and impossible to
achieve. In his book "The Jewish State" Herzel wrote that
Hebrew is out of the question, because "who of us knows
enough Hebrew to buy a train ticket?"
The First Hebrew Child
Ben Yehuda didn't ignore the sever lack of words in Hebrew,
but he didn't give up. As soon as his foot stepped on the ground
of Israel in the year 1881, his wife and himself decided they will
speak only Hebrew, and that is how they treated their children
too.
Other children who lived around them didn't know Hebrew, and
so, Ben Yehuda didn't let his children play with them. Since in
school they didn't teach in Hebrew but in foreign languages, he
forbid his children from going to school.
Despite the many difficulties that stood in his way, Ben Yehuda
erned the privilege of founding the first Hebrew Home. His
eldest, Itamar, was considered to be a wonder child, and people
came from far away to watch this little wonder: a child speaking
Hebrew, a child who's first and only language is Hebrew.
New Words to the Hebrew Language
They tell, that in Ben Yehuda's house, in the first days, the word
"it" was heard all the time. Since at the time many objects had
no Hebrew name, Ben Yehuda would point at them and say: I
want to put it inside it, and also it so that I'll have it."
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