Articles written by Josef Kay

Josef Kay|Mar 21, 2025

(JNS) — When Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, known as the father of modern Hebrew, worked to revive the language as a spoken one, he believed it would be a tool to rapidly foster a sense of unity among olim, Jewish immigrants to the land of Israel. His success at making it accessible for day-to-day use continues to provide a common thread across Israeli society. For many secular Jewish Israelis, speaking Hebrew (“Ivrit”) and serving in the military are some of the most important cultural aspects of their Jewish identities. Unfortunately, few Diasp...