“Hello! This is Jerusalem calling”: The revival of spoken Hebrew on the Mandatory radio (1936–1948)
2010; Routledge; Volume: 29; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13531042.2010.508939
ISSN1744-0548
Autores Tópico(s)Language, Linguistics, Cultural Analysis
ResumoAbstract In this article we argue that an important landmark in the revival of spoken Hebrew has been overlooked by historians, linguists, and culture scholars: the launching of Kol Yerushalayim, the Hebrew Service of British Mandatory Radio, on 30 March 1936. Between 1936 and 1948 the Hebrew Hour became the shared public space in which spoken Hebrew – dynamic, updated, meticulously pronounced – was realized. The important role of the Hebrew radio in the Yishuv can be attributed to five factors that were responsible for the spread of spoken Hebrew among both veterans and newcomers: (1) its ability to reach into listeners' homes, which served as a metonym for the yet-absent Zionist sovereignty, creating a shared, exclusive Hebrew space; (2) its contribution to the standardization of Hebrew by adopting the Sephardic accent; (3) its enrichment and updating of the language by inventing and suggesting vital neologisms; (4) its institutionalization of regular time-slots for teaching the language; (5) its innovative ways of addressing audiences, who were simultaneously far away and very close, in accordance with the characteristics of the new medium. Keywords: Kol YerushalayimPalestine Broadcasting ServiceHebrew language revivalHebrew Language Committeebroadcast talkHebrew radiomedia eventnation building Acknowledgment An earlier, Hebrew version of this article appeared in Cathedra, no. 133 (September 2009): 105–32. Notes 1 CitationEfrati, Mi-lashon yehidim; CitationHarshav, "Masa," 9–54; CitationAcademy of the Hebrew Language, Leket te'udot. 2 CitationAnderson, Imagined Communities; CitationTarde, "On Communication and Social Influence," 297–318. 3 Anderson, Imagined Communities. 4 CitationKatz and Adoni, "Functions of the Book for Society and Self," 106–21. 5 Letter to Professor Natan Rotenstreich, cited in CitationShapira, Ha-tanakh, 134. 6 CitationSoffer, Ein lefalpel! 7 CitationHerzl, The Diaries, 1:224. 8 Unlike Anderson, who, as a scholar, defined the conditions needed for changing reality, but remained an onlooker, Herzl took on his shoulders the responsibility for creating those conditions. What determined his choice of Palestine was the actual possibility of attaining a charter from the Turkish landlords. 9 Herzl, The Diaries, 1:170–71. 10 Herzl, The Diaries, 1:32. 11 CitationPersky, Le-elef yedidim, 12. His emotional connection to Hebrew seems almost erotic. "The essence of my being is Hebrew, its language and literature… for me it is a simple matter with a simple purpose: Hebrew is my whole life, all of me as I am. I cannot even imagine myself without it.… We have been intertwined and cannot ever be separated… let us imagine a crazy idea for a moment: that Hebrew ceases to live – would I continue to live? I cannot believe it… when I was engulfed in darkness, the sun shone from within me, from my very inner life: it was Hebrew that was revealed to me. This is the comfort in all my suffering" (Herzl, The Diaries,. 11). Although he spent most of his life in the United States, Persky, who was born in Minsk, wrote and edited textbooks in Hebrew which were utilized for years by the public school system in Israel. In spite of his great passion for Hebrew, Persky spent only three years in Israel (1930–33). We thank Professor Menahem Blondheim for referring us to Persky's book. 12 CitationPersky, Le-elef yedidim, 12. His emotional connection to Hebrew seems almost erotic. "The essence of my being is Hebrew, its language and literature…for me it is a simple matter with a simple purpose: Hebrew is my whole life, all of me as I am. I cannot even imagine myself without it.… We have been intertwined and cannot ever be separated… let us imagine a crazy idea for a moment: that Hebrew ceases to live – would I continue to live? I cannot believe it… when I was engulfed in darkness, the sun shone from within me, from my very inner life: it was Hebrew that was revealed to me. This is the comfort in all my suffering." (ibid., 11). Although he spent most of his life in the United States, Persky, who was born in Minsk, wrote and edited textbooks in Hebrew which were utilized for years by the public school system in Israel. In spite of his great passion for Hebrew, Persky spent only three years in Israel (1930–33). We thank Professor Menahem Blondheim for referring us to Persky's book, 11. Persky specifically broke the automatic connection between love of Hebrew and nationalism: "Don't say: 'nationalism, nationalism.' Not from it did [Hebrew] come to me. If for example it [nationalism] required a different language – say, Yiddish – would I leave Hebrew?! Even if the entire Jewish community abandoned it [Hebrew] – I would be the last to remain with it, and with it would I be taken to my grave" (ibid.). 13 Harshav, "Masa," 12. 14 CitationEven-Zohar, "Ha-tzmihah veha-hitgabshut," 165. He points out that the term ivri (Hebrew) was apparently adopted from the positive connotation of the Russian word evrei "which was the nicer and more dignified term for Jew," as opposed to the denigrating zhid. He notes that it is not by chance that the Israeli Declaration of Independence uses the term ivri to refer to the new Jew in Israel, and the term yehudi (Jew) to refer to the Jew who remains in exile. The declaration states: "We stretch forth our hands in peace…to the neighboring countries…and call upon them to cooperate…with the independent Hebrew people (ha-am ha-ivri) in its land." In contrast, it states: "We call on the Jewish people (la-am ha-yehudi) in the various diasporas" (ibid.). 15 Efrati, Mi-lashon yehidim; Harshav, "Masa," 9–54. 16 Academy of the Hebrew Language, Leket te'udot. 17 Harshav, "Masa," 21. 18 CitationTzemach, Shanah rishonah, 122. CitationNatan Shaham's book (Sefer ha-tom, 3), cited by Harshav ("Masa," 9), also expresses how difficult it was to realize the ideal of reviving spoken Hebrew. Even Bialik, who made the halakhic sources accessible to Hebrew readers and promoted the cultivation of Hebrew, preferred, in his daily life, to speak in Yiddish. His explanation of the difficulty of speaking Hebrew was itself made in Yiddish: "Yiddish speaks itself, Hebrew – you have to speak." 19 Harshav, "Masa," 29. 20 Efrati points to 1881, the year of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's aliyah, as the starting point for the practice of spoken Hebrew. Ben-Yehuda wrote in his memoirs that in that year, on the eve of Hoshanah Rabbah, he and his wife were guests in the home of Yehiel Michael Pines and that they discussed the revival of spoken Hebrew: "The two of us pledged, with a handshake and a great sense of solemnity, that we would speak only in Hebrew" (Mi-lashon yehidim, 1). The pledge related both to the personal level of talking Hebrew with family members and to the aspiration to "extend Hebrew speech to the broader circles of the Yishuv." 21 Harshav, "Masa." 22 Harshav, "Masa.", 22. 23 The popularity of the Hebrew Hour is indicated by the number of radio sets before and after the establishment of Kol Yerushalayim. Whereas in 1932 there were 836 radio sets in the Yishuv, in 1939 there were 42,600 – a rise of over 4,200% (CitationAlmog, "Reshit shidurei ha-radio"). In the same period, the Yishuv's population grew by only 230%: from 129,137 in 1932 to 445,457 in 1939 (Jewish Agency for Palestine, Statistical Handbook of Jewish Palestine [1947], in the Central Bureau of Statistics). (We would like to thank Hava Keyn for her help.) There are, of course, additional explanations for the rise in the number of radio sets such as an increase in purchasing power, decline in prices, and the outbreak of World War II, which increased the demand for news. 24 Archives of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, Jerusalem (hereafter AAHL), 20 February 1940, file 1940. 25 Although the British government censored political reporting, it did not interfere in the substantive ideological debates broadcast on the air on issues relating to the social and cultural identity of the future Hebrew state. See, for example, CitationSamuel, A Lifetime in Jerusalem. 26 We would like to thank Mor Miterani and Ido Ramati for their help in locating and organizing the materials. 27 The weekly magazines Radio Yerushalayim (1938–43) and Ha-Galgal (1943–48) were devoted specifically to radio broadcasts. They published the schedule of weekly broadcasts and expanded on issues raised in the Hebrew Hour, thus setting the pubic agenda. 28 Unfortunately, the recordings have not been preserved. In some cases, our analysis was based on historical recordings that were broadcast in the special series of programs, Otot u-moftim (Signs and wonders, April–May 1986), marking 50 years of Hebrew broadcasting. 29 CitationInnis, "The Bias of Communication." 30 CitationLiebes, "Acoustic Space," 69–90. 31 Indeed, in the ancient oral era, the boundaries of the community were drawn according to the range reached by the human voice. See CitationOng, Interfaces of the Word. It was CitationMcLuhan, Understanding Media, who identified the electronic era as an upgraded oral period, in which the voice had returned to center stage. The borders of its reach, however, had expanded to the borders of the state. 32 CitationKatriel, Dialogic Moments. 33 Ha-Boker, 1 April 1936, 2. 34 See Isaiah 19:18: "In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction." 35 Do'ar ha-Yom, 30 March 1936. 36 CitationDayan and Katz, Media Events. 37 CitationLiebes, "'Hear O Israel'." 38 For example, M. Abramowitz, writing in Davar, 30 March 1936, 4, explained that radio was invented by a Jew named Heinrich Hertz and the first Hebrew station in the world was built for the Levant Fair in 1932, but closed a short time thereafter. 39 The festive inauguration of Kol Yerushalayim took place in Ramallah, but the Hebrew Hour was broadcast daily from the station in Jerusalem. 40 Ha-Boker, 31 March 1936, 1. Gershon Sweet, the chairman of the journalists' union in Jerusalem, described the emotional reaction in the Yishuv to the first Hebrew broadcast: "When they heard the first Hebrew words, a shiver passed through the listeners in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the valley [of Jezreel] and the Galilee, the south and the plains – in every place where there was a listening ear to celebrate this important event in a public gathering. The stores in the big cities set up receivers and loud speakers in the streets around which hundreds of people gathered. And when they heard the words 'Jerusalem calling' the excitement grew, people shook each other's hands and thanked God … for having reached the day when the voice of the Hebrew people was heard loudly in Zion." Cited by CitationAvida, "Shloshet ha-kolot," 91. 41 Otot u-moftim, program 1 (April 1986). 42 Harshav, "Masa," 38; Efrati, "Mi-lashon yehidim," 36–39. A compromise reached at the meeting was to adopt the Ashkenazi writing style, as opposed to the Sephardic (similar to what is referred to as "Rashi script"). From a contemporary perspective, it could be claimed that this decision discriminated against Sephardic Hebrew in that it adopted the Sephardic mode of speech – an ephemeral medium – but did not adopt its mode of writing – a lasting medium. This position was expressed by Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, who provided a theological interpretation, claiming (jokingly?) in one of his sermons: we received the Sephardic pronunciation and the Ashkenazim took their own handwriting. As in the Biblical quote: "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau" (personal communication from Yehudah Liebes). 43 Cited by Efrati, "Mi-lashon yehidim," 21. 44 Yehoash [S. Blumgarten], Mi-New York le-Rehovot (From New York to Rehovot), 161, cited by Harshav, "Masa," 31. 45 Cited in a letter from Rabbi Shalom Yitzhak Levi to the editors of Leshoneinu, AAHL, file 1939. 46 CitationSheli, "Al ha-mivta be-'Kol Yisrael,'" 88. 47 Cited by Harshav, "Masa," 54. 48 CitationBen-Yehuda, Ha-halom ve-shivro, 203, cited in ibid., 39. 49 Harshav, "Masa," 160–61. 50 Academy of the Hebrew Language, Leket te'udot, 164–67. 51 Academy of the Hebrew Language, Leket te'udot, 160–61. 52 Four decades later, Abba CitationBen-David, the linguistic consultant for Kol Israel from 1959 to 1982, explained in his radio and television language guide: "In every nation and language, the accent used on the radio represents a specific and well-defined style, seen by everybody as the accepted and official one. Accordingly, each radio station sets…the pronunciation required – which accent it permits for broadcasts, and which it forbids. And if in that country there are many accents because of many dialects, the station selects one…as the required accent. Not that it thinks that the selected dialect is more beautiful, more accurate, or more important, but rather for reasons of tradition and education in the society, such as the approach accepted in the schools in that country, or the accepted accent by academics in public speeches and lectures, or in the theater – each country has its own approach. In the Yishuv, the Sephardic accent is favored…(and) preferred today because this was decided in the process of the revival of spoken Hebrew in the last generations.… The radio station took upon itself the Sephardic pronunciation, and it obligates the broadcasters as professionals. The announcer cannot choose a few elements that he likes from this pronunciation and leave the rest. Rather, he is obligated to adopt this approach as a whole. (There are many radio stations in the world where the accent does not represent the speech patterns of the majority of the population, but rather the minority, a region, or a city like Paris, and the community of listeners does not see that as unjust!)…" (Madrikh lashon la-radio vela-televiziyah, 9). 53 Interview, Oral Testimony Department, Institute for Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem (hereafter ICJ), file (133)7, pp. 12–13. 54 AAHL, file 1935. 55 AAHL, file 1935 56 Dr. Yitzhak Epstein of the Hebrew Language Committee was the first person responsible for teaching the announcers the proper way of speaking. Later on, Yitzhak Livni was appointed. Interview with Reuven Sivan, Oral Testimony Department, ICJ, file (133)7). This is the place to note that it was Epstein who coined the opening phrase of the newscast, still in use: "Ve-harei ha-hadashot ve-ikaran tehilah" ("And here is the news and the main points first"). 57 AAHL, file 1946, 4 March 1946. 58 AAHL, file 1946, 4 March 1946 At that time the term "propaganda" did not have the negative connotations it has today and was used as a synonym for "education" (hinukh) or "information" (hasbarah). 59 AAHL, file 1946, 4 March 1946 60 Sheli, "Al ha-mivta be-'Kol Yisrael,'" 87. 61 It is interesting that this problem was reflected not only in the pronunciation prevalent among the population but also in that of the radio announcers themselves. Thus, for example, Reuven Sivan has recounted that he has proof that the announcers rebelled against the Sephardic pronunciation of the letters het and ayin, apparently because of its association with the Sephardic immigration in the 1950s. Interview with Reuven Sivan, Oral Testimony Department, ICJ, file (133)7. Even-Zohar notes that even though the Sephardic accent was declared the official one by the station, in practice, "when there was an opportunity for Hebrew to be heard officially in broadcasts of the Mandatory station, a 'native' accent was never heard. What was heard was a 'non-native' language, generally a 'Russian-Yiddish' accent, or an accent that tried to be Mizrahi (i.e. that pronounced the guttural het and ayin in the Mizrahi manner). Both accents tried to follow the rules of Tiberian morphology, particularly regarding the letter he as a definite article, the formative letters, pronunciation of bet, kaf, pe and the mobile schwa (shva na)" ("Ha-tzmihah veha-hitgabshut," 183). 62 In addition to generating terms for the radio, the Hebrew Language Committee was busy inventing terms for other areas of activity that the public was engaged in at that time. For example, a document that summarizes the activities of the committee in 1936 presented a list of terms for translation in the following areas: (1) raising sheep, (2) playing musical instruments, and (3) psychoanalysis. 63 The participants included representatives of the relevant organizations – the Advisory Committee for the Hebrew Programs (on behalf of the Mandatory government), the Jewish Agency, the Department of Education, the Hebrew Language Committee, and the Levant Fair Administration. 64 AAHL, file 1935. 65 It is ironic that one of the major problems that hindered the translation of terms for advanced communication technologies was the difficulty of maintaining communications between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. For example, a radio engineer, asked to contribute his technical library to the translation effort, responded that he would be happy to do so, but was not sure how to deliver it to Jerusalem (AAHL, file 1936). 66 In contrast, proposed translations that were no less figurative were not absorbed into Hebrew. For example, "atmospherics" was translated as shikshuk avirah (rumbling of the atmosphere), "the breakdown of the broadcast" was translated as shituk pe'ulah (paralysis of action), and "transmission" was translated as mashloah (from the root for "sending") (CitationVa'ad ha-Lashon, "Reshimat munahei ha-radio"). 67 AAHL, file 1938. 68 Ha'aretz, 5 September 1948. 69 AAHL, file 1939. 70 Radio Yerushalayim, 6 March 1942. 71 Hemda Zinder, one of the first announcers, recalled: "I took [the test]… I became very nervous because there were 200 people there. Most were teachers, writers.… We had a three-hour written test. We had an oral test. They gave me a Bible.… It is very nerve-racking to read aloud in such a room, half lit." Otot u-moftim, program 1 (April 1986). 72 AAHL, file 1938. 73 AAHL, file 1938, file 1940. 74 AAHL, file 1938, file 1941. 75 AAHL, file 1938, file 1936. 76 CitationScannell, "For-Anyone-as-Someone Structures." 77 CitationCardiff and Scannell, A Social History of British Broadcasting. (Indeed, the BBC provided training for the PBS staff. See http://www.israelradio.org/history/history.html) 78 Otot u-moftim, program 3 (April 1986). 79 "Otot u-moftim," program 3 (April 1986) 80 "She'elat ha-filiton be-ivrit" (The question of the Hebrew feuilleton), Ha-Galgal, 12 May 1943. 81 "Patos she-eino bi-mkomo" (Pathos that is out of place), Ha-Boker, 8 August 1948. 82 "Humor ve-satirah ba-radio" (Humor and satire on radio), Tesha ba-Erev, June 1938, 6. 83 "Humor ve-satirah ba-radio" (Humor and satire on radio), Tesha ba-Erev, June 1938, 6 84 A possible reason for this omission is their reliance on archival documents, where there is hardly any mention of the radio. Radio broadcasts are transitory, and there was little awareness of the historical importance of preserving the tapes and transcripts, so that researchers have to extract information from the printed press. 85 Anita Shapira sees the centrality of Hebrew to the national revival as rooted both in the perceived close link between the ancient language and the ancestral land and in the Bible – the text that documents the Jewish people's ancient past in Canaan. For Ben-Gurion, she writes, the connection among the three components of the mythic past – people, land and book – is what enabled and characterized Jewish national life in ancient times. The engagement with the biblical texts in the Yishuv reflected the negation of the diaspora and of Jewish particularism, which were associated with the Yiddish and the Talmudic texts. The rediscovery of the Bible on the one hand "fed national romanticism" and, on the other hand, "gave inspiration and support for universal ideas" (Ha-tanakh, 1). "The elements chosen from the traditional culture and selected for nurturing…in the process of secularization and the formation of the national movement," according to Shapira, were "the renewal of the Hebrew language, the Hebrew grammar, and the teaching of the biblical text." The Bible was the main source from which the Hebrew language drew "idioms and epigrams, images and associations, in the manner that the English absorbed from Shakespeare, and the Russian from Pushkin" (ibid.). 86 CitationBillig, Banal Nationalism. 87 Radio, 3 March 1961.
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