On the territory of Israel, representatives of various national groups coexist among themselves. Walking around Jerusalem, a tourist can meet both a religious Jew in a hat and black clothes, and an Arab in a national headscarf. What languages are spoken in Israel today?
Main languages
There are currently two official languages in Israel - Arabic and Hebrew. In addition to them, Italian, Persian, Romanian, Ethiopian, English and many others are also widespread. About 5 million people own Hebrew. This is the main language of Israel. However, throughout history, Hebrew has ceased to be the language of everyday communication. Gradually, he moved to religious texts, rites, and books. Arabic is less common. However, both languages in Israel, both Arabic and Hebrew, are state languages.
Where is Ethiopian in Israel?
People who come to Israel for the first time often admit that their ideas about Jews change dramatically after meeting with an ethnic group of Ethiopian Jews - the Falash. This is a Jewish community that lives on the territory of North, as well as North-West Ethiopia. Those who are interested in what language is spoken in Israel will be surprised that Ethiopian is one of the common ones. The Falashi consider themselves the descendants of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. Officially, they were recognized by the Jews quite late, only in 1973.
It was then that they received the right to Israeli citizenship. However, this was not appreciated by the Ethiopian authorities. In the same year, a law was passed that prohibited Ethiopian citizens from leaving the country. Although some members of the community managed to escape, many of them died along the way. In the mid-eighties, Israeli authorities decided to circumvent the ban and try to get the Jews out of Africa. After several operations, about 35,000 Ethiopian Jews were transported to the Promised Land. In this way, the Ethiopian language spread throughout modern Israel.
Arabic in Israel
The Israeli Ministry of Education has a special Arab department that is developing a school curriculum for students who speak Arabic. Although most of them learn Hebrew, many do not speak it well enough. According to this bill, Jewish students from the first grade should study the Arabic language, and the Arab, in turn, must learn Hebrew. Arabic has become the official language of Israel, including with the aim of maintaining peace in the country. Specialists in linguistics argue that the interest of Israelis in the study of the Arabic language in recent years and without the introduction of special bills has been increasing.
The prevalence of Russian
The Israeli parliament has repeatedly proposed a bill to include the Russian language in the list of official languages of Israel. The last of these bills was proposed in August 2008. The most common language taught in Israeli schools is English. And also the second foreign one, usually Arabic or French, is often studied. Since 2008, it is Russian. However, most of the native speakers of the Russian language in Israel are representatives of the older generation. However, many say that Russian is more like a dialect. Despite this, the total number of press in Russian, as well as the media is approaching that published in the official language of Israel - Hebrew.
Many tour operators guarantee their customers that they will not have communication problems while traveling to Israel. This is due to the fact that about 20% of the total population of this country speak Russian very well. In recent decades, about a million Jews from the countries of the Soviet Union, for whom Russian was almost native, moved to this state. However, the new generation of young people in everyday communication prefers to use the official language of Israel - Hebrew.
From the history of Hebrew
The official language of Israel has a long history. The word "Hebrew" is literally translated as "Hebrew." This name itself appeared about 100 years ago, it is relatively new. Until that time, Jews called their language the holy language. Many geologists believe that in Hebrew the Lord God spoke with Adam in paradise. However, scientists are much more cautious in their conclusions. In their opinion, Hebrew is a fairly ancient language. The oldest Hebrew inscriptions found in Israel are about 3,000 years old. However, scientists are convinced that the oldest texts were written even earlier - in the XII century BC. It is this time that is considered the starting point of the history of Hebrew. Ancient Jews used the Phoenician script. Apparently, they were taught this by the Canaanites.
Scientists believe that the letters of the Phoenician alphabet come from ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is interesting that all alphabets of our time originate from it - these are Jewish, Greek, Latin, Arabic. The cuneiform writing did not take root. It was distributed north of Phenicia. Today, Hebrew writing, although in a very modified form, is used to write the Torah. In the 4th century BC e. Hebrew is no longer alive. At this time, there was a serious danger of losing the corresponding pronunciation of various religious texts. In the sixth century, transcription systems were developed that specified the pronunciation of words. Thanks to these measures, the Hebrew language has survived to this day.
Interesting facts about Israel and Hebrew
So, we examined the answer to the question of what language is spoken in Israel. What other facts may interest those who seek to get to know the culture of this country? The capital of Israel is Jerusalem. It is on its territory that the main state institutions are located. However, the main business center of the country is Tel Aviv. It is there that the headquarters of various corporations are located, as well as international consulates. A week in Israel does not begin on Monday, as is customary in many countries, but on Sunday. On Saturday, life practically freezes. However, local residents say that now the Shabbat is not observed as strictly as it was 15 years ago. Some stores still remain open. They say that in Israel you can live your whole life and practically do not speak Hebrew. Even those Israelis who were born here will be able to understand you.
However, in order to get a job, knowledge of the official language of Israel, Hebrew, is required. This is a simple language. It is very structured and logical. Its main features are that it has no vowels at all, and words are written from right to left. Many are interested in what language they speak in Israel, because they would like to know the local culture better. Learning Hebrew is easy. At first it can be difficult to overcome the craving to open books from the end, not from the beginning. In Hebrew there are few words, and verbs are 4 times less than in Russian. Learning to explain in Hebrew takes about 6 months with daily conversational practice.