Hebrew Beyond Borders

For over two thousand years, Hebrew has been used among Jewish communities around the globe as a language of liturgy, poetry, and transregional exchange. However, with the establishment of the State of Israel and the institutionalization of Hebrew as the state language, it increasingly came to be perceived as an exclusive part of the national territorial project.

In this conversation, we will examine Hebrew beyond the nation-state, in its past and present roles as a liturgical language, a lingua franca for Jews worldwide, and a medium for cultural production and exchange across cultures and borders. The discussion will be in English. About the speakers

Reut Ben Yaakov is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University. Her book, “It Took Me Twenty Years to Love”: Israeli Poetry in the 1990s, is forthcoming by Magness Press. Ben Yaakov is also a translator of fiction and poetry,…