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I don't agree it's "useless" but I can see your point. We don't learn it for commerce or for historical/cultural insight. We learn it to know who were are. Ima
by s_dev 6y ago
I don't agree it's "useless" but I can see your point. We don't learn it for commerce or for historical/cultural insight. We learn it to know who were are.
Imagine telling a bunch of Jews that Hebrew was a load of nonsense and they're better off learning German, French or Spanish. I would agree though that the level of spoken Irish amongst the general population of Ireland is poor.
For them it's not about more opportunities it's about preserving something meaningful. Tír gan teanga, tír gan anam.
- joelbluminator 6y ago> Imagine telling a bunch of Jews that Hebrew was a load of nonsense and they're better off learning German, French or Spanish. You mean Israelis right? Many jews outside Israel don't know Hebrew.
- cabalamat 6y agoI'm sure there are plenty of Jews outside Israel who have opinions on Hebrew, and I'm sure some are glad it is used even if they personally don't speak it.
- joelbluminator 6y agoSome are glad, others dont care. Depends on how religious you were brought up. Especially in the US, where younger jews are increasingly secularised, I don't think many care that much. Does Mark Zuckerberg care about Hebrew? Last I heard he learned Chinese.
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoHebrew was a language perpetuated by Jews around the world for centuries before the state of Israel was founded. Even today, Jews anywhere doing a bar mitzvah ceremony must read some Hebrew. Sure, Israel is the country where Hebrew was restored as an everyday spoken language, but Israelis are not the only Jews for whom Hebrew is important.
- joelbluminator 6y agoIts imporrant either for religious reasons or national ones (zionism). There are many young jews in the U.S who are increasingly neither. Even if they support Israel they don't see a reason why they should actively live there or learn Hebrew. So most don't know Hebrew. Reciting a prayer yes, some do that.
- nine_k 6y agoHebrew has a number of sacred books written in it. This us why it was preserved through centuries by faithful Jews, who read these books basically daily. It was and is a strong part of ethnic and religious identity. A similar situation is with Quran and classical Arabic, even though it's not an everyday spoken language in (most of) Arabic world. AFAICT Irish does not enjoy a similar status. If you want to hear a more or less alive Gaelic language in everyday use, visit rural Wales.
- Mediterraneo10 6y agoWelsh is not a "Gaelic language". It doesn’t even belong to the same branch of the Celtic language family as Irish, Manx and Scottish Gaelic.
- pezezin 6y agoYour comparison is funny because Shepardi Jews speak Ladino, a language derived from old Spanish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sephardi_Jews https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Spanish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaeo-Spanish The expulsion of the Jews is a specially sad part of our history, some families still keep the keys of their old houses after 5 centuries. A few years ago a law was passed so their descendants could claim Spanish nationality without the usual requirements applied to people from other nationalities.
- auganov 6y ago> We learn it to know who were are. It can be very much about telling you who you're supposed to be rather than the other way around. Israel and Hebrew is actually a good example. Modern Hebrew was created pretty much solely for nation-building purposes (and with great success). Jewish people are also pretty unique in having maintained a strong identity throughout the millennia without speaking a common language. I wonder how many national identities would survive without one. I'd posit not that many.