Customer Reviews

Tongue of the Prophets

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This is the biography of a Jewish man named Eliezer Ben-Yehuda who made it his life's work to revive the Hebrew language and help return his people to their homeland of Israel. He persevered through a terminal illness, the death of his first wife and several of his children and constant financial trouble. He was misunderstood and criticized by many of his own people, yet he began a movement which brought many Jews home to Israel and helped unite them with a common language. I think one of the most amazing things about this true story is that, in reviving the Hebrew language, Eliezer actually had to create many words himself. Because the language had been "dead" for so long, there were no words for things such as airplanes, automobiles or concerts. He had to hunt through the existing language to find words that he could combine or slightly modify to make new words. He also spent weeks and months hunting through old literature to find lost Hebrew words. This is the most interesting biography I've ever read. Eliezer's passion and perseverance were inspiring.

For any interessted in Jewish history, or of the language of Hebrew itself. An excelent recount of the man who 're-discovered' the language of Hebrew. This book is full of adventure and real life drama. It follows all the ups and downs of his rediscovery of the Hebrew language and the fierce opposition against him. Does not read like a regular biography, very easy to read, could not put down ! I would recommend this book to anyone!

When the nation of Israel was born, they could make modern Hebrew their national language largely through the life work of Ben Zion Ben Yehuda (and his amazing wives), born Eliezer Perlman in 1858. This book of his life is a wonderful read!

"It is the story of a faithful fanatic who had two great love affairs, made enemies of his best friends, went to prison for his beliefs, was always on the verge of death from tuberculosis, yet fathered eleven children, gathered the material for a sixteen-volume dictionary unlike any other philological work ever conceived, authored plays, a geography, and two of the most urgent 'appeals' ever addressed to his own people, and died while working on the word for 'soul.'" (copied from back cover)

This book is thorough in its coverage and brings to life the amazing story of Ben-Yehuda. While reading you cannot help being in awe of his steadfast determination and prophetic vision of the future. The author of the biography is also a big fan of Ben-Yehuda. It did feel that while factually the biography was probably quite accurate, the heated debates and controversies surrounding Ben-Yehuda's life received rather one-sided coverage.

A great read. Fascinating story about a man who had a vision and would not give up on his vision. Without him the world would not be such a colorful place regarding language.

The book was in perfect condition when I received it. It is one of those books that is hard to put down. The biography of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda gives the account of how he almost singlehandedly brought the Hebrew language from being a "dead" language to the language of the nation of Israel today.

Fascinating story of a man who persevered through many hardships for an idea: to make Hebrew the official language of a not yet formed Jewish state. How his dictionary got written and financed was especially interesting.

My mother, who usually does not like biographies at all, said this one is so good she can't stop reading it.