Ben-Yehuda (“son of Judah”), though not a Christian, stands out in our list of Bible scholars of the past. In the Lord’s Master Plan for redeeming the Jewish people and bringing them back to the Promised Land, as premillennialists and dispensationalists correctly teach, he is an outstanding figure used mightily of God in bringing about the Return!
Though not a Bible teacher per se, Eliezer (meaning “God helps”) became the leading scholar in the knowledge of ancient Hebrew, and in the effort of bringing that language back so that the Jews would again be speaking their own biblical tongue in the restored Land. Born in the town of Luzhky, Lithuania, which was a part of Russia, his Rabbi father had him reading Hebrew at the age of three. He also was made to study the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the Old Testament.
Eliezar spoke the pigeon Hebrew, Yiddish, but could only read and write pure Hebrew. The Jews in the scattered lands of the West believed it was sacrilege to speak the biblical language. Though attending a Rabbinical college, he soon realized he was not to be an ordinary Rabbi. He had another tug that would eventually lead him to Palestine. Eliezar was tutored by a Rabbi Joseph Blucker who intended to expand young Eliezar’s world. He secretly gave him a copy of Robinson Crusoe with the words: “If Hebrew can describe the adventures of Moses in the desert, why can’t Hebrew be used to describe the life of a shipwrecked sailor?” Eliezar had to read the forbidden book in secret. Such a book was not permitted in the Orthodox Jewish yeshiva, or school.
In 1881 Eliezar and his young wife Devorah (meaning “little bee”) journeyed to the primitive Promised Land. They went to be pioneers, though God would use Eliezar to pioneer Hebrew, create a modern Hebrew dictionary, and make the language the language of the new state of Israel that would come to pass in 1947.
Eliezar would be used of God at just the right moment. In 1878, some seven million Jews worldwide spoke Yiddish and not Hebrew. Some spoke Ladino, a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish. The Orthodox Jews felt it would be wrong to speak on an everyday basis Hebrew. That would happen only when the Messiah would come! But Eliezar did not want to wait. He would establish Hebrew as the language of the Promised Land before the Messiah arrived! Early on, Eliezar realized that a language, a land, and a people all had to work together. With so many languages being spoken in Palestine at that time, he knew that one language, the language of ancient Israel, would bring the Jewish returnees together.
Eliezar got the attention of Jews far and wide outside of the Holy Land he had settled in. A group of Jews called the Biluim (meaning “house of Jacob, come let us go”) came from Europe to be with him. Slowly, many Jews began more and more admiring his effort to turn ancient Hebrew into a modern language. To do this he had to add new words to the language. Few were attempting to do what he was doing. But he had another “first” in the Land. In one year he became a father twice. As the custom of the Sephardic Jews, he named his sons “Ben Zion” (“son of Zion”). He wanted his children to be the first in two thousand years to be speaking Hebrew only in the Land!
Eliezar and his family paid a price. The Orthodox persecuted them for turning a “religious” language into the secular. Sorrow for Eliezar would be compounded. His beloved wife Devorah died, and within three months his three youngest children followed her in death! When Devorah died her younger sister, Pola-Hemda, who lived in Russia, began corresponding with him. She confessed that for years she was in love with him. Though the doctors told Eliezar that Devorah had died of tuberculosis that she had caught from him, Hemda still decided to come to Palestine and marry him.
Both Hemda and Eliezar pioneered bringing Hebrew into the fabric of the growing Jewish culture in the Holy Land. Eliezar would in time create a Hebrew dictionary of 100,000 words! He reunited the Jewish people with their ancient biblical language and at the same time gave them a voice in the modern world. The last word he worked on in the dictionary was “nefesh,” meaning soul or spirit. In biblical tradition the nefesh is what makes a human being unique in God’s creation. The nefesh in Eliezar gave his body strength to survive long enough to revive the language of the Jewish people. After he died in 1922, his popularity and influence grew. He became a national hero. Today, five million Jews in the land speak and read the language of Hebrew. Ben-Yehuda Streets are prominent in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. (This author has had many meals in the cool of the evening at the sidewalk cafes on Ben-Yehuda Street!)
Before his death, the great Jewish English chemist Chaim Weizmann asked Eliezar to write an appeal to Jews around the world to come for “allyia,” a return to the Promised Land. Eliezar asked, “How can I write anything better than the British Balfour Declaration of 1917, calling for the restoration of a Jewish homeland?” In the end he was convinced and wrote such an appeal letter. When he died thirty thousand people went to his funeral, and the government called for three days of mourning. He was buried on the Mt. of Olives, where the Messiah comes back, near his wife Devorah and his three children.
Though not a Bible teacher per se, Eliezer (meaning “God helps”) became the leading scholar in the knowledge of ancient Hebrew, and in the effort of bringing that language back so that the Jews would again be speaking their own biblical tongue in the restored Land. Born in the town of Luzhky, Lithuania, which was a part of Russia, his Rabbi father had him reading Hebrew at the age of three. He also was made to study the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the Old Testament.
Eliezar spoke the pigeon Hebrew, Yiddish, but could only read and write pure Hebrew. The Jews in the scattered lands of the West believed it was sacrilege to speak the biblical language. Though attending a Rabbinical college, he soon realized he was not to be an ordinary Rabbi. He had another tug that would eventually lead him to Palestine. Eliezar was tutored by a Rabbi Joseph Blucker who intended to expand young Eliezar’s world. He secretly gave him a copy of Robinson Crusoe with the words: “If Hebrew can describe the adventures of Moses in the desert, why can’t Hebrew be used to describe the life of a shipwrecked sailor?” Eliezar had to read the forbidden book in secret. Such a book was not permitted in the Orthodox Jewish yeshiva, or school.
In 1881 Eliezar and his young wife Devorah (meaning “little bee”) journeyed to the primitive Promised Land. They went to be pioneers, though God would use Eliezar to pioneer Hebrew, create a modern Hebrew dictionary, and make the language the language of the new state of Israel that would come to pass in 1947.
Eliezar would be used of God at just the right moment. In 1878, some seven million Jews worldwide spoke Yiddish and not Hebrew. Some spoke Ladino, a mixture of Hebrew and Spanish. The Orthodox Jews felt it would be wrong to speak on an everyday basis Hebrew. That would happen only when the Messiah would come! But Eliezar did not want to wait. He would establish Hebrew as the language of the Promised Land before the Messiah arrived! Early on, Eliezar realized that a language, a land, and a people all had to work together. With so many languages being spoken in Palestine at that time, he knew that one language, the language of ancient Israel, would bring the Jewish returnees together.
Eliezar got the attention of Jews far and wide outside of the Holy Land he had settled in. A group of Jews called the Biluim (meaning “house of Jacob, come let us go”) came from Europe to be with him. Slowly, many Jews began more and more admiring his effort to turn ancient Hebrew into a modern language. To do this he had to add new words to the language. Few were attempting to do what he was doing. But he had another “first” in the Land. In one year he became a father twice. As the custom of the Sephardic Jews, he named his sons “Ben Zion” (“son of Zion”). He wanted his children to be the first in two thousand years to be speaking Hebrew only in the Land!
Eliezar and his family paid a price. The Orthodox persecuted them for turning a “religious” language into the secular. Sorrow for Eliezar would be compounded. His beloved wife Devorah died, and within three months his three youngest children followed her in death! When Devorah died her younger sister, Pola-Hemda, who lived in Russia, began corresponding with him. She confessed that for years she was in love with him. Though the doctors told Eliezar that Devorah had died of tuberculosis that she had caught from him, Hemda still decided to come to Palestine and marry him.
Both Hemda and Eliezar pioneered bringing Hebrew into the fabric of the growing Jewish culture in the Holy Land. Eliezar would in time create a Hebrew dictionary of 100,000 words! He reunited the Jewish people with their ancient biblical language and at the same time gave them a voice in the modern world. The last word he worked on in the dictionary was “nefesh,” meaning soul or spirit. In biblical tradition the nefesh is what makes a human being unique in God’s creation. The nefesh in Eliezar gave his body strength to survive long enough to revive the language of the Jewish people. After he died in 1922, his popularity and influence grew. He became a national hero. Today, five million Jews in the land speak and read the language of Hebrew. Ben-Yehuda Streets are prominent in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. (This author has had many meals in the cool of the evening at the sidewalk cafes on Ben-Yehuda Street!)
Before his death, the great Jewish English chemist Chaim Weizmann asked Eliezar to write an appeal to Jews around the world to come for “allyia,” a return to the Promised Land. Eliezar asked, “How can I write anything better than the British Balfour Declaration of 1917, calling for the restoration of a Jewish homeland?” In the end he was convinced and wrote such an appeal letter. When he died thirty thousand people went to his funeral, and the government called for three days of mourning. He was buried on the Mt. of Olives, where the Messiah comes back, near his wife Devorah and his three children.
