Huberman Hebrew Language Council

  • Issue: September 1989
  • Designer: D. Pessah
  • Stamp size: 30.8 x 40 mm
  • Plate no.: 77
  • Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5
  • Printers: E. Lewin-Epstein Ltd.
  • Method of printing: Offset

In the years 1889/90 two institutions were founded in Jerusalem: "Safa Brurah" ("Clear Language") and "Vaad HaLashon Halvrit" ("the Hebrew Language Committee"). The purpose of both these institutions was to turn ancient Hebrew into the language of everyday speech for the whole of the Jewish Settlement in the Land of Israel. This date signifies the beginning of a process, which was to be one of the most remarkable achievements of the Zionist Movement: the revival of Hebrew as an everyday language. The Jewish year 5750, corresponding to 1989/90, has therefore been designated as Hebrew Language Year by the Israel Government.

After the establishment of the State, David Ben Gurion was instrumental in setting up the "Academy of the Hebrew Language" as the legal successor to the "Vaad HaLashon Halvrit". In 1953, the Knesset passed the "Supreme Institution of the Hebrew Language: The Language Academy Act" which defined the role of this institution as "directing the development of the Hebrew Language on the basis of research of the language in all its periods and ramifications". "The Hebrew Language Academy Act" bestows on the Plenum of the Academy the right to determine all matters of language, in the same way as the Knesset has the right to legislate on all matters of State.

The Plenum of the Academy is composed of 23 members and a similar number of consultants - all of whom are language researchers, or writers, who are appointed for life. Within the Academy there are tens of professional committees each concentrating on a different sphere of life, or an area of usage or grammar. Members of the Plenum all work as volunteers. Most of the Academy's staff are scholars holding Second and Third Degrees in Jewish Studies, and they include a number of full professors.

Today the Academy is occupied with three central projects:

 

 

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Centennial of the Hebrew Language Council