Modern Hebrew as a National Language.

Modern Hebrew is an excellent example of a national language, an indigenous language that its speakers view as uniquely related to their common history, values, and identity. Hebrew was a unifying factor for millenia before the rise of modern national movements. When the movement for the restoration of Jewish political self-determination arose, Hebrew served as a symbol around which national sentiment could be mobilized. After self-determination was realized, it became a medium for the integration and control of a diverse population, continuing as a symbol of national identity among the Jews living in their ancestral land and becoming a symbol of Jewish national identity for many Jews in other lands. Its use as an everyday language in the land of its birth has helped Israeli Jews to justify and legitimize their sovereignty over a land where two national movements compete. (MSE)