The Hebrew Translation of the Declaration of Independence

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

The first Hebrew version of the American Declaration of Independence appeared in Palestine in a 1945 textbook presenting the Western political tradition.1 The appearance of this document in translation 169 years after it was issued is directly related to two important developments: the emergence of Hebrew as a modern language and the perception that knowledge of the United States might be useful to Hebrew speakers. Although Hebrew is an ancient language and has been in continuous use for more than three millennia, for nearly the last two thousand years Hebrew was rarely spoken to communicate on secular matters. A vital means of religious expression and of scholarly discourse on the practice and interpretation of Judaism, it was most frequently employed in worship and in the exegesis of sacred texts. During the Enlightenment, or toward the end of the eighteenth century when Thomas Jefferson and his colleagues framed the Declaration of Independence, Hebrew began its renaissance as Jews started leaving the confines of the ghetto for European society. They and their ancient language began to become secularized. Hebrew was increasingly employed beyond the traditional religious framework for all manner of intellectual and mundane discourse. In the course of the nineteenth century, the literature available to readers of Hebrew was increasingly and programmatically extended, but it was restricted to the wealth of writings available to educated Europeans. Translations were made of the Greek and Latin classics and of works in the contemporary European canon, produced from Russia to England and from Italy to Scandinavia.2 This interest in European culture is not surprising. Jews were an overwhelmingly European people throughout the nineteenth century. In 1900, more than 80 percent of world Jewry lived in Europe. Approaching 2000, less than 20 percent remains there, with approximately 75 percent divided between the United States and Israel.3