Some religious Jews objected to Ben-Yehuda’s campaign because he promoted Hebrew as a secular national language for daily life, rather than reserving it for sacred study and prayer. Under British rule, Hebrew received official status through the Mandate and implementing legal provisions, including Article 82 of the Palestine Order in Council.
A dispute over the language’s purpose
Hebrew had remained in use in religious practice, learning and writing. The dispute concerned expanding its use into ordinary speech and national public life. Ben-Yehuda’s secular political aims and his newspaper’s criticism of established communal practices brought vehement opposition from some Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem. His advocacy challenged the view that the language’s sanctity made everyday use inappropriate.
This was an internal Jewish disagreement, not uniform opposition across religious communities. Hebrew’s religious and literary use provided the foundation on which revivalists expanded its daily domains. As historian Bernard Spolsky explains, Hebrew was part of Jewish linguistic life during the centuries when Jews spoke other languages, and the modern change involved increasing the number of users and uses. Spolsky’s chapter on the return to Zion and Hebrew describes both the language’s continuity and the conflict over its new public role.
Legal recognition under British rule
Article 22 of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine designated English, Arabic and Hebrew as official languages. It also addressed inscriptions on stamps and money. Article 82 of the Palestine Order in Council, 1922, reproduced and expanded the provision, as the United Nations survey of Palestine explains: government ordinances, official notices and forms, and certain local authority notices were to be published in all three languages. The order also allowed use of the three languages in government offices and courts, subject to regulations.
The provisions were distinct legal instruments, and their requirements should not be collapsed into a general claim that every public service operated equally in all three languages. A United Nations survey reproduces both Article 22 and Article 82 and describes their scope. The Academy of the Hebrew Language notes that its predecessor, the Language Committee, negotiated with Mandate authorities to secure equal status for Hebrew alongside Arabic.
From public recognition to standard setting
Recognition gave Hebrew a place in official administration while Hebrew-speaking institutions continued to grow. The Language Committee supplied advice and terminology; schools, newspapers and public bodies expanded actual use. These developments complemented each other: legal status defined official language rights and duties, while speakers and institutions made Hebrew a working language.
Related reading: the press and the 1913 education dispute and the Language Committee’s work.