The Histadruth Ivrith of America, (1916 - 2005), was part of the movement for the

revival of the Hebrew language The revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and Palestine toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, through which the language's usage changed from the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language ...

that sought to revive Hebrew, a language then used for prayer and the study of holy texts, as a living language that would be spoken and used to create contemporary literature. The ''Histadrut'' held its first annual congress in New York in 1917;

Eliezer Ben-Yehuda Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda ( he, אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֵּן־יְהוּדָה}; ; born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman, 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–⁠Jewish linguist, grammarian, and journalist, renowned as the lexicographer of ...

, the father of modern Hebrew,

David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; he, דָּוִד בֶּן-גּוּרִיּוֹן ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary national founder of the State of Israel and the first prime minister of Israel. Adopting the nam ...

and Itzhak Ben-Zvi attended. Beginning in 1921, ''Histadrut'' published '' Hadoar'', an American Hebrew newspaper that was distributed nationwide. In its early year, ''Histadrut'' published a ''Sefer Hashanah Le-Yehude Amerika'' (''Yearbook for the Jews of America''); a large format annual with literary and scholarly essays, and journalistic accounts of the year's developments in American Jewish life. ''Ogen'' (anchor), the ''Histadrut'' publishing house was founded in 1920. Over the decades it published more than 60 works of literature and scholarship. Among the most notable was the ''Anthology of Hebrew Poetry in America'' (1938), which included poems from several centuries of American Jewish life. A youth movement, ''Histadruth Hanoar Haivri,'' was established in 1936. Beginning in the 1930s, and intensifying after Israeli independence, ''Histradut'' sponsored dance groups, camping,

ulpan An ulpan ( he, אולפן), plural ''ulpanim'', is an institute or school for the intensive study of Hebrew. Ulpan is a Hebrew word meaning "studio", "teaching", or "instruction". The ulpan is designed to teach adult immigrants to Israel the b ...

for teaching Hebrew language, choral groups, the ''Pargod'' theater group and other cultural and recreational activities. The Hebrew Arts Foundation was established in 1952, followed by a Hebrew Arts School. The organization was disbanded in 2005. Michael Weingrad describes the ''Histradrut''

Hebraist A Hebraist is a specialist in Jewish, Hebrew and Hebraic studies. Specifically, British and German scholars of the 18th and 19th centuries who were involved in the study of Hebrew language and literature were commonly known by this designation, a ...

s as linguistically and ideologically "marginal," because the Hebrew revival was centered in Yiddish-speaking

Ashkenaz Ashkenaz ( he, ''ʾAškənāz'') in the Hebrew Bible is one of the descendants of Noah. Ashkenaz is the first son of Gomer, and a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. In rabbinic literature, the descendants of Ashkenaz were first ass ...

and continued in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. He describes the story of the ''Histadrut'' after Israeli independence as "the steady decline in the fortunes of an already small group." However, Weingrad points out that the movement produced a few notable Hebrew poets,

Gabriel Preil Gabriel Preil (Hebrew: גבריאל פרייל; August 21, 1911 – June 5, 1993) was a modern Hebrew poet active in the United States, who wrote in Hebrew and Yiddish. Preil translated Robert Frost and Walt Whitman into Hebrew. Biography Gabri ...

Eisig Silberschlag Eisig Silberschlag (; January 8, 1903 – September 30, 1988) was a Galician-born American Hebrew poet, translator, and literary critic. He received the Tchernichovsky Prize in 1951 for his translations of Aristophanes and Menander into Hebrew ...

and Robert Whitehill.

References

{{reflist 1916 establishments in New York (state) Hebrew language Jews and Judaism in New York (state) Zionism in the United States