It is a view commonly alluded to by amateur linguists, among whom I count myself, that Modern Hebrew is a constructed language “invented” by Eliezer Ben-Yehuda. The official Tumblr of the Language Construction Society once alluded to this, sparking a discussion on the LCS list which introduced a number of equally ridiculous claims, such as … Read more
I’ve been Jewish my whole life, but I was a spiritual seeker in my 20s and explored all sorts of different religions, whether to learn more about them or see if they offered something better. I came to learn there was no such thing as better when it came to religions: that they all offered … Read more
Four years ago, I was thinking about the threats faced by the LGBTQIA+ community throughout the world, and got the idea to make a chai symbol in the colors of the pride flag. The Hebrew word חי, meaning “living” or “alive,” is a Jewish symbol for life, and is worn by many Jews as a … Read more
I go by Rifkele dos Ketsele in my visual art life, and it’s close to my name in real life. The name Rifkele is a diminutive of Rifke, which is “Rebecca” in Ashkenazi Hebrew. The Modern Hebrew equivalent is Rivka. In the 130-word minimalist constructed language Toki Pona, names are all adapted to a very … Read more