The Jewish settlement of Palestine was accompanied by an unusual phenomenon - the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language. Hebrew had not been used in everyday speech for almost two thousand years. It had survived primarily as a sacred language, used for prayer and the study of holy texts. Pioneers in Palestine developed Hebrew into a spoken language in an effort to distance themselves from the culture of the Diaspora and to emphasize the antiquity of Jewish roots in Palestine.

Listen to the sounds of children singing and playing in Jerusalem in 1959.

Israel is an intensely political society where the issues of the day are passionately debated in schools, homes, cafes, and on the streets. Political alliances are also proudly displayed on cars. The bumper stickers shown here represent only a fraction of the many issues, points of view, parties, and organizations which compose the current Israeli political scence.

View a selection of bumper stickers from an Israeli election. This presentation requires Macromedia Flash.

Jews continue to regard their history as a source of inspiration. The question posed over the centuries still persists: How can Jews draw from tradition to shape a vital Judaism for the future?

Listen to contemporary Jewish scholars and rabbis on the meaning of the past.