Wonderful pre-solstice day, made for slumber. When not
succumbing to naps I read this fascinating piece about the three hundred years —
"from the 3rd to the 6th
centuries CE." — for which, "there is simply no evidence that Jews
were speaking or even reading Hebrew."
Astonishing, isn't it?
"Hebrew wasn’t even used for the regular recitation of
Scripture or worship in synagogue. Similarly, Jewish tombstone inscriptions
from before the 9th century in the territories of Spain, France, and Hungary
are either Greek or Latin."
Hebrew was fading into Greek, Latin and Aramaic, even for religious
purposes. Ironically it was the rise of Arabic, which challenged Aramaic as a lingua
franca, that brought Jews back to their original tongue, Hebrew.
https://forward.com/opinion/389890/that-time-hebrew-disappeared-for-300-years/
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