Hebrew Is Important For Immigrants To Israel!
Channel: Daniel Rosehill
Date: 2022-09-05

If you're moving to Israel on aliyah, as an oleh hadash, then you may have been told that you can manage just fine in Israel without knowing Hebrew or with only knowing the basics. 

I've heard of many fellow immigrants who have been told this and even seen it officially and openly advocated for. While many will find learning Hebrew to be extremely challenging, I think it's an absolute must and a top priority for immigrants. 

In this video blog, I wanted to share a few thoughts on why I think that Hebrew is the number one skill that immigrants to Israel need to master in order to equip themselves to thrive (and not just survive) in this melting pot society:

Intro - 00:00

Reason 1: English isn't an official language in Israel

Yes, this is true. Hebrew is the country's official language and Arabic now has a secondary (but still important) status. Contrary to what people will occasionally state, Israeli government bodies are not obliged to translate material into English or ensure that official call centres have English speakers on hand. English's status in Israel is something like a secondary language (alongside Amharic, French, Russian, etc) -- spoken by plenty of olim but certainly not on par with Hebrew. 

Reason 2: The Anglo "sphere" in Israel is tiny and claustrophobic

"Anglo" is a common terminology applied in Israel to Anglophones (English speakers). While there are plenty of institutions and fora in Israel intended to support communication between English-speaking immigrants, the reality is that this world is tiny in comparison to the normative "world" which Hebrew-speakers live in. If you want to source quality information in Israel, from a wide variety of perspectives, then you should absolutely learn Hebrew. Also: learn to touch type in Hebrew. This is a massively useful skill that - for whatever reason - ulpanim don't seem to accord value to teaching. 

Reason 3: Socially, being a Hebrew speaker opens up lots of doors 

This one is kind of self-explanatory. But there's a bigger point to be made here about employment opportunities. It's well-known among English-speaking immigrants to Israel that one *can* find employment - even well-paying employment - without knowing Hebrew, or with only knowing basic Hebrew. But that's not the full picture and is, in my opinion, a misleading claim. To function most effectively within a team and to develop to your full career potential, Hebrew is enormously helpful. 

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By: Daniel Rosehill 

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