Talk:Eliezer Ben-Yehuda

message: Not only does this article not have the form of a standard Wikipedia article, but it's decidedly POV, making sweeping and probably false statements such as the introductory one. It also needs to be paragraphed.
If the contributor is watching, we appreciate the contribution, which contains a lot of useful information, but would appreciate it if you could help clean it up.
Derrick Coetzee 00:43, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: It is unbelievable, but the introductory one is completely true. It is amazing what this man did to Ivrit. I am immensely surprised there was no this article until now. Shame on you, Jews. I know only two languages literally restored from ashes: Hebrew and Czech. Mikkalai 05:55, 3 Mar 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Untitled

message: Hi everyone. I started writing a biography on Eliezer Ben-Yehuda in French (see Éliézer Ben Yéhouda) and I have found multiple contradictions in the sources I have found in English and French. Unfortunately, I do not read Hebrew, Yiddish, Russian nor German, nor any other language (shame on me!). I should really get at least one book on him, ideally in French, but those I found online were really expensive! Anyway, I am hoping someone can help me clarify things up. Here are the main problems :
* Perelman or Perlman? Why the various spellings of his family name? What is his native language anyway? Yiddish? 
* Where on earth is Luzhky, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda's birthplace? Is it in Lituania or in Belarus? (Google Earth was of no help on this.)
* When was the Committee of the Hebrew Language founded? 1889, 1891, 1904? Did he found it on his own initiative? Who were the other founders?
* When did he publish the first volume of The Complete Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Hebrew? 
* How many volumes did he write himself before he passed away? Is it 5?
Thank you! Merci! -- Mathieugp 00:46, 12 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Contradictions in online sources 

message: The article reads like a fairy tale with half Charedi zionist downplay and a Reform zionist suck up. None of which decribe Eliezer at all. 203.206.234.139 18:42, 8 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reads with an agenda 

message: What is the purpose of this quote where it is.
“ Before Ben‑Yehuda...Jews could speak Hebrew; after him, they did. ” 
-Cecil Roth, Was Hebrew Ever A Dead Language?
AllenHansen (talk) 21:29, 15 March 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quote 

message: Is the date 7 January 1858 a Julian or Gregorian date?  --  JackofOz (talk) 09:16, 24 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Birth date

message: While I agree that Ben Yehuda is very important for WP Israel, I don't think he qualifies as a core Israeli topic, and therefore shouldn't be top-priority on the project. If there are no objections, I will change to high priority. -- Ynhockey (Talk) 22:25, 27 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Top importance? 

message: In the "Death and commemoration" section, there is this quote by Cecil Roth stating his opinion of the significance of Ben-Yehuda's legacy: "Before Ben‑Yehuda, Jews could speak Hebrew; after him, they did." This does not seem to be an accurate or reasonable assessment, and I wonder whether its inclusion in this article is really necessary or constructive: it is hardly objective or non-POV. It utterly fails to recognise that Hebrew was spoken only by a very small number of people and only used for religious purposes – little better than Latin today – and it has since become a national language spoken by millions for everyday conversation and is the official language of Israel. To deny that contribution seems to be to pursue some agenda. Does it belong in an encyclopaedia article? (If it does, which I doubt, then certainly the contrary view needs to be included as well.) Richard75 (talk) 14:16, 24 September 2019 (UTC)
replies: text: I have reconsidered this as I think I misinterpreted what Roth meant. This article clarifies what Roth meant: before Ben Yehuda Jews could speak Hebrew, but mostly didn't; after him, they spoke it all the time — "could" compared with "did." I have clarified this in the article. Richard75 (talk) 18:11, 25 September 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cecil Roth quote