Reclaiming Patrimony

Submitted by Daniel (France), Apr 17, 2008 at 08:06

This was my initial reaction as well. I don't know what parallels can be drawn between the liberation of Jerusalem and the likelihood of 21st-century Europe reasserting its cultural heritage, but surely the reappearance of the modern state of Israel, with or without Jerusalem, after two millennia of political non-existence (though it must not be forgotten that the indigenous Jewish population had never completely disappeared), as well as the revival of Hebrew as a modern language should be considered as an example of a people rising to reclaim their patrimony.

To the best of my knowledge, the revival of Hebrew, even if the modern idiom is not identical to biblical Hebrew, is the only instance in human history of a dead classical language becoming a living spoken language again. Sadly I am forced to agree with Dr. Pipes, however, that any comparison with the situation in modern Europe seems dismally meager.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".