Jewish Languages

Jews expressed themselves in multiple languages through the ages. Their first sacred texts—those of the Tanakh—were mostly in Hebrew, though the Hebrew of post-exilic texts is distinct from those written before the Babylonian exile. The Tanakh also includes some Aramaic, and this language became the dominant one for Jews throughout the period of the Second Temple. The Talmuds, both written in late Antiquity, are primarily in Aramaic, with quotations in biblical or Mishnaic Hebrew.

Though these languages remained the sacred languages of the Jews, medieval materials—including many in the JTS library collection—make it clear that Jews through the ages mostly spoke the same languages as their neighbors, with specialized Jewish vocabulary for uniquely Jewish concerns. So Maimonides, along with other Jews living in his world, spoke and often wrote in Arabic. Jews in France spoke French, Jews in Italy spoke Italian, those in Spain spoke Spanish, in Persia they spoke Farsi, and so forth. Yiddish, a uniquely Jewish language (grounded in German!), is the exception that proves the rule. Even a quick perusal of surviving writings shows how much at home Jews were, linguistically at least, in their various scattered homes.