Why is the Torah read in Hebrew?

Answer 1

THere are various answers. Jewish prayers are in Hebrew because:

• That's the language of the Jews
• Jewish tradition states the world was created using Hebrew
• The Jewish Bible is in Hebrew

Note that a couple of the prayers are in Aramaic, the language spoken by the Jews when they were exiled to Babylon.

Answer 2

Hebrew is the original language that the Torah was written in, so it has never been changed. There is evidence that Hebrew is the oldest extant language in the world.

The common thread among all the different branches of Judaism is that Hebrew is the common language. Even in the Diaspora, one can go into any synagogue and know that Hebrew is understood. If you speak Russian, English, Lithuanian, or Chinese and are Jewish, you can understand Torah because you have also been taught Hebrew. It is commonly taught before the Bar/Bat Mitzvah so that the child can truly be "a child of the commandments". One cannot obey commandments that one cannot read. So for generations upon generations, Jewish children have been carefully taught Hebrew as part of their heritage.

Yes there have been translations, many of them relatively good. But like any other language, there is something lost in a translation. Therefore, Torah is still in Hebrew and is read that way. There is also the tradition that the verse in Jeremiah 31:23 ("Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: 'They shall again use this speech in the land of Judah and in its cities, when I bring back their captivity: "The Lord bless you, O home of justice, and mountain of holiness!" ' ")

is speaking of Hebrew. With this in mind, the Hebrew of Israel today might be a fulfillment.

Answer 3

Answer 1

For starters, you're assuming that the synagogue goer cannot understand Hebrew. In fact, more than 45% of the world's population of Jews can understand Hebrew.

Second, Hebrew is the ancient traditional language of the Jews. Jewish people have a unique bond to the language that other cultures can't understand.

Finally, there is a benefit to praying in Hebrew without understanding the words: the person can focus more clearly on the sounds of the prayers. Jews have a category of prayer called a "niggun" which is a prayer without words. It's an offering of sound and music to G-d. For the Jew who does not understand Hebrew, EVERY prayer is a niggun.

And if anyone wants to know what the prayer is, it's usually translated right in the prayerbook for them.

Also, according to Jewish law, you may pray in English if Hebrew is impossible for you.

Answer 2

The idea of praying in a holy language as opposed to the vernacular is not unique among Jews. Catholics used to pray exclusively in Latin until around 50 years ago. Coptic Christians pray in the old Coptic language. Syriac Christians pray in Syriac. Most Orthodox Churches pray in the language of rite (i.e. Greek Orthodox in Greek, Armenian Apostolic in Armenian, Georgian Orthodox in Georgian) even if they are not in the country where the language of rite is the national language. Muslims from all over the world pray in Arabic (even though less than a quarter of all Muslims are Arabs). And a number of Buddhist and Hindu devotionals are in Sanskrit, which is a liturgical Indian language.

As mentioned in Answer 1, most synagogue-goers actually can understand Hebrew, at least at a basic level. Most Orthodox Jews, regardless of country of origin can speak Hebrew at a proficient level and certainly know enough liturgical Hebrew to speak without issues. The problem occurs when non-Jews or lapsed Jews come to a synagogue and are bewildered by people speaking a different language than what they understand. However, prayerbooks are usually available that display both the Hebrew and the vernacular to help those for whom Hebrew is not as commonplace.

Additionally, having all services worldwide in the same language creates an incredible sense of universal community. A Jew living anywhere can show up at a local synagogue and pray with the congregation there without issue since all of the prayers are verbatim the same as opposed to a Lutheran, for example, who has an English liturgy in the United States, a German liturgy in Germany, a Swedish liturgy in Sweden, and so on. When a Lutheran from the United States goes to Germany, the whole service is in a language that the church-goer cannot understand.

Answer 4

Hebrew is the language of the the Jews as well as of the Hebrew Bible. Tradition ties the Jewish people to the Hebrew language.

Answer 5

Our ancient sages composed the prayers in Hebrew because it is the language of God and has holiness.Link: More about the Hebrew language