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The revival of the hebrew language was unparalleled in world history. It came into being thanks to a chain of historical coincidences, collective resolve and unanticipated episodes. Its rebirth constituted the foundation for the growth of Jewish society and culture in the modern age. hebrew provided all its speakers, regardless of their country of origin, with shared tools of expression, written and spoken alike.
Classes in modern spoken hebrew began among Jewish Maskilim (enlightenment intellectuals) in Odessa at the beginning of the 20th century. In the same period, a campaign was also underway to revive hebrew in North Africa, initiated by local Maskilim. However, groups that used hebrew as an everyday spoken language emerged only during the second wave of Zionist immigration (1906-1913) to the Land of Israel.