‘Homecoming’ is voted Hebrew word of the year

Artificial intelligence (bina milahutit) came in second place, while hope (tikva) came in third.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

In solidarity with freed hostages and evacuated families returning to their homes, Israelis selected the word “homecoming” (habaita in Hebrew), the Hebrew Language Academy announced Thursday.

“In the context of the past year, the word home symbolizes, in the eyes of many, the return of the abducted to their homes — after two years of threats, pain, and anticipation.

Throughout this period, the word has risen again and again in public discourse, and it has even moved hearts in a song made for one of the symbols of struggle and expectation.

It also represents the return (and the aspiration for return) to the [Gaza border area] communities and the northern communities,” the Academy said.

“Artificial intelligence” (bina milahutit) came in second place, while hope (tikva) came in third.

More than 125,000 Israelis were forced to leave their homes near the Gaza and Lebanon borders, while 11,000 more had to evacuate during 12 days of Iranian missile barrages in June.

Around 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken captive by Hamas during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

Most were freed in a series of exchanges with Hamas as part of a ceasefire, though soldiers recovered the remains of others in Gaza. The body of Israeli Police Master Sgt. Ran Gvili remains in Gaza.

The academy announces its annual word of the year on the Hebrew birthday of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, a linguist who was the driving force behind reviving Hebrew as a modern spoken language.

Born in present-day Belarus in 1858, he moved to Israel in 1881. Living in Jerusalem, he wrote the first dictionary of modern Hebrew and published a Hebrew-language newspaper.

His initiative was controversial, with many people believing that using Hebrew for everyday conversation profaned the language.

Ben-Yehuda died of tuberculosis in 1922.