Choice of Language

And Jacob said to his brethren: “Gather stones,” and they took stones and made a heap. And they ate there by the heap. And Lavan called it “yagar sahduta”; but Jacob called it “gal’ed.”                                       Genesis 31:46-47

The words “yagar sahduta” (the Aramaic translation of Jacob’s term “gal’ed”) are the only Aramaic words which appear in the Torah.

          Rabbi Yehonatan Eybschutz explains that the difference between Laban’s use of Aramaic versus Jacob’s use of Hebrew is of great significance. 

          Hebrew, the holy tongue, is the “tree of life”, which originates from a place of sanctity, and it is uniquely the language of the Holy Land. Aramaic, while it is related to Hebrew, combines the holy and secular languages, and as such is a mixture of “good and evil”.

          Our Sages taught [Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 38b] that Adam spoke Aramaic. Rabbi Yehonatan understands the Sages’ comment to refer to the time after Adam sinned (since the Sages understood the verse: “And the man [haAdam] gave names to the cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field…” (Genesis 2:20) to mean that Adam gave the animals their Hebrew names).

          The encounter between Laban and Jacob took place in the Gilead [31:25], which constitutes the northeastern corner of Eretz Yisrael. Thus, Laban, in insisting on using Aramaic, intended to introduce a secular element into the Holy Land. Jacob, in turn, insisted on the use of Hebrew, to demonstrate the sanctity of the place as part of the Holy Land.

          It behooves us, who are privileged to live in the Holy Land, to be aware of the connection between the Land and its language, and to realize the uniqueness of Hebrew as the holy tongue. Such awareness must necessarily increase our self respect as the legitimate possessors of the Land.