Divine words: what role does language learning play in religious practice?

[cbayer]

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/nov/10/language-learning-for-religious-reasons

For many, developing an understanding of a religion extends to learning its associated language. We spoke to those learning Arabic, Hebrew and classical Tibetan


Matthew Jenkin

theguardian.com, Monday 10 November 2014 10.51 GMT


Does relying on a translations of a religious text get in the way of practising a faith? Photograph: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images

“Silence is the language of God, all else is poor translation,” Sufi mystic Rumi once said.

Words are, however, a way for the worldly to connect with the divine through prayer and worship. For many, developing a greater understanding of a religion extends not only to studying the theological and philosophical points but to learning another language. We spoke to three people studying Arabic, Hebrew and classical Tibetan about the role languages play in their relationship with religion.

Hebrew and Judaism

Retiree Anne Evans decided to learn Hebrew as a way to reconnect with her Jewish heritage after the death of her parents. Although not particularly religious, the Holocaust survivors from Lithuania proudly maintained their Jewish traditions. Wanting to do something that brought her closer to them she enrolled on a Hebrew course at the Spiro Ark school for Jewish education.

The language, she claims, is intimately involved in an understanding of the religion, with word stems allowing a whole philosophy to be found in a single term. Take the word barmitzvah, for example. The word literally means “son of the commandment” and is used to refer to a Jewish boy’s coming of age ceremony. However, the stem “mitzvah” on its own has deeper layers of meaning, referring to the 613 commandments given in the Torah at biblical Mount Sinai and the seven rabbinic commandments instituted later. It is also used to refer to a good deed.

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