Aramaic Classes Help Maronites in Israel Understand Their LiturgiesBy the way, Aramaic is not "the root language of all Semitic languages." That would be Proto-Semitic, which came and went without a writing system and which now has to be reconstructed by comparison of the the surviving Semitic languages.
Posted GMT 6-22-2012 21:38:34 (AINA)
JISH, Israel -- Aramaic language classes begun four years ago at Jish Elementary School have changed the way youngsters experience the weekly liturgy.
"Before, I used to wonder how I would get through the one-and-a-half hours at church. Sometimes we would even laugh at the how the priest was praying," recalled Carla Issa, 9, who has studied Aramaic at the school for two years. "But now I understand what I am saying. I love it."
Sunday Mass at St. Maron Parish is partially recited in Aramaic. But Issa and friends also have found another use for the ancient language: They sometimes use it when they pass notes to each other in class.
Some 110 students are now studying the language at the elementary school as a result of years of effort by village resident Shadi Khalloul, 37, chairman of the Aramaic Christian nongovernmental organization in Israel.
"This is our Maronite Aramaic heritage," he said on a recent visit to the school. "We are hoping to revive (Aramaic) as a spoken language. Hopefully the pupils will use it among themselves to communicate with each other. It is our forefather's language. It is the language of Jesus, we should not forget that, especially the Aramaic Galilee dialect."
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But that technical point aside, the Maronites of Jish have an exciting Aramaic-revival project and I wish them well. Background here, here, and here.