For hearing-impaired, recognition of Israeli Sign Language speaks volumes

When a popular museum in the Old City of Jerusalem devoted to the city’s history decided to ensure full accessibility to its exhibitions for visitors with special needs, including the deaf and hearing-impaired, it found itself facing a challenge.

Several historical and archaeological terms that are part of the museum’s lingua franca — like Christian pilgrim, Byzantine period and Hasmonean — lacked any equivalent in Israeli Sign Language.

To address the issue, the Tower of David Museum reached out to the Academy of the Hebrew Language, the official institution governing the usage of modern Hebrew, which since 2022 has maintained a Department of Israeli Sign Language.

“Being a relatively new language, Israeli Sign Language still lacks many terms that do not have specific signs at all,” the department’s head, Doron Levy, told The Times of Israel in an interview at the Academy’s headquarters, located on the Hebrew University’s Givat Ram campus in Jerusalem.

“We consulted with experts in the field to understand the meaning of these terms,” Levy said, speaking in sign language with an interpreter translating into spoken Hebrew for the benefit of this reporter.

There are between 10,000 and 20,000 people who speak Israeli Sign Language, according to Levy. The number includes those who are deaf, their close relatives, educators, and other professionals.

With roots going back to Europe nearly a century ago, the language has since developed into a unique system of communication awash in an ever-expanding cultural symbology meant to capture the breadth of the Israeli experience.

While the history of Israeli Sign Language is inextricably intertwined with that of the country, for Levy and his community its official recognition under the umbrella of the Academy has represented a crucial step — and a source of pride.

“For deaf communities, it is an incredible sign of recognition — of no longer being invisible,” he said. “I am a deaf person, the child of deaf parents. When I tell people I work here, they are deeply impressed.”

Much like their Hebrew-language counterparts, the Department of Sign Language works to develop new signs for specific projects or to keep up with the evolution of the language and current events. Or — as for the Tower of David Museum — not-so-current events.

“Representation in sign language typically involves selecting iconic visual elements,” Levy said. “For instance, to sign ‘cats,’ we use one of their recognizable features, specifically whiskers.”

For “Christian pilgrim,” the Academy developed a sign depicting a cross, followed by a motion mimicking a person walking with a stick; “Byzantine era” is now represented by a sign of hands in prayer which turn to form an “L.”

But “Hasmonean” proved a harder nut to crack.

“For a term like ‘Hasmoneans,’ we had to ask ourselves what we could do since nobody had ever seen what a Hasmonean looked like,” he said.

As Levy and the Sign Language team consulted with historians and archaeologists, they realized well-known Hasmonean symbols existed, specifically those featured on Hasmonean coins, some of which are even used in modern-day shekel coins.

“Some coins depict a wreath,” he said. “This is the symbol we chose to sign the Hasmoneans.”

300 sign languages in the world

Israeli Sign Language began to develop in the 1930s when teachers from the world-renowned Jewish institute for the deaf in Berlin established a school in Jerusalem. While teachers and students initially employed German Sign Language, in the following years and decades, the influx of communities from across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Arab world contributed to developing a sign language specific to Israel.

“It is important to remember that sign languages are local and not universal,” Levy said. “There are about 300 sign languages in the world, each intimately connected to their culture.”

To showcase how visualizing a simple action can be very different in each society, Levy showed how the term “eating” is signed by bringing something to the mouth in Israeli Sign Language. In contrast, Japanese Sign Language employs two fingers moving between the palm and lips to signify eating, mimicking the use of chopsticks.

But while Israeli Sign Language is deeply intertwined with Hebrew, it would be a mistake to conflate the two, Levy emphasized.

“Hebrew might influence the Israeli Sign Language, but it would not be accurate to say the Israeli sign language is based on Hebrew syntax,” he noted. “That said, I still read, write and move my lips in Hebrew.”

Israeli Sign Language is also used among communities whose first language is Arabic rather than Hebrew.

“Often, they move their lips speaking Arabic rather than Hebrew,” Levy said.

Israel also has a few communities that have developed their own sign language. Some Arab communities have high rates of hearing impairment, which researchers believe is due to genetics as a result of marriage between relatives.

One notable case is the Bedouin tribe of Al-Sayyid in the Negev desert, where some 150 people out of 4,000 are deaf.

“We have six sign languages in Israel,” Levy noted. “However, with time, a growing number of members of these communities are learning Israeli Sign Language because of higher exposure to Israeli education and their desire to communicate with people outside of their villages.”

From the Knesset to the Academy

According to Levy, the establishment of the Department of Sign Language at the Academy represents a pivotal moment for Israel.

Before it joined the Academy, the language had something of an ad hoc status, developing organically but with no standardization, sometimes resulting in local variations. People in Tel Aviv and Haifa, for instance, use different signs for words like “hospital” or “chocolate,” according to a 2020 project launched by Bar-Ilan University to create a corpus of Israeli Sign Language usage.

The language still lacks any official status, though its use in education and other settings is mandated in a landmark 1998 law on disability rights.

In July 2021, Shirly Pinto became the Knesset’s first-ever deaf lawmaker and proudly delivered a speech from the parliament’s rostrum using Israeli Sign Language, a first.

“Israel has not succeeded in providing a proper response to people with disabilities. The same population has been rejected and completely pushed to the margins. Its voice has cried out, but not been heard,” she signed, earning a mix of clapping and hand waving, a form of deaf applause, from gathered MKs. “In my name, and in the name of millions of Israelis with disabilities, and all Israeli citizens, I pledge my commitment.”

For Levy, though, the transformative moment came a year later, when the Academy, which governs Hebrew usage and the development of new words, brought Israeli Sign Language into the fold.

“It affirms that Sign Language is a real, legitimate language in every respect,” he said.

Despite scientific evidence showing that Sign Language is processed in the same part of the brain as spoken language and provides crucial benefits for deaf children (alongside lip reading or other forms of communication) many, including parents, still hold misconceptions about it.

As a member of the Academy, Levy, who is also pursuing a doctorate in linguistics at Tel Aviv University, is dedicated to challenging these prejudices and ensuring that Sign Language continues to develop and become more accessible.

“One of our projects is developing a comprehensive online bilingual dictionary (Israeli Sign Language – Hebrew),” Levy said. “Something already exists but it’s quite small. We want to expand it and make it searchable so that people can look for certain motions and see all signs and terms they are used for. It is going to be a very important tool for anyone who works with sign language.”