Aramaic Language Project in Israel Furthers Recognition of Maronites
Shady Khalloul Risha talks to Jacky Hugi about his quest to revive the Aramaic language and recounts the struggle of the Maronites in Israel to be recognized as an ethnic minority.
Shady Khalloul Risha holds his son Aram in his lap and speaks to him in a language that most Israelis are familiar with, but which only a few understand. The child responds the way children aged three and a half do. Shady is proud of his firstborn; Aram is really a special child. At home, in the village of Jish (Gush Halav), not far from the Israeli-Lebanese border, the infant has been exposed to three languages from birth. His father speaks to him in Aramaic. His mother, born in Ukraine, chats with him in Russian. And his grandparents, Shady's parents, address him in Arabic.
“I am a Maronite; the language of my ancestors is Aramaic,” Shady says, “and I want to resurrect it. Rather than telling others to do it, I decided to revive the language in my own home. I speak to him in Aramaic, and he replies in the same language.”
Isn’t it important to you to teach him Hebrew, the majority language?
“Sure, but he will learn it anyway; it will happen by itself. After all, he is growing up in Israel. English, too, he will learn by himself when he grows up. His brother Jacob is eight months now, and we are doing the same with him. In a few years, the two of them will be communicating in Aramaic.”
