The growing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics worries doctors and researchers around the world. Now, an international study led by a team at Hadassah-University Medical Center and the Faculty of Dental Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem shows the potential effectiveness of PASA16 bacteriophage therapy in coping with dangerous Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections.

The study paves the way for future clinical trials and encourages further exploration of phage therapy as an alternative and auxiliary approach against antibiotic-resistant infections, the authors suggested.

Ran Nir-Paz, an associate professor of clinical microbiology and infectious diseases at Hadassah, who also works at Hebrew University and Hadassah’s Israeli Phage Therapy Center, and Dr. Ronen Hazan, from the bioresearch institute at the university’s dental school, headed the team that published the study in the journal Clinical Advances. It was entitled “Refractory Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections treated with phage PASA16: A compassionate-use case series.”

How can viruses be used to help where antibiotics can't?

The use of specific antibacterial viruses against infections has aroused much attention as a critical addition to conventional antibiotics, although there have been few clinical trials to test phages on patients. This was the largest study of its kind, and so far it has produced an impressive 86.6% success rate.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacteria found in the environment – in soil, water, and plants – and as part of bacteria in humans. It is both a pathogen and opportunistic bacteria, causing infections in patients with weakened immune systems or underlying chronic illnesses.

Before the treatment began, all Pseudomonas aeruginosa samples from patients were tested, and treatment was personalized in those who were found to be sensitive to the PASA16 phage.

During the PASA16 phage treatment, only minor and manageable side effects were observed. Remarkably, 13 out of 15 patients with available data had a favorable clinical outcome. The duration of treatment spanned from eight days to six weeks, with one- to twice-daily regimen

This highlights the potential of combining PASA16 phage with antibiotics as a promising approach for patients with previously unsuccessful treatments.

“We are elated by the promising results of our study using phage PASA16 to treat tough Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections,” wrote the Israeli researchers, who were joined by colleagues in Israel, the US, and Australia. “This groundbreaking research offers hope for patients with persistent infections and highlights the potential of phage therapy as a valuable alternative to conventional antibiotics in combating antibiotic-resistant pathogens.”

Bacteriophage, also called phage or bacterial virus, belong to a group of viruses that infect bacteria. They were discovered independently by Frederick Twort in Great Britain in 1915 and Félix d’Hérelle in France in 1917. D’Hérelle coined the term bacteriophage, meaning “bacteria eater,” to describe the agent’s ability to destroy bacteria.

Thousands of varieties of phages exist, each of which may infect only one type or a few types of bacteria. Like all viruses, phages are simple organisms that consist of a core of genetic material (nucleic acid) surrounded by a protein capsid. The nucleic acid may be either DNA or RNA and may be double-stranded or single-stranded.

Phages have been used since the late 20th century as an alternative to antibiotics in the former Soviet Union and Central Europe, as well as in France. They are regarded as a possible therapy against multi-drug-resistant strains of many bacteria.

The authors said their work highlighted the potential of combining PASA16 phage with antibiotics as a promising approach for patients with previously unsuccessful treatments.

“By outlining potential clinical protocols, this study paves the way for future trials,” they wrote. “The success observed encourages further research and exploration of phage therapy as an alternative and complementary approach to combat antibiotic-resistant infections.”

These bacterial infections can range from mild to severe, affecting various body parts, including the lungs, urinary tract, skin, and wounds. It is a common cause of hospital-acquired infections, particularly in patients with weak immune systems or those using mechanical ventilation or invasive devices.

The pathogen’s ability to form protective biofilms hinders treatment, sometimes necessitating the combination of antibiotics and alternative therapies such as phage therapy. Strict infection-control measures in healthcare facilities are essential to combat its persistence.

The phage, which was provided pro bono by the US phage company Adaptive Phage Therapeutics, was given using various methods, including intravenous, local application to the infection site, and topical use.

Link to the publication: www.jpost.com

 

 

 

 

Pulmonary embolism (PE) is currently the third leading cause of death from heart disease after myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and stroke. Early diagnosis is essential as a staggering one in three deaths occur within the first few hours compared with only 7% of deaths in properly diagnosed and treated cases.

Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) is a procedure that involves delivering low doses of medication directly into the pulmonary arteries using a catheter. However, due to the lack of comprehensive research on its safety and efficacy, treatment guidelines for CDT vary because of this uncertainty.

In a comparative analysis of different treatments for pulmonary embolisms, Israeli researchers have made a significant breakthrough. The study found that CDT was associated with a 55% decreased risk of death as well as lower risks of major bleeding and brain bleeds among 65%, when compared to other treatment options.

Dr. Bruria Hirsh Raccah, Clinical pharmacist in the cardiology department at the Hadassah Medical Center and researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a co-author of the study, cautions that "further research is necessary before drawing definitive conclusions. However, the findings indicate that CDT should be considered the preferred treatment among eligible patients, given its safety and effectiveness, especially when compared to the higher toxicity of systemic thrombolysis.”

“Although this study should be interpreted as hypothesis generating, our findings suggest that, among patients eligible for CDT and where facilities exist, CDT should be the preferred treatment, given its safety and effectiveness, and given the higher toxicity of systemic thrombolysis” writes Dr. Bruria Hirsh Raccah, a researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, with coauthors.

The study was part of Stav Yanko’s dissertation at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The study was co-authored by Bruria Hirsch Raccah, Stav Yanko and other researchers from Hadassah Medical Center.

“Mortality and safety assessment of catheter-directed thrombolysis compared with systemic thrombolysis and anticoagulation in patients with intermediate or high-risk pulmonary embolism: systematic review and network meta-analysis” was published June 19, 2023. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/993506?src=

 

A new study found that brain stimulation combined with cognitive training can improve symptoms of ADHD.

“ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders affecting children across the world,” Ornella Dakwar-Kawar, a post-doctoral researcher at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said in a press release. “Treating the condition with medication improves a child’s attention span and overall mood, however … there can be side effects including headache and a loss of appetite,” Dakwar-Kawar added. “There is, therefore, a pressing need for developing and testing novel, non-pharmacological interventions for ADHD.”

ADHD symptoms include trouble paying attention, overactivity, and impulsive behaviors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that 6 million children in the US ages 3 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD. The condition is usually treated with a combination of behavior therapy and medication. Researchers at the University of Surrey and the Hebrew University conducted a clinical trial with 23 children ages 6 to 12 who were unmedicated. The researchers administered a non-invasive brain stimulation with a mild electrical current running through two electrodes. Cognitive treatment included problem-solving and reading comprehension. After two weeks, 55% of the children showed significant clinical improvements in their ADHD symptoms, as reported by their parents, in comparison to 17% of children in the control group who received placebo brain stimulation. The improvements were maintained at three weeks post-trial, with 64% reporting positive effects from the treatment compared to 33% in the control group. The study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry, also found that participants had changes in their brain electrical activity patterns, even three weeks after treatment. “I believe that the scientific community is duty-bound to investigate and develop ever more effective and longer-lasting treatments for ADHD,” said Roi Cohen Kadosh, co-lead of the study and professor of cognitive neuroscience at the University of Surrey.

“The findings we demonstrate in our study suggest that a combination of transcranial direct current stimulation (tRNS), which is shown to be safe with minimal side effects, has the potential to transform the lives of children and their families,” Kadosh added. “The results from this proof-of-concept study, together with previous results we received using tRNS, increase our confidence that in the future non-invasive brain stimulation may be able to provide an alternative to medication as a treatment pathway for children,” Kadosh continued. “However, our important test will be the results from a multi-center clinical trial with a larger sample that we will start soon.” Scientists noted that further research and trials would need to be done to make brain stimulation a practical therapy for children with ADHD.

“This is an important first step in offering new therapeutic options for ADHD. Future studies, with larger and more varied samples, should help establish this as a viable therapy for ADHD, and help us understand the underlying mechanisms of the disorder,” said Dr. Mor Nahum, co-lead of the study and head of the Computerized Neurotherapy Lab at the Hebrew University.“If the results will be replicated in future larger studies we will be able to offer a novel, promising non-invasive, and safe treatment to large number of children and their families not only in the field of ADHD but in other neurodevelopmental disorders,” said professor Itai Berger, co-lead of the study.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to the publication: nypost.com

In a major breakthrough, a collaborative team of Israeli researchers has unveiled a miniature human heart model that could potentially transform drug testing and cardiovascular research, providing alternatives to animal testing. The self-paced multi-chambered human heart model – no larger than a grain of rice – promises to revolutionize the way the heart and its functions are studied.

The team was led by Yaakov Nahmias, a bioengineering professor from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and included scientists from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and Rehovot-based Tissue Dynamics Ltd., which is devoted to animal-free drug development.

Their discovery marks “a new era in cardiovascular research, multi-chambered, self-paced miniature heart model, holding the key to saving lives and enhancing patient outcomes,” they said in the study.

 

Sensors also revealed a new mechanism of cardiac arrhythmia not found in small animals, promising alternatives to animal testing.

This study, just published in the prestigious Nature Biomedical Engineering, was entitled “Electro-metabolic coupling in multi-chambered vascularized human cardiac organoids.”

Cardiovascular diseases remain – together with cancers – the leading causes of death around the world, underscoring the critical importance of their pioneering work.

Nahmias and his team embarked on an intricate effort to create an accurate replica of the human heart, using human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). The resulting model comprises multiple chambers, pacemaker clusters, epicardial membrane, and endocardial lining, all meticulously designed to mimic the structure and functions of the human heart.

One of the most significant features of this heart model is its ability to provide real-time measurements of essential parameters, such as oxygen consumption, extracellular field potential, and cardiac contraction. This capability made it possible for the scientists to gain unprecedented insights into heart function and diseases.

What are the implications for future medical practice?

The research team has already made groundbreaking discoveries that were previously unattainable using conventional methods. The tiny heart model presented a new form of cardiac arrhythmia that is distinct from those observed in traditional animal models, thus offering new paths for studying human physiology.

The implications of this discovery extend to the pharmaceutical industry, as it allows researchers to gain invaluable insights into the precise effects of pharmaceutical compounds on the human heart. The heart model’s response to the chemotherapeutic drug mitoxantrone, which is commonly used to treat leukemia and multiple sclerosis, was carefully tested.

Through these experiments, the researchers pinpointed how mitoxantrone induces arrhythmia by disrupting the heart’s electro-mitochondrial coupling. They also discovered a potential solution by administering the common diabetes drug metformin, which showed promise in mitigating some of the drug’s adverse effects.

Nahmias, who is the director of Hebrew University’s Grass Center for Bioengineering and a fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, stressed the significance of their work.

“The integration of our complex human heart model with sensors allowed us to monitor critical physiological parameters in real-time, revealing intricate mitochondrial dynamics driving cardiac rhythms,” he said. “It is a new chapter in human physiology.”

The scientists partnered with Tissue Dynamics, which focuses on reducing research and development costs for drugs by 30% to 80% by providing groundbreaking drug toxicity and efficacy tools for the pharmaceutical industry. Its proprietary screening platform uses tissue-embedded microsensors in a micro-physiological environment to monitor changes in tissue function in real-time.

The Nachmias team developed a robotic system that can screen 20,000 tiny human hearts in parallel for applications to drug discoveries. The potential applications of this micro-physiological system are huge, promising to enhance our understanding of heart physiology and speed up the discovery of safer and more effective pharmaceutical interventions and leading to a healthier future for all.

 

By offering unparalleled accuracy and insights into cardiovascular diseases, this advanced human heart model has the potential to revolutionize drug-testing methodologies. With this tiny heart model, researchers are poised to make significant strides in developing safer and more effective medications for patients worldwide, potentially saving lives and improving patient outcomes.

The miniature heart model also presents an ethical advantage, as it offers a viable alternative to animal testing. This breakthrough could mark a turning point in the pharmaceutical industry, reducing reliance on animal models and minimizing potential harm to animals in the pursuit of medical advancements.

The scientists concluded that their tiny heart represents a monumental achievement with far-reaching implications for medical research.

“This miniature-yet-sophisticated human heart model has the potential to reshape drug testing practices, advance our understanding of cardiovascular diseases, and ultimately contribute to a healthier and more sustainable future,” they wrote".

 

 

 

 

Link to the publication: www.jpost.com

 

A “significant breakthrough” in color switching for nanocrystals that unlocks exciting possibilities for a simple, energy-efficient display design and for tunable light sources for many technologies has been achieved by researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU).

Colored light and its tunability are the basis of many essential modern-day technologies from lighting and displays to fast optical fiber-communication networks. 

The discovery also has potential applications for sensitive sensors of various substances, including biological and neuroscience uses and advancements in quantum-communication technologies. This nanomaterial breakthrough holds the promise of inspiring exciting innovations in the future, the team said.

 

They published their findings in the prestigious journal Nature Materials under the title “Electric field induced color switching in colloidal quantum dot molecules at room temperature.” 

While nanocrystals offer color tunability and are used in various technologies, achieving a variety of colors requires using different nanocrystals for each color and dynamic switching between colors has not been possible. 

 

Overcoming nanocrystal tech barriers

A team at HU’s Institute of Chemistry and the Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology including graduate student Yonatan Ossia with seven other members and led by Prof. Uri Banin, have now come up with an innovative solution to this problem. By developing a system of an “artificial molecule” made of two coupled semiconductor nanocrystals that emit light in two different colors, fast and instantaneous color switching was achieved. 

Banin said that “our research is a big leap forward in nanomaterials for optoelectronics. This is an important step in our exposition of the idea of “nanocrystal chemistry” launched just a few years ago in our research group in which nanocrystals are building blocks of artificial molecules with exciting new functionalities.

Being able to switch colors so quickly and efficiently on the nanoscale as we have achieved has enormous possibilities. It could revolutionize advanced displays and create color-switchable single photon sources.” 

When taking color-emitting semiconductors to the nanoscale (a nano is one-billionth of a meter, 100,000 times smaller than a human hair), an effect called quantum confinement comes into play. Changing the size of the nanocrystal modifies the color of the emitted light, so bright light sources can be obtained covering the entire visible spectrum.

 

Because of the unique color tunability of such nanocrystals and their easy fabrication and manipulation using wet chemistry, they are already widely used in high-quality commercial displays, giving them excellent color quality along with significant energy-saving characteristics.

But until now, achieving different colors such as needed for the different RGB pixels (composed of red, green and blue subpixels that light up at different intensities to create different colors and use in electronic displays like TVs, computer monitors, lighting, and digital cameras) required the use of different nanocrystals for each specific color. However, dynamic switching between the different colors was not possible.

Although color tuning of single colloidal nanocrystals which behave as “artificial atoms” has been studied and implemented in prototype optoelectronic devices, changing colors actively has been challenging because of the diminished brightness inherently accompanying the effect that produced only a slight shift of the color. 

The research team overcame this limitation, by creating a novel molecule with two emission centers in which an electric field can tune the relative emission from each center, changing the color, yet, without losing brightness.

The artificial molecule can be made such that one of its constituent nanocrystals is tuned to emit “green” light, while the other “red” light. The emission of this new dual color emitting artificial molecule is sensitive to external voltage inducing an electric field – one polarity of the field induces emission of light from the “red” center, and switching the field to the other polarity, the color emission is switched instantaneously to “green”, and vice versa.

This color-switching phenomenon is reversible and immediate, as it does not include any structural motion of the molecule. 

Link to the publication: www.jpost.com

 

 

"We are immensely proud of Professor Adam Lefstein on his well-deserved recognition as a Fellow of the British Academy. This prestigious honor not only acknowledges his exceptional achievements but also underscores the significant impact his research has had on society," stated Prof. Asher Cohen, President of the Hebrew University.

Prof. Lefstein's research in the field of education has greatly advanced our understanding of the intricate nature of classroom practice, while simultaneously bolstering the teaching profession and improving teacher learning processes. As a result, educational outcomes have improved, leading to expanded opportunities for countless individuals. His appointment as a Fellow of the British Academy further reinforces the Hebrew University's unwavering commitment to academic excellence and the advancement of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences.

"Prof. Lefstein's accomplishments reflect the dedication and intellectual rigor demonstrated by our esteemed faculty members, further solidifying the Hebrew University's position as a leading institution of higher learning," added Prof. Cohen.

The Hebrew University extends its heartfelt congratulations to Professor Adam Lefstein on this well-deserved recognition and wishes him continued success in his future endeavors.

The British Academy is the UK’s national academy for the humanities and social sciences. They mobilize these disciplines to understand the world and shape a brighter future. They invest in researchers and projects across the UK and overseas, engage the public with fresh thinking and debates, and bring together scholars, government, business and civil society to influence policy for the benefit of everyone.

 

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel's premier academic and research institution. With over 25,000 students from 90 countries, it is a hub for advancing scientific knowledge and holds a significant role in Israel's civilian scientific research output, accounting for nearly 40% of it and has received over 11,000 patents. The university's faculty and alumni have earned eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal, underscoring their contributions to ground-breaking discoveries. In the global arena, the Hebrew University ranks 77th according to the Shanghai Ranking, making it the top-ranked Israeli institution. To learn more about the university's academic programs, research initiatives, and achievements, visit the official website at http://new.huji.ac.il/en

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of California, Berkeley, have made progress in understanding the puzzling affliction known as unilateral neglect, where stroke victims lose conscious awareness of half of what their eyes perceive. The scientists have identified a region in the brain where sustained visual images are retained for a few seconds. By recording brain activity from electrodes placed on patients' brains, they discovered that visual areas of the brain retain information about a perceived object at a low level of activity for an extended period, suggesting a neural basis for stable perception. The prefrontal and parietal cortexes become active when something new is perceived, while the occipitotemporal area of the visual cortex maintains a sustained but low level of activity. These findings provide insights into the difference between perceiving something and being consciously aware of perceiving it, which could have implications for coma patients and the development of treatments for consciousness disorders.

 

More than a quarter of all stroke victims develop a bizarre disorder — they lose conscious awareness of half of all that their eyes perceive.

After a stroke in the brain's right half, for example, a person might eat only what's on the right side of the plate because they're unaware of the other half. The person may see only the right half of a photo and ignore a person on their left side.

Surprisingly, though, such stroke victims can emotionally react to the entire photo or scene. Their brains seem to be taking it all in, but these people are consciously aware of only half the world.

This puzzling affliction, called unilateral neglect, highlights a longstanding question in brain science: What's the difference between perceiving something and being aware or conscious of perceiving it? You may not consciously note that you passed a shoe store while scrolling through your Instagram feed, yet you started searching online for shoe sales. Your brain records things that you don't consciously take note of.

Neuroscientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of California, Berkeley, now report that they may have found the region of the brain where these sustained visual images are retained during the few seconds we perceive them. They published their findings last week in the journal Cell Reports.

"Consciousness, and in particular, visual experience, is the most fundamental thing that everyone feels from the moment they open their eyes when they wake up in the morning to the moment they go to sleep," said Hebrew University graduate student Gal Vishne, lead author of the paper. "Our study is about your everyday experience."

While the findings do not yet explain how we can be unaware of what we perceive, studies like these could have practical applications in the future, perhaps allowing doctors to tell from a coma patient's brain activity whether the person is still aware of the outside world and potentially able to improve. Understanding consciousness may also help doctors develop treatments for disorders of consciousness.

"The inspiration for my whole scientific career comes from patients with stroke who suffer from unilateral neglect, where they just ignore half of the world," said senior author Leon Deouell, a Hebrew University professor of psychology and member of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for brain research. "That actually triggered my whole interest in the question of conscious awareness. How is it that you can have the information, but still not acknowledge it as something that you're subjectively experiencing, not act upon it, not move your eyes to it, not grab it? What is required for something not only to be sensed by the brain, but for you to have a subjective experience? Understanding that would eventually help us understand what is missing in the cognitive system and in the brains of patients who have this kind of a syndrome."

"We are adding a piece to the puzzle of consciousness — how things remain in your mind's eye for you to act on," added Robert Knight, also a senior author and a UC Berkeley professor of psychology and member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute.

The brain has a transient and a sustained response

Deouell noted that for some six decades, electrical studies of the human brain have almost solely concentrated on the initial surge of activity after something is perceived. But this spike dies out after about 300 or 400 milliseconds, while we often look at and are consciously aware of things for seconds or longer.

"That leaves a whole lot of time which is not explained in neural terms," he said.

In search of longer-lasting activity, the neuroscientists obtained consent to run tests on 10 people whose skulls were being opened so that electrodes could be placed on the brain surface to track neural activity associated with epileptic seizures. The researchers recorded brain activity from the electrodes as they showed different images to the patients on a computer screen for different lengths of time, up to 1.5 seconds. The patients were asked to press a button when they saw an occasional item of clothing to ensure that they truly were paying attention.

Most methods used to record neural activity in humans, such as functional MRI (fMRI) or electroencephalography (EEG), only allow researchers to make detailed inferences about where brain activity is happening or when, but not both. By employing electrodes implanted inside the skull, the Hebrew University/UC Berkeley researchers were able to bridge this gap.

After analyzing the data using machine learning, the team found that, contrary to earlier studies that saw only a brief burst of activity in the brain when something new was perceived, the visual areas of the brain actually retained information about the percept at a low level of activity for much longer. The sustained pattern of neural activity was similar to the pattern of the initial activity and changed when a person viewed a different image.

"This stable representation suggests a neural basis for stable perception over time, despite the changing level of activity," Deouell said.

Unlike some earlier studies, they found that the prefrontal and parietal cortexes in the front of the brain become active only when something new is perceived, with information disappearing entirely within half a second (500 milliseconds), even for a much longer stimulus.

The occipitotemporal area of the visual cortex in the back of the brain also becomes very active briefly — for about 300 milliseconds — and then drops to a sustained but low level, about 10% to 20% of the initial spike. But the pattern of activity does not go away; it actually lasts unaltered about as long as a person views an image.

"The frontal cortex is involved in the detection of something new," Deouell explained. "But you also see an ongoing representation in the higher-level sensory regions."

The sequence of events in the brain could be interpreted in various ways. Knight and Vishne lean toward the idea that conscious awareness comes when the prefrontal cortex accesses the sustained activity in the visual cortex. Deouell suspects that consciousness arises from connections among many areas of the brain, the prefrontal cortex being just one of them.

The team's findings have been confirmed by a group that calls itself the Cogitate Consortium. Though the consortium's results are still awaiting peer review, they were described in a June event in New York City that was billed as a face-off between two "leading" theories of consciousness. Both the Cell Reports results and the unpublished results could fit either theory of consciousness.

"That adversarial collaboration involves two theories out of something like 22 current theories of consciousness," Deouell cautioned. "Many theories usually means that we don't understand."

Nevertheless, the two studies and other ongoing studies that are part of the adversarial collaboration initiated by the Templeton Foundation could lead to a true, testable theory of consciousness.

"Regarding the predictions of the two theories which we were able to test, both are correct. But looking at the broader picture, none of the theories in their current form work, even though we find each to have some grain of truth, at the moment," Vishne said. "With so much still unknown about the neural basis of consciousness, we believe that more data should be collected before a new phoenix can rise out of the ashes of the previous theories. "

Future studies planned by Deouell and Knight will explore the electrical activity associated with consciousness in other regions of the brain, such as the areas that deal with memory and emotions.

Edden Gerber is also a co-author of the paper. The study was supported by the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation (2013070) and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health (R01 NS021135).

In the pursuit of justice, law enforcement agencies heavily rely on forensic evidence, with DNA testing constituting the cornerstone of modern investigations. While the scientific and technological advancements in DNA testing have been extensively studied, there is scant evidence regarding how the availability of DNA evidence influences prosecutors’ decisions to move cases forward.

To address this knowledge gap, the research team created a unique database by combining data from the Forensics Division of the Israel Police, which documented the presence or absence of DNA profiles in criminal cases (n = 9862), with data on each case’s subsequent indictment decision from 2008 to 2019.

This extensive dataset’s analysis yielded significant insights into the impact of DNA evidence on criminal prosecutions. The researchers discovered that roughly 15% of all criminal cases presented to the prosecutor’s office were ultimately prosecuted. In stark contrast, the criminal justice system advanced approximately 55% of cases with DNA profiles. This effect demonstrates the significant influence DNA evidence has on the decisions of prosecutors.

The findings highlight the significance of using a scientific approach to prosecute offenders, recognising the value DNA evidence brings to the criminal justice system. However, the researchers caution against the indiscriminate use of DNA evidence and emphasise the necessity of prudence. DNA evidence is a potent tool, but it is not infallible; therefore, its use in the legal system must be carefully considered. The study encourages a balanced approach that harnesses the benefits of DNA evidence while acknowledging its limitations.

This research contributes to the ongoing dialogue surrounding the role of forensic evidence in criminal investigations, specifically highlighting the impact of DNA profiles on prosecution decisions in Israel. The findings have implications for law enforcement agencies, legal professionals, and policymakers involved in the pursuit of justice.

The study, titled “ The role of DNA in criminal indictments in Israel" was published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/1556-4029.15327

The research team consisted of Esther Buchnik, Institute of Criminology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Prof. Barak Ariel Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, Prof. Avi Domb Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Criminology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Nir Treves Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Dr. Ron Gafny, Division of Identification and Forensic Science, Israel Police.

 

Methodology: The records examined were from 2008-2019. Over the study period, the average rate of indictment in all cases was approximately 15.1%, with a relatively stable variance [standard deviation (SD) of 0.8%]. However, 45.9% of criminal cases with DNA were subsequently indicted, with a steady yet clear increase over time (from 26.3% to 53.6% in 2019; SD = 11.8%).

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Israel’s premier academic and research institution. With over 23,000 students from 80 countries, it is a hub for advancing scientific knowledge and holds a significant role in Israel’s civilian scientific research output, accounting for nearly 40% of it and has received over 11,000 patents. The university’s faculty and alumni have earned eight Nobel Prizes and a Fields Medal, underscoring their contributions to ground-breaking discoveries. In the global arena, the Hebrew University ranks 77th according to the Shanghai Ranking, making it the top-ranked Israeli institution. To learn more about the university’s academic programs, research initiatives, and achievements, visit the official website at http://new.huji.ac.il/en

 

 

 

The inflammatory response is indispensable for protective immunity, yet microbial pathogens often trigger an excessive response, ‘cytokine storm’, harmful to the host. Despite recent advances in our understanding of inflammatory signaling, how to prevent a cytokine storm remains a challenge. A groundbreaking study has uncovered exciting possibilities for treating inflammatory disorders and preventing cytokine storms, which can be damaging to the body and even lethal. Scientists have discovered that: particular domains within key mediators of our immune response, called B7 and CD28 receptors, have a crucial role in enabling the inflammatory response and can be targeted with man-made molecules to manage immune responses and inflammation, saving lives. These findings bring us one step closer to developing effective treatments for inflammatory diseases.

 

A team of researchers at the Faculty of Medicine of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, conducted this study with the aim of understanding how our immune system works and why it sometimes goes into overdrive during severe infections and autoimmune diseases. They created small copies of specific domains within the B7 and CD28 receptors, called mimetic peptides, to investigate how these affect the production of inflammatory molecules.

The study's results showed that these mimetic peptides successfully reduced the interaction between B7 and CD28 receptor proteins and thereby lowered the production of inflammatory molecules in human immune cells. This suggests that they could be used to develop treatments for inflammatory disorders, for example, in bacterial infections, in severe sepsis, and in viral infections involving lung injury such as influenza and corona.

Excitingly, when tested on mice, these mimetic peptides provided significant protection against lethal toxic shock caused by a harmful bacterial toxin that kills by eliciting an inflammatory cytokine storm. Even at exceedingly low doses, the specific B7-1 and CD28 mimetic peptides showed remarkable effectiveness in preventing the harmful effects of the toxin and protecting from death. "Our findings demonstrate for the first time the critical role played by these B7 and CD28 receptor domains in controlling immune responses and inflammation," said Prof. Raymond Kaempfer, of the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "By selectively reducing inflammation yet without completely stopping it, we may be able to protect against cytokine storms associated with severe infections and autoimmune diseases."

This research opens up new possibilities for developing targeted therapies that can balance immune activation needed to protect from pathogens yet prevent excessive inflammation. By regulating the interaction between B7 and CD28 receptors, we may be able to fine-tune the immune response and prevent harmful inflammatory reactions.

Funding: This work was supported by the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) grants UC1AI067231 and 2U54AI057168, grant DM170164 from US Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and the Milgrom Family Foundation to R. Kaempfer.

The research team consists of: Prof. Raymond Kaempfer, Dr. Andrey Popugailo, Dr. Ziv Rotfogel, Michal Levy, Orli Turgeman, Dalia Hillman, Dr. Revital Levy, Dr. Gila Arad, Dr. Tomer Shpilka – The Institute of Medical Research Israel-Canada at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School.

Link to the publication: https://rdcu.be/dfCLm 

The doctorates were presented in the presence of senior figures from the public and business sectors, leading researchers at the University, the president of the Hebrew University, Prof. Asher Cohen, and the rector of the Hebrew University, Prof. Tamir Sheffer.

Prof. Asher Cohen, president of the Hebrew University, congratulated the awardees: “The Hebrew University is proud of the outstanding team of recipients of honorary doctorates for 2023. This team includes scientists, researchers, social and public figures, and leaders in their respective fields. Their academic excellence and contribution to the community and to society are an inspiration, and they serve as a model for academic flourishing and groundbreaking research.”

 

Prof. Jeffrey Ullman, Stanford W. Ascherman Professor of Engineering (Emeritus) at Stanford University—in recognition of his outstanding contribution to computer science research, and his commitment to the advancement of science.

Prof. Barbara Engelking , one of the pioneers of sociological research on the Holocaust, of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Polish Academy of Sciences—in recognition of her research of the testimonies of Polish Jews, establishing the Polish Center for Holocaust Research, and founding the only scientific journal in Poland about the Holocaust.

Mr. Arthur Gutterman—in recognition of his tireless dedication to Jewish communities around the world and his contribution to the security and prosperity of the State of Israel; his and his family's commitment to the teaching of the Holocaust in South Florida.

Prof. Sonia Livingstone OBE, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science— in recognition of her research into the impact of media policy in the United Kingdom, Europe, and internationally; of her efforts to enable children around the world to exercise their rights to safe access to the internet; and of her critical role in drafting the 25th amendment to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), relating to internet access.

Dr. Eric Steven Lander, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University—in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of science around the world, particularly the mapping and sequencing of the human genome and the establishment of the Broad Institute, which offers a new and groundbreaking model based on collaboration and interdisciplinary efforts to address scientific challenges; and of the relationships he has fostered between the scientific communities in the United States and Israel.

Prof. Leon Mann AO, of the Department of Psychology at the University of Melbourne—in recognition of his groundbreaking research in the field of decision-making; of the translation of his academic findings into a curriculum that has formed part of the training for IDF officers and of other educational programs in Israel; and of his dedication to the Jewish people and the State of Israel, including the Hebrew University, where he founded the Phillip Mann Prize in memory of his late brother and the Mann Family Prize for Brain Science Research.

Mr. Yitzhak Manor—in recognition of his great contribution to strengthening trade relations between Israel and France, for which he received the highest civil honor in France and was sworn in to the Légion d’honneur; of his loyal service to the Hebrew University, where he served for nine years as a member of the Board of Directors and has now served for over a decade as a member of the Board of Governors; and of his generous contribution to the advancement of science at the University in a range of subjects.

Prof. Dr-Ing. Reimund Neugebauer, president of the Fraunhofer Society in Germany—in recognition of his outstanding academic career and founding the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology; and of his partnership with the Hebrew University, together with which he has chosen to establish two Fraunhofer research centers in Jerusalem, one for cybersecurity and the other for drug research.

Prof. Robert T. Knight, professor of psychology and brain science at the University of California in Berkeley and professor of neurology and neurosurgery at the University of California in San Francisco—in recognition of his outstanding academic achievements in cognitive brain science and in psychology; of his clinical work with patients and his efforts to make information accessible to the broader public, including by founding the journal Frontiers for Young Minds; and his role in ensuring the establishment of the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences.

Mr. Yehoshua Sobol, one of the most important and outstanding artistic figures in Israel—in recognition of his storied career as a playwright, author, poet, and director, whose works provide a remarkable reflection of the Israeli experience; of his work to promote humanist values and social justice; and of his commitment to education, as manifested in his teaching at universities and colleges throughout the country, including the Hebrew University, where he devotes time to writing and to enriching the activities of the University’s Israel Institute for Advanced Studies.

Dr. Raymond F. Schinazi, of the Emory University School of Medicine—in recognition of his medical research, which has affected the lives of millions of people through the discovery of effective medicines for diseases that were previously considered untreatable; of his commitment to making medicines available to people in the country of his birth, Egypt, from which he fled as a boy, and in Georgia; and of his involvement in training the next generations of medical researchers via the initiative he founded with the Hebrew University and Hadassah School of Medicine.

The Samuel Rothberg Prize for Jewish Education was awarded to Rabbi Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Lau, one of the most prominent figures in Israeli society today, who has dedicated his life to making Judaism more accessible to the wider Israeli public in various ways. Rabbi Dr. Lau is one of the most outspoken voices calling for the institution of the rabbinate to be adapted to modern times, including by updating ceremonies in the Jewish life cycle such as marriage and conversion, as well as the participation of women in religious worship.

President Isaac Herzog of Israel, Hebrew University President Prof. Asher Cohen, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Leon, and Mr. Jose Mugrabi, a prominent art collector, laid the cornerstone for Einstein House, at the Hebrew University’s Edmond J. Safra campus, on Givat Ram, in Jerusalem.

The Einstein House will house exhibits of the legacy, work, and research of Nobel laureate Albert Einstein, one of the founders of the Hebrew University, who bequeathed all his writings and intellectual property to it. The House will serve as a center for scientific and technological education and employ modern display techniques, scientific demonstrations, and original documents to showcase Einstein’s immense contribution to science. The distinctive building, designed by the world-renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, will highlight the impact of Einstein's discoveries, his involvement in humanitarian and civil rights issues, as well as his deep commitment to Hebrew University, the State of Israel, and the global Jewish community. The public will be able to tour a reconstructions of his personal library, his office, and view original documents, including on the general theory of relativity and the manuscript containing the famous equation E=mc².

 

President Isaac Herzog said that ‏“It is a great pleasure to be addressing you here at ‏the Board of Governors meeting at this great Israeli institution, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. ‏I am especially excited to be here to lay the cornerstone for Einstein’s House. Right here, we are laying the foundations for a vital living archive of the writings of one of the greatest minds in the history of humanity.

But we are also laying the foundations for a beautiful building designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind, for a legacy that goes far beyond any one person alone: This is the legacy of human curiosity – ‘holy curiosity’ as Einstein himself put it.
Over the past century The Hebrew university has blossomed into a world-class institution that is at the forefront of global research and of contribution. I thank the government of Israel and other partners in this wonderful project, for moving this project and initiative so that we can realize it hopefully in two years’ time when we will celebrate 100 years to the founding of the university.”

At the ceremony, Hebrew University president Prof. Asher Cohen observed that the “Einstein House will provide the general public with a look at the science of the man who sketched out the path for us and who, a century later, continues to serve us as a model of scientific excellence day after day. Our task is first and foremost to practice science and produce breakthroughs that will improve the life of all humanity; but a no less important part of this task is to explain science and make it make accessible to large audiences. This is precisely the vision behind the Einstein House.”

Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion: "The Einstein House will be established here, in this place, as a living monument, to the ideal of academic excellence, to the value of exploring, discovering, and learning more about the world around us. The Einstein House will be a house of learning, and a house of teaching. A house where everyone who enters, will leave richer in knowledge, with a better understanding of the past, and greater hope for the future. I want to congratulate all the partners in this amazing project. I have no doubt it will make a significant contribution to the city and to the students."

Jose Mugrabi, philanthropist and art collector: “We look forward to seeing the wonders that this House will bring to Israel and the rest of the world in the future. The Einstein House represents so much more than the physical space. It will be a center of science and technology for our students, and we are convinced that this place will create a new generation of Einsteins.

I am so excited to be here tonight and to be associated with Albert Einstein. In my past I didn’t study practically at all, and tonight to be associated with the genius of the century – I have no words. I feel like the luckiest man in the world.”

 

 

The mystery of the formation of early massive galaxies in the universe has finally been solved by astrophysicists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU) who have published a new theoretical model that explains recent observations that used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

They said they revealed a surprising excess of massive galaxies in the universe – already in the first half billion years after the Big Bang – contrary to the commonly accepted theory.

The team published their findings in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society under the title “Efficient formation of massive galaxies at cosmic dawn by feedback-free starbursts.”  

 

 

Researchers discover excess of massive galaxies

The James Webb telescope was launched into space at the end of 2021 and started producing images of distant galaxies as early as last July. The researchers unexpectedly discovered an excess of massive galaxies in the early universe compared to the number of galaxies expected according to the common theory.

According to the researchers’ proposed model, the special conditions that prevailed in the primordial galaxies, of high density and low abundance of heavy elements, allowed the formation of stars with high efficiency without interference from other stars. 

The research team from HU’s was led by Prof. Avishai Dekel with Dr. Kartick Sarkar, Prof.  Yuval Birnboim, Dr. Nir Mandelker and Dr. Zhaozhou Li. The Racah Institute of Physics, located on the university’s Safra Campus (Givat Ram) campus, has some 90 faculty members who teach and carry out research in the fields of astrophysics, condensed matter physics, high energy physics, bio and non-linear physics, nuclear physics, and atomic, molecular and optical physics.

“Already in the first half-billion years, researchers identified galaxies that each contain about ten billion stars like our Sun,” Dekel explained. “This discovery surprised researchers who tried to identify plausible explanations for the puzzle, ranging from the possibility that the observational estimate of the number of stars in galaxies is exaggerated, to suggesting the need for critical changes in the standard cosmological model of the Big Bang.”

 

According to the prevailing theory of galaxy formation, gravity causes gas scattered in the universe to collapse into the centers of giant spherical clouds of dark matter, where it becomes luminous stars, like the Sun. But theory and observations until now have shown that the efficiency of star formation in galaxies is low, with only about 10% of the gas that falls into the clouds becoming stars.

The inefficiency is caused by remaining gas heating up or being blown out of galaxies under the influence of winds and supernova explosions from the stars that manage to form first. This contradicts recent JWST indications of vast amounts of stars created in a short time frame, he continued. 

Is this the key to explaining super-massive black holes?

In this study, Dekel and his team proposed a process termed “feedback-free starburst” (FFB), which naturally explains the mystery. Under the unique conditions prevalent in early galaxies, gas efficiently turns into stars without being disrupted by feedback processes.

This idea is based on a time delay of more than a million years between the formation of massive stars and their subsequent explosions as supernovae.

Before the enrichment of the gas by heavy elements produced in stars, the researchers suggest star-forming clouds in the dense early universe had a density above a threshold that allowed the rapid collapse of the gas into stars within the “window of opportunity” of one million years. This process of high-efficiency star formation in the absence of feedback explains the observed excess of massive galaxies.

“The publication of this research marks an important step forward in our understanding of the formation of primordial massive galaxies in the universe and will no doubt spark further research and discovery,” Dekel concluded.

“The predictions of this model will be tested using the accumulating new observations from the Web Space Telescope, where it seems that some of these predictions are already confirmed. Important implications of the proposed FFB scenario will be investigated in future studies.

These include the efficient formation of seed black holes of a thousand solar masses in the centers of the FFB star-forming clusters, which are key to explaining the surprisingly supermassive black holes of a billion solar masses seen in centers of galaxies half a billion years later.”

 

 

 

45 starts ups competed leading to a shortlist of 5 hoping to win the 100,000 Shekel prize. The winner, Avertto, developed a device and monitoring system which creates an alert in the event of imminence of stroke.

Click here to read more.

On Friday, a team of Israeli and French researchers published an article about the recreated bone flute in the peer-reviewed Nature Scientific Report, offering an auditory window into how early humans shifted from hunter-gatherers to more settled villages, creating the earliest known musical instruments ever discovered in the Middle East.

The French-Israeli team of archaeologists discovered fragments of seven different flutes, dating to around 10,000 BCE, which is the largest collection of prehistoric sound-producing instruments ever found in the Levant. The pieces were found at the Eynan/Ain Mallaha site, a small village some 35 km (20 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee. The site was inhabited from 12,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE, around the time when humans were undergoing a massive revolution from nomadic hunter-gatherers to more sedentary, semi-settled communities.

 

Dr. Laurent Davin, a post-doctoral fellow at Hebrew University, was examining some of the bones recovered from the site when he noticed tiny holes drilled at regular intervals along a few of the bones. At first, experts had dismissed the holes as regular wear and tear on the delicate bird bones. But Davin examined the bones more closely and noticed that the holes were at very even intervals, and clearly created by humans.

“One of the flutes was discovered complete, and so far as is known it is the only one in the world in this state of preservation,” Davin said in a press release that accompanied the article’s publication.

 

Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily, a senior researcher with the IAA, spent 10 years excavating at the Eynan site and was instrumental in creating a replica of the extant flute.

“There were a lot of doubts that this was even possible [to recreate], but the replica was created exactly [in the same way] as the original and it allowed us to hear what people would have heard 12,000 years ago,” Khalaily told The Times of Israel.

“When we first heard it, it gave us this feeling like, we are really doing something for history,” Khalaily said.

 

The recreated flute produces a screeching, breathy whistling sound that Khalaily and the team believe could be an imitation of predator birds, including falcons, which eat small waterfowl.

“The sound could have attracted predator birds, which creates chaos with the other birds, and then it’s very easy to catch them, even with your hands,” explained Khalaily.

Previously, nomadic hunter-gathers had focused on bigger game such as gazelles, rabbits, or foxes. But when humans began settling in the Hula Valley for the first time, they started taking advantage of new food sources, including fish and smaller waterfowl in the lake that used to stretch across the Hula Valley.

Today, the Hula Valley is still a major conduit for bird migration in the late fall when tens of thousands of birds pass through Israel on their way from Europe to Africa. The Hula Valley was once covered by water, with a 13 square kilometer (5 square mile) lake and 47 square kilometers (18 square miles) of seasonal swamps. Early Zionist pioneers drained the swamp in the early 20th century as a major infrastructure project to create more agricultural land and to combat malaria.

 

A trove of bird bones

At the Eynan site, archaeologists are excavating a small Natufian village, which was a Mesolithic culture in the Levant and Western Asia around 9000 BCE. It’s a unique time because the culture emerged when humans started living a semi-sedentary lifestyle predating the agricultural revolution, meaning they had to find regular food sources in the same area even before they knew how to cultivate them. Once humans became more settled, their culture underwent dramatic societal change including the appearance of burial practices, art, and durable structures.

 

The Eynan site was first excavated by a French mission in 1955 and later from 1996–2005 by a joint team from Israel and France directed by François Valla of the Centre Nationale de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and Khalaily of the Israel Antiquities Authority.

Excavations at the site are ongoing and it can take years to methodically sift through all of the earth removed from a site and search for fragments of tools, animal bones, or other detritus from daily life thousands of years ago. Over the past two decades, careful sifting has yielded 1,112 bird bones from the Eynan site.

 

The bone flute was researched and recreated by a team of French and Israeli experts, consisting of archaeologists and archaeozoologists, who study animal bones, ethnomusicologists, paleo-organologists (the research of ancient sound-making instruments), and technical experts that were able to find ways to recreate the exact placement of the finger holes.

The original flutes, also called aerophones because they are an instrument that produces sound due to vibrating air, were made from the hollow wing bones of the Eurasian teal and the Eurasian coot. The current replica was made from the wing bones of two female mallard ducks “because of the difficulty in obtaining carcasses of Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) used by the Natufians,” the article stated.

The tinier the bone, the more difficult it is to play. The researchers believe the bones were chosen specifically to mimic the calls of the Eurasian Sparrowhawk and the Common Kestrel, two birds of prey that were widespread in the Hula Valley.

 

The flute represents the oldest musical instrument found locally, but it is not the oldest aerophone that has been discovered. Most of the known Paleolithic sound-making instruments are found in Europe, and the oldest dates to around 40,000 years ago, which was found in southwestern Germany, made from bird bone and mammoth ivory.

Previous to this discovery, the only known “music” or sound production during the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods in the Levant was from a few studies suggesting that humans could have developed a belt of bone pendants that clacked and rattled, or possibly a bone whistle (flute with no fingerholes).

The flute represents an important discovery, but it’s not music to everyone’s ears. 

“I heard it for the first time on Youtube, and it’s really a terrible tone, it’s high and pitchy and not nice at all to my ear,” said Prof. Rivka Rabinovich, the scientific director of archeozoological collections at the National Natural History Collections at the Hebrew University. Rabinovich, an expert in studying and interpreting the remains of ancient mammal bones has been studying the discoveries from the Eynan site for years.

Rabinovich added that there’s no way of knowing whether ancient humans had a similar cringe reaction when they heard it; whether it was used for hunting, communication, or making music.

But it opens a window into a fascinating point in human development, the complexity of society and their ability to make tools. The small finger holes in the flute were drilled with the talon of a larger bird, likely a falcon. Archaeologists believe that talons also had spiritual significance to early humans, Khalaily said.

 

“It’s very interesting because this is just at the starting point of people becoming more sedentary,” Rabinovich said. “It’s a very exciting period at which to understand the day-to-day life and also larger questions beyond day-to-day life, and why they did certain things.”

She credited the discovery to the large and varied French-Israeli team, which united researchers and archaeologists with areas of expertise in niche areas like reconstructing bone tools and interpreting scratches made in animal bones.

“The message from this is that you really need to save everything [excavated from a site] because you always see these things with new eyes and new tools,” she said. “It takes a long time to sift through things, and when you look at it anew, you can see it differently. That’s because there’s continually new research, there’s continually new technology, and new ways to investigate new information. And it all works together to create a more complete picture of what happened there.”

 

The Eynan site hosted continuous human presence for around 4,000 years, with people living in round houses made of stones with animal hides or branches for roofs. In 8,000 BCE, when the agricultural revolution was well underway, humans abandoned the site, moving around 500 meters closer to the Hula Lake, whose contours had changed with time.

One of the most important tests on the flute is yet to come: In late fall, when the annual bird migration through the Hula Valley takes place, Khalaily plans to take the replicated flute to the Eynan site and play it there, in the same spot where humans created it 12,000 years ago.

“I want to go and see if we can make these voices, in hopes of attracting a hawk or falcon,” he said. “I’m naturally an optimistic person, but I do really think it will work. If we were able to replicate this sound, I’m certain it will bring those birds to us.”

This artical is from The Times of Israel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, Hebrew is a thriving language—used by millions of speakers around the world to communicate all their thoughts and desires. 

That may have seemed almost impossible less than 150 years ago, when the language was thought to exist only in ancient religious texts. For some two thousand years, Hebrew laid dormant as Jewish communities scattered across the globe, and adopted the languages of their new homes. By the late 1800s, Hebrew vocabulary was limited to archaic and religious concepts of the Hebrew Bible—and lacked words for everything from “newspaper” and “academia” to “muffin” and “car.”

 

Here’s a look at the bumpy road to modernizing Hebrew and the debates that surround its continuing evolution today.

Hebrew never really died

The Jewish people were once known as Hebrews for their language, which flourished from roughly the 13th to second centuries B.C.—when the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament, was collected. Hebrew was used in daily life until the second century B.C. at latest, experts believe.

 

But beginning in the second century B.C., Jewish people became increasingly ostracized and oppressed. Through the rise and fall of Rome, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and beyond, they were forced to migrate around Europe and adopted the language of the country they were in. They also formed new languages like Yiddish, which mixed Hebrew, German, and Slavic languages.

Still, the Jewish people were known as “People of the Book.” As part of traditions like studying the Torah and reading it aloud, Jews continued to learn Hebrew to read from the Bible and written Hebrew lived on for more than a millennium mostly through religious practice.

There were exceptions: more educated Jews exchanged messages in Hebrew, sometimes between merchants for records of business, says Meirav Reuveny, a Hebrew language historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A 10th-century trove of documents showed that some women, a group generally confined to domestic duties at the time, also wrote letters, exchanged legal documents, and recorded business in Hebrew. From the 10th to 14th centuries, there was an explosion of secular Hebrew poetry in Andalusia, Spain.

Waking the giant

In the 19th century, most Jews in Europe were still second-class citizens when a new movement emerged that looked to Hebrew as a way to inspire hope through the Jewish people’s glorious past, Reuveny says. Hebrew revivalists wanted to expand the language beyond the abstract concepts in the Bible—they wanted to use it to talk about modern events, politics, philosophy, and medicine. 

Among the leaders of the movement was Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, credited as the father of Modern Hebrew.

“One person cannot invent a language,” Reuveny says. “But he makes a good hero, something important for a social movement.”

Ben-Yehuda was born in 1858 in Lithuania, where Jews were heavily discriminated against and violent pogroms terrorized Jewish communities regularly. When Ben-Yehuda traveled to Paris in 1878, he was empowered by the growing Jewish nationalist movement he witnessed there.

He believed Jews needed a country and language to flourish. He moved to Jerusalem in 1881, where he and his wife made the decision to only speak Hebrew—despite missing words for essential modern items and concepts. They raised their son Itamar Ben-Avi to be the first native Hebrew speaker in almost 2,000 years.

In the beginning, Hebrew went through growing pains: the language needed many new words. Ben-Yehuda made a dictionary of new Hebrew words (including מילון, or milon, the word for dictionary). Hebrew newspapers across Europe invented their own words, too, Reuveny says.

Many people saw this as an unwelcome change—swapping an ancient and sacred language to a new and strange one. Hebrew revivalists chose a difficult way of life by speaking only Hebrew, before it could meet the needs of modern life.

Gradually, the language was standardized in the early 20th century. The first Modern Hebrew dictionary was released in its completed form in 1922. Hebrew language schools were opened, then Hebrew became the language of instruction of all subjects in Jerusalem schools (the first in 1913). 

After the state of Israel was established in 1948, people flocked from all over the world. Many young adults learned Hebrew through the young nation’s mandatory military service, though most families in Israel became Hebrew speakers over one to two generations.

Today, of the 9.5 million people in Israel aged 20 and over, almost everyone uses Hebrew, and 55 percent speak it as their native language. Around the world there are around 15 million Hebrew speakers; in the U.S., there are 195,375.

An unstoppable force

Modern Hebrew has changed significantly but still shares clear ties with Biblical Hebrew. 

“King David and I could probably understand each other,” says Mirit Bessire, Hebrew language program director at Johns Hopkins University, who points out that it’s not all that different from modern English speakers attempting to understand someone using Shakespearean English.

The growing pains Hebrew experienced as it modernized during Ben-Yehuda’s time are echoed in controversies today. Inclusive language such as non-binary adaptations have proven difficult to adopt as Hebrew is significantly gendered, Reuveny says. Modern words and concepts like “gaslighting” also stir debate about how much outside cultures are affecting the language.

“Language does naturally evolve and grow. It’s inevitable. It’s not in our hands what our language does,” Bessire says. 

Language fills the needs of its users, she adds—and today we have more needs than ever as social media and email connect communities of Hebrew speakers far beyond Israel. For example, Bessire says, there are Hebrew communities in China that are not Jewish but have become fluent in the language for business purposes.

“Hebrew is a language of proficiency,” Bessire says. “It's a language that you use for your everyday life, from technology to medicine.”

From The National Geographic