At the risk of sounding facetious, I would state that this book would be targeted at “Hebrew Americans and those that care about them”. By helping those who fall into the Hebrew American category to self-identify, I would hopefully encourage American Hebrew speakers to organize themselves more effectively. This book will not be a manifesto or a handbook for personal change (similar to the Jewish Catalog phenomenon in the 1970s); however, it could lead to the emergence of new, creative thinking about language and identity throughout the Jewish community.

While a few scholars have focused on the Israeli Diaspora in the United States (notably, Shokeid’s 1988 book), this sub-group within American Jewry has been relatively ignored. Indeed, Israeli- Americans do not seem to be widely recognized as a distinct sub-group within American Jewry. The labels that are traditionally used to differentiate among different types of Jewish identity are usually denominational. Thus, it would be considered reasonable to discuss the differences in belief and practice between Orthodox and Reform Jews, but it would probably be considered strange today to distinguish between groups of Jews based on their fluency in Hebrew.

In fact, recognizing the distinctiveness of Hebrew speakers does not simply add another sub-group into Jewish life; it helps define a new taxonomy for describing forms of Jewish identity and assimilation, based on skill level (i.e. language fluency) instead of on religious belief and practice. Indeed, the lack of religiosity among many secular Israelis might get them classified as “nonengaged” or even “assimilated” Jews, using a more traditional, religiously focused taxonomy for describing Jewish affiliation patterns.

While it is currently in fashion to speak about “post-denominational Jewish life”, this should not imply that all taxonomies are inadequate, and that perceiving divisions merely generates new forms of divisiveness. By measuring Jewish identity based on Hebrew fluency and behavioral attachments to Israel (as opposed to emotional or financial support), we might all better understand our existence as a Diaspora community within a rapidly changing host country.