Revival of the Hebrew language many Jews spoke a related Semitic language, Aramaic.) From the 2nd century CE until the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language "circa" 1880, Hebrew served as a literary and official language and as the Judaic language of prayer. After the spoken usage of Mishnaic Hebrew ended in the 2nd century CE, Hebrew had not been spoken as a mother tongue. Even so, during the Middle Ages, Jews used the language in a wide variety of disciplines. This usage kept alive a substantial portion of the traits characteristic of Hebrew. First and foremost, Classical Hebrew was preserved in full through
Elwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation Gutnick succeeded his father Chaim as Chief Minister of the congregation. In 2008 the Elwood Talmud Torah Hebrew Congregation celebrated its 75th anniversary. Federal member for Melbourne Ports Michael Danby, an Elwood resident, marked the occasion by paying tribute to the congregation in a speech before Australian Parliament on 16 October 2008, saying, "It is very fortuitous, when viewed in retrospect, that this congregation was formed by central and east European migrants prior to the Second World War. These were the very people who were able to look after the refugees and the displaced persons who came off the ships