This past Monday, I was in Jerusalem, viewing treasures in the collection of the new National Library of Israel. Among them was the codex brought back from Syria, a 10th century manuscript that was used to teach the Hebrew language, compete with vowels and tropes for pronunciation. Volumes such as the one pictured below maintained the ancient dialect throughout the diaspora. 

A few days later, Hillel's leadership, partnering with the Wirth Institute for Austrian and Central European Studies...