ABSTRACT
The greatest influence on Israeli Sign Language (ISL) seems to have been German Sign Language, most likely due to the fact that a number of the early influential figures in the community were German Jews. The 1930s were a time when many German Jews immigrated to Israel. With the large-scale immigration of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, ISL was further enriched with input from new deaf immigrants from countries such as Algeria, Egypt, and Morocco. The fact that Israeli Sign Language is a very distinct communication system that grew out of an amalgamation of different Jewish sources makes it a true Jewish language. Just as the Israeli people comprise a fusion of Jews from all over the world and Israeli cuisine is a mixture of different Jewish traditions, so this uniquely Israeli sign language is a blend of Jewish sign languages from Central and Eastern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
