“Now, like Real Israelis, Let's Stand Up and Sing”: Teaching the National Language to Russian Newcomers in Israel

This article addresses the links between nationalism, national identity, and the socialization of migrants through an ethnographic account of an encounter between an Israeli teacher of Hebrew and adult newcomers from the former Soviet Union at a state‐sponsored Hebrew language class (ulpan) in Israel. A close look at the axes around which learning was organized, as well as the modes of instruction, reveals a particular conceptualization of learning to belong to Israeli society, one which the newcomers themselves appeared to contest.