Israeli Sign Language (Hebrew: שפת הסימנים הישראלית), also known asShassi^[2] orISL, is the most commonly usedsign language by theDeafcommunity ofIsrael. Some other sign languages are also used in Israel, among themAl-Sayyid Bedouin Sign Language.

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The history of ISL goes back to 1873 inGermany, whereMarcus Reich, aGerman Jew, opened a special school for Jewish deaf children. At the time, it was considered one of the best of its kind, which made it popular with Jewish deaf children from all over the world as well as non-Jews. In 1932, several teachers from this school opened the first school for Jewish deaf children inJerusalem. The sign language used in the Jerusalemite school was influenced by theGerman Sign Language (DGS), but other sign languages or signing systems brought by immigrants also contributed to the emerging language, which started out as apidgin. A localcreole gradually emerged, which became ISL.^[1]

Shassi still shares many features and vocabulary items with DGS, although it is too far apart today to be considered a dialect of the latter.

During the 1940s, Shassi became the language of a well-established community of Jewish deaf people inJerusalem andTel Aviv. Today ISL is the most used and taught sign language in Israel, and serves as the main mode of communication for most deaf people in Israel, including Jewish,Muslim and Christian Arabs,Druze, andBedouins. Some Arab, Druze, and Bedouin towns and villages have sign languages of their own.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to ISL, there is alsosignedHebrew used as a tool to teaching deaf children the Hebrew language, and for communication between deaf and hearing people.

On November 29, 2020, theIsraeli government decided to establish a unit at theHebrew Language Academy that will work to preserve and develop the Israeli sign language.^[3]

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The beginnings of an established Deaf community in Israel started with the 1936 Tel AvivPurim parade, when groups from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa met for the first time. This led to the creation of the Association of the Deaf in Israel.^[4] The first official board was elected in 1944, with Moshe Bamberger as its first president. The association organized lectures, trips, and holiday celebrations. The community grew as refugees from World War Two fled to Israel, and the association helped new arrivals integrate into the Israeli community by helping them learn Israeli Sign Language and helping them find work. The association completed their Tel Aviv headquarters, Helen Keller House, in 1958.^[4]

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The first school for the deaf was established in 1932, a strict boarding school in Jerusalem that taughtoralism. Two other oralist schools were established in Tel Aviv in 1941 and Haifa in 1949. The emphasis on oralism began to change in the 1970s, when Izchak Schlesinger began to research ISL, and with Israel hosting the Fourth International Conference on Deafness in 1973. 

Themanual alphabet is quite similar to that ofAmerican Sign Language. The correspondences are as follows:

• אʽ as ASL 'A', but with thumb extended
• בb as ASL 'B'
• גg as ASL 'G'
• דd as ASL 'D', but with fingers 3, 4, 5 flat and tips touching tip of thumb
• הh as ASL 'H'
• וv as ASL '1'
• זz as ASL 'Z'
• חch as ASL '8', but with only index and pinkie extended
• טt as ASL 'F'
• יj as ASL 'I'
• כk as ASL 'C'
• לl as ASL 'L'
• מm as ASL 'M'
• נn as ASL 'N'
• סs as ASL 'S'
• עʽ as bent ASL 'V' (like 'X', but with two bent fingers)
• פp as ASL 'P'
• צts as ASL '3'
• קq as ASL 'K'
• רr as ASL 'R'
• שsh as ASL 'W'
• תt as ASL 'T'

Unexpected correspondences are ASL 'F' for Hebrew טtet (analogous to Greektheta becoming Cyrillicfita), '1' rather than 'U' or 'V' for וvav, old-fashioned 'C' and 'K' rather than 'K' and 'Q' for כkaf and קqof (both are pronounced like an English 'k' or hard 'c'), '3' for צtsade (itscursive form quite resembles theArabic numeral3), and 'W' for שshin (reflecting its shape).

If needed, one may indicate the final forms of letters, ך ם ן ף ץ, by moving the hand downward. To specify שׂsin, the hand is turned to face the signer (showing the back of the hand).

• Moshe Shem Tov
• The Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel

• Meir, Irit &Sandler, Wendy. (2007) A Language in Space: The Story of Israel Sign Language. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Israeli Sign Language Dictionary, Institute for the Advancement of Deaf Persons in Israel
• Israeli Sign Language, Sign Language Research Laboratory

• CS1 Hebrew-language sources (he)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• ISO language articles citing sources other than Ethnologue
• Articles needing additional references from October 2022
• All articles needing additional references
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022
• Articles needing additional references from May 2019
• Languages of Israel
• German Sign Language family
• Sign languages of Israel