Israeli Sign Language stamps; 2014. x
Israeli Sign Language, or ISL, is the most commonly used sign language in the deaf community in Israel. Its history goes back to 1873 in Germany, where Marcus Reich, a German Jewish man, opened a special school for Jewish deaf children. At the time, it was considered one of the best schools of its kind and children from all over the world, including many non-Jewish children, would attend it. In 1932, several teachers from this school opened the first school for Jewish deaf children in Jerusalem, which was then a part of the British Mandate of Palestine. The sign language used in the Jerusalem school was influenced by the German Sign Language, but other sign languages brought by immigrants also contributed to the emerging language. A local creole gradually emerged, which eventually became ISL.
ISL still shares many features and vocabulary items with German Sign Language, although it is too far apart today to be considered a dialect. Today ISL serves as the main mode of communication for most deaf people in Israel, though some Palestinian, Druze, and Bedouin towns have sign languages of their own.