I can't verify the Hallelujah story, but it's a good one.
Erling Olsen in his Meditations in the Book of Psalms writes in 1937 (on Ps. 147, p. 1013) that the word Hallelujah (Praise the Lord) was taboo in Germany because it is a Hebrew word.
His book is enjoyable not only for all the history and analysis of the Psalms, but because he was living in and comments on the era of terrible economic depression, a time of terrible drought and crop loss, and the build up to WWII.
Hitler tried to blame all Germany's problems on the Jews and diminished them as human beings. Forbidding certain words is not new to our era--like stolen election or even an acronym like MAGA. It's typical in power grabs. Hitler considered Jews inferior to the German master race. He convinced many Germans that Jews weren't worthy of the rights enjoyed by other Germans even thought they'd been neighbors and friends for decades and centuries. That power enhancing trick is being used today by certain totalitarians in government, entertainment, business and education aided by Big Tech. Demonize Trump supporters and then on a larger scale, all white people, and on to Western Civilization and its core values. It's been a growing crescendo for at least 3 decades, maybe more. It's in "studies" curricula, "woke" speech, intersectional group speak, behavior demands, shadow banning and cancel culture. It's in the 1619 myth and in the climate change hysteria. We've been here before. The House Un-American Activities Committee lasted from 1938-1965, then got a name change. If you look at a list of the committee members in Wikipedia, by far the majority were Democrats.
Olsen says (it was a radio show later published in book form) Hallelujah is the language of heaven. Brush up on it now, he says, so you will be fluent when you get there. Olsen also warns us not to forget our knee exercises--don't forget to pray and praise. Our hearts can grow cold without praise.
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