So I’ll stir the pot.
First, we of all generations ought to question the idea that Hebrew, modern or other, must be spoken to be “real” or “national.” In our generation, people may communicate more by writing than by speaking, as we are doing now. Jews across exile communities did this for centuries — and in shu”t and international trade, to give two examples, the language was Hebrew. Today, whole languages exist that aren’t spoken at all: computer languages, sign languages, etc.
Second, of course masses of Jews spoke Hebrew regularly: in davening. Apart from the shemone esre, davening is loud. There’s an etymological notion that the very word “daven” comes from a Germanic word that gives us the English “din,” as in putting up a din. And should we argue that, well, back there they just mouthed the words and didn’t understand them, I think that’s an anachronism — typical of lots of us but not of lots of them. Evidence: massive lending of Hebrew words to Yiddish and the (many) other Judeo-languages. You can’t lend what you don’t own.
Third, Jews in exile did speak Hebrew to communicate with each other when they had to.
Finally, two ironies: First, for whatever reason, the Emancipation in France was greeted by a drasha in shul in French and then in Hebrew. Ironic because the theme of the drasha was the renunciation of Jewish nationhood per Napoleon’s demands. Second, the Old Yishuv won some battles against Modern Hebrew but lost the war because it couldn’t make its case without using Modern Hebrew.
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