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Hebrew literature
Hebrew literature embraces many centuries of
Jewish literary tradition, with origins in ancient times
during the
period when the Torah was codified. Until the eighteenth
century, Hebrew
writing was comprised almost exclusively of religious texts.
During and
after the Babylonian captivity (600-201 B.C.), a rich
apocryphal
literature was written, including the Book of Daniel and the
Books of
the Maccabees, and midrashim, as well as mystic and gnostic
texts of the
Hellenistic period (the second century B.C. to the first
century A.D.).
When the final Biblical canon was established, extensive
commentaries began to be written about it. These included
the Mishnah,
and then the Talmud (first to sixth centuries), written in
both Hebrew
and Aramaic. The Bible was translated into other languages
(targum) for
speakers of Aramaic in Palestine, and also for the Jewish
diaspora and
pagan converts to Judaism. Rabbinical responses appeared,
which were
records of legal decisions made by respected rabbis in
specific cases.
During the golden age of Jewish culture in Spain [from
900-1200 -
translator's note], philosophers and mystics were publishing
their works
in Hebrew, Aramaic (Zohar) and Arabic (Maimonides,
Nahmanides). Many of
them wrote poetry, both secular and religious (Judah ben
Samuel
Ha-Levi). In the late Middle Ages through the sixteenth
century, many
Talmudic commentaries were written (Rashi), as well as
prayer books
(makhzor), moralistic literature ("Musar literature",
[Hebrew, musar =
"ethics"]), written both by Sephardim and Ashkenazim.
In Renaissance Poland, the golden age of Jewish culture
gave rise to
many religious works by rabbis who were famous throughout
Europe (Moses
ben Israel Isserles, Solomon Luria, Shalom Shachna) and
introduced new
concepts and methods into Talmudic studies (pilpul).
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Because Poland shared a border with the Ottoman
Empire, Polish Jews were in contact with Sephardic Jewish
culture,
particularly with the Kabbalistic schools in Safed and
Tiberiade. As a
result, Sephardic literature began to circulate, as well as
the
codification of Jewish religious law and practice, Shulkhan
Arukh, by
Joseph ben Efraim Karo, the Kabbalistic theories of Isaac
ben Solomon
Luria, and later works by adherents of Sabbathaism.
The Cossack uprisings, particularly the massacre by
Chmielnicki's
army in 1648, shocked Polish Jews. They responded with
chronicles, the
most famous of which, Yeven metsula [Hebrew, Deep Bog,
1653], was
written by Natan Hanover. Diaries by Ber of Bolechow titled
Divrey bina
[Hebrew, Words of Reason] date back to the eighteenth
century.
As Chasidism developed, religious literature was
enriched by the
works of the tzaddikim. These works, written in Hebrew,
included
Talmudic commentaries, legal (halakha) codexes, and
biographies of the
tzaddikim written by their pupils (also in Yiddish), full of
legends and
fairy tale motifs. These often took the shape of aphorisms
and
parables, and cited the teachings of the masters.
The beginnings of modern Hebrew literature were
associated with the
Haskalah movement; for the most part, these consisted of
publicistic
writings, Biblical plays, and anti-Chasidic comedies, as
well as
translations of European works of literature. In the early
nineteenth
century, works popularizing secular knowledge also began to
be written
in Hebrew, as well as academic treatises and philosophical
works. These
authors included M. M. Lewin, N. Krochmal, A. Stern and C.
Z. Slonimski.
The writings of supporters of the Haskalah movement helped
bring about a
renaissance of the Hebrew language, as well as its
modernization.
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Hebrew literature really only reached its peak,
however, under the influence of Zionism, which recognized
Hebrew as the
national language of the Jews. Eliezer ben Yehuda
(1858-1922) had a
strong influence on its modernization and development. It
was he who
decided to adopt Sephardic pronunciation and helped spread
the use of
Hebrew among the Palestinian settlers. The classical works
of modern
Hebrew literature were written in the late nineteenth and
early
twentieth centuries in Odessa, Warsaw and Galicia. These
authors
included A. Mapu (1808-67), Achad Ha-Am, C. N. Bialik, S.
Czernichowski
(1875-1943), and U. C. Grinberg.
As emigration increased during the interwar period, the
center of
Hebrew literature moved to Palestine. Although the works
written in
those places remained under the influence of European
literary trends
for a long time, the authors developed their own styles as
well. Several
works of contemporary Israeli literature have gained
international
acclaim, including those by S. J. Agnon (winner of the Nobel
Prize in
1966), and A. Oz, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in
1994.
(A.C./CM)
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