HEBREW LITERATURE

the body of written works produced in the Hebrew language and distinct from Jewish literature, which also exists in other languages, including Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), and Yiddish. Hebrew literature has had a continuous tradition from the early 12th century BC to contemporary Israel. A brief account of Hebrew literature follows. For full treatment, see Hebrew Literature. The earliest Hebrew literature, composed over a period of many centuries, is the collection of historical, legal, ethical, and liturgical works that constitute the Old Testament. These works were studied and taught in the synagogues and schools, from the period of the return to Palestine from exile in the 6th century BC. The teachings and amplifications of the rabbinic sages, however, were not written down but were rather orally preserved and transmitted. Classified as to content, the Halakha (Way) dealt with Jewish religious and legal practice, and the Haggada (Narration) dealt with Jewish legend, ethics, history, and homiletics. Finally, in about AD 220, the Jews' main juridical and religious laws were compiled by Judah ha-Nasi and committed to writing in the Mishna (Teaching by Repetition), which was divided into six main sections and about 60 tractates. The expansion of the Mishna by successive generations of scholars was known as the Gemara (Completion). The Mishna and Gemara together constituted the Talmud (Study, or Learning), which was written down in the 4th and 5th centuries in two forms: the Jerusalem Talmud, reflecting the traditions of the Palestinian School, and the Babylonian Talmud, reflecting those of the Jewish centre in Mesopotamia. Contemporary with the Talmud and produced in Palestine was the Midrash (Exposition, or Investigation), a series of works compiled over many years, giving the legendary and imaginative interpretation of the Bible as the rabbis had expounded it in the synagogues. During the Judeo-Hellenic period Hebrew ceased to be the language of the Jewish people but was used only by scholars and in divine worship. After the Talmudic era it lapsed even as a literary language, to be revived again in Palestine and in Spain from the 7th century, after the Muslim conquests. In this period the centre of Jewish culture was transferred first to North Africa and then to Muslim Spain, where Hebrew literature, particularly poetry, flourished. Both the liturgy and secular Spanish-Jewish poetry in Hebrew were raised to a level of excellence by poets such as Ibn Gebirol, Moses ibn Ezra, and Judah ha-Levi, while in Italy the most gifted Hebrew poet was Immanuel ben Solomon of Rome. The Judeo-Arabic school reached its zenith with Spanish-born Moses Maimonides, who formulated a code of rabbinic law, the Mishne Torah. His other masterpiece, the Dalalat al-ha'irin (1204; "The Guide of the Perplexed"), the foremost medieval work of Jewish philosophy, was translated from Arabic into Hebrew. The interests of the Jewish communities of northern Europe were concentrated on the study of Bible and Talmud. The greatest exponent of Biblical commentary was Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi) of Troyes, whose commentary on the Bible is still universally studied by Jews. From the 12th to the 17th century, legal and ethical compositions were produced steadily in every part of the world, including Zefat (now in Israel), where Joseph ben Ephraim Karo created his Shulhan 'arukh ("Prepared Table"), the guide for the layman to Talmudic Law. The 16th and 17th centuries saw the rise of Poland as a major centre of Jewish learning, producing scholars who devoted themselves to the exposition of the Babylonian Talmud. In the 18th century, Moses Mendelssohn in Berlin embarked on a program of Jewish educational reform and to this end translated the Old Testament into German in Hebrew characters and founded a Hebrew-language periodical, Ha-Me'assef ("The Gleaner"). Mendelssohn's influence permeated the Jewish communities of Russia and Poland, where Haskala, the Jewish enlightenment movement, became firmly established. It produced a new literature in Hebrew comprising poetry, novels, and essays, among other forms. After the rise of the Zionist movement toward the end of the 19th century, the centre of Hebrew literary activity gradually moved to Palestine. Eliezer ben Yehuda initiated a campaign to revive Hebrew as a spoken tongue, and the success of this endeavour widened the Hebrew readership in Palestine. The literature of the settlements in Palestine consisted of poetic idylls, descriptions of Arab life, and stories about the Biblical past or Jewish life in eastern Europe. Shmuel Yosef Agnon, Nobel laureate of 1966, wrote about life both in his native Galicia and in Palestine. After the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 and the adoption of Hebrew as one of its official languages, Hebrew literature passed into the hands of Hebrew-speaking Israelis who deal almost exclusively with the concerns of their own environment, using a literary style that echoes colloquial speech. A native Hebrew drama has been established, and both poetry and prose reflect the vitality of a diverse and unique culture. the body of written works produced in the Hebrew language and distinct from Jewish literature, which also exists in other languages. Literature in Hebrew has been produced uninterruptedly from the early 12th century BC, and certain excavated tablets may indicate a literature of even greater antiquity. From 1200 BC to c. AD 200, Hebrew was a spoken language in Palestine, first as biblical Hebrew, then as Mishnaic Hebrew, a later dialect that does not derive directly from the biblical dialect and one that gained literary status as the Pharisees began to employ it in their teaching in the 2nd century BC. It was not revived as a spoken language until the late 19th century, and in the 20th century it was adopted as the official language of the new State of Israel. The latter event gave impetus to a growing movement in Hebrew literature centred in Israel. Hebrew literature is not synonymous with Jewish literature. Some Hebrew writing was produced by the Samaritans and in the 17th century by Protestant enthusiasts. Jews also produced important literatures in Greek, Aramaic, Arabic, Judeo-Spanish (Ladino), Yiddish, and a number of other languages. Apart from the Aramaic writings, however, such literatures always served only that part of Jewry using the language in question. When the community ceased to exist, the literature produced in that language was forgotten (or, in the case of Greek Jewish literature, became part of Christian tradition) except for whatever part of it had been translated into Hebrew and thus became part of Hebrew literature. The Hebrew language, though not spoken between c. AD 200 and the late 19th century, has always adapted itself to the needs of changing literary tastes. In the Bible it develops from a simple and earthy idiom to a language suitable for the expression of sophisticated religious thought without losing the poetic force and rhythmic fullness that characterizes it. Mishnaic Hebrew is pedestrian and exact, and yet it can reach heights of irony or of warmth. In medieval poetry Hebrew allows extravagant displays of verbal artistry but also, in northwestern Europe, a simplicity equal to that of the spoken languages of its milieu. One generation of translators in the 12th century created a scientific Hebrew that is not inferior to contemporary Arabic or Latin in precision or syntactic refinement. The 17th-19th centuries saw the formation of a stately, rigid, classical style based on biblical Hebrew, but at the same time eastern European mystics made the language serve the expression of their love of God. Literary Hebrew in the 20th century draws upon ancient literature to a marked degree, with styles often modeled upon ancient predecessors. The modern period has also evolved a new type of language for nonliterary writing, while in novels the style is often based upon the spoken language. Additional reading Julius A. Bewer, The Literature of the Old Testament, 3rd ed., completely rev. by Emil G. Kraeling (1962); Sanford Calvin Yoder, Poetry of the Old Testament (1948, reprinted 1973), a useful introduction and representative collection of biblical poetry; Meyer Waxman, A History of Jewish Literature, 2nd ed., 5 vol. (1938-60), excellent coverage of Yiddish writing as well as Hebrew; Abraham E. Millgram (ed.), An Anthology of Medieval Hebrew Literature (1961); Benzion Halper, Post-Biblical Hebrew Literature: An Anthology, 2 vol. (1921, reprinted 1946); Leon I. Feuer, Jewish Literature Since the Bible (1937), with supplements by Azriel Eisenberg; T. Carmi (ed.), The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (1981), a representation of Hebrew poetry from the Bible to the present day, with a useful introduction; Menachem Ribalow, The Flowering of Modern Hebrew Literature, trans. from the Hebrew and ed. by Judah Nadich (1959); Joseph Klausner, A History of Modern Hebrew Literature, 1788-1930 (1932, reprinted 1972; originally published in Hebrew, 1920); Jacob S. Raisin, The Haskalah Movement in Russia (1913, reprinted 1972); Dov Vardy, The New Hebrew Poetry (1947); Samuele Avisar, Teatro Ebraico (1957); David Patterson, The Hebrew Novel in Czarist Russia (1964); Menachem Ribalow, Anthology of Hebrew Poetry in America (1938), with text in Hebrew; Simon Halkin, Modern Hebrew Literature, from the Enlightenment to the Birth of the State of Israel: Trends and Values, new ed. (1970); Jacob J. Petuchowski, Theology and Poetry: Studies in the Medieval Piyyut (1978), with a general introduction, text, and notes; Stanley Burnshaw, T. Carmi, and Ezra Spicehandler (eds.), The Modern Hebrew Poem Itself (1965), in Hebrew with English transcription and rendering; Eisig Silberschlag, From Renaissance to Renaissance, vol. 2: Hebrew Literature in the Land of Israel, 1870-1970 (1977); Glenda Abramson, Modern Hebrew Drama (1979); Elliott Anderson (ed.), Contemporary Israeli Literature: An Anthology (1977); Jacob Sonntag (ed.), New Writing from Israel 1976: Stories, Poems, Essays (1976). Chaim Rabin Samuel Leiter Glenda M. Abramson