Later Spanish, Provençal, and Italian poets wrote both religious and secular poems. Particularly prominent poets were Solomon ibn Gabirol and Yehuda Halevi.
Little writing by Jewish women survives from this period. One Arabic stanza is attributed to the seventh-century Sarah of Yemen, who may have been Jewish; one stanza in Hebrew by the wife of Dunash ben Labrat survives from the tenth century; and three poems in Arabic attributed to the Andalusian woman Qasmuna survive from the twelfth.[2][3] The first female Jewish poet to write poetry in German was Rachel Akerman (1522–1544), who wrote a poem titled "Geheimniss des Hofes" (The Mystery of the Courts), in which she described the intrigues of courtiers.[4] A female Jewish poet writing in Yiddish during the same period was Rebecca bat Meir Tiktiner, author of a poem about Simchat Torah in forty couplets.[5]
Most medieval Hebrew poetry was mono-rhymed with quantitative metre influenced by the style of Jewish poets from fallen Al-Andalus. One noted exception are two passages from Sefer Hakhmoni by Shabbethai Donnolo (sometimes classified as rhymed prose "saj" according to the prosodic classifications borrowed from Arabic tradition) because they are not quantitatively metered.[6]
The modern era also saw the creation of what is generally known as "modern Jewish literature," discussed here. Modern Jewish literature emerged with the Hebrew literature of the Haskalah and broke with religious traditions about literature. Therefore, it can be distinguished from rabbinic literature which is distinctly religious in character.[7] Modern Jewish literature was a unique Jewish literature which often also contributed to the national literatures of many of the countries in which Jews lived.
Eighteenth-century Hebrew literature
It was with Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (1707–1746) that Hebrewpoetry shook off the medieval fetters which hindered its free development. His allegorical drama "La-Yesharim Tehillah" (1743), which may be regarded as the first product of modern Hebrew literature, has been described as "a poem that in its classic perfection of style is second only to the Bible."[8] In Amsterdam, Luzzatto's pupil, David Franco Mendes (1713–92), in his imitations of Jean Racine ("Gemul 'Atalyah") and of Metastasio ("Yehudit"), continued his master's work, though his works are not as respected as were Luzzatto's. In Germany, the leader of the Haskalah movement Naphtali Hartwig Wessely (1725–1805) has been regarded as the "poet laureate" of his era.[8] Luzzatto and Wessely also wrote works of ethical musar literature, and Luzzatto's Mesillat Yesharim gained particular prominence.
Hayim Nahman Bialik (1873–1934) was one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poetry and came to be recognized as Israel's national poet. Bialik contributed significantly to the revival of the Hebrew language. His influence is felt deeply in all subsequent Hebrew literature. Another prominent Hebrew poet of Bialik's era was Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875–1943), who is especially well known for his nature poetry and for his interest in the culture of ancient Greece.
Jewish authors who wrote in German and made outstanding contributions to world literature include the German poet Heinrich Heine and the Bohemian novelist Franz Kafka.
Isaak Babel (1894–1940) was a Soviet journalist, playwright, and short story writer acclaimed as "the greatest prose writer of Russian Jewry."[10] Other Russian writers of Jewish descent include Boris Pasternak (who never wrote on Jewish themes); Joseph Brodsky, a poet who won the Nobel Prize in 1987; Osip Mandelstam, another famous poet, wooer of Akhmatova, and victim of the Soviets. Vassily Grossman's experiences in WWII provide the main material for his novels.
Ladino Literature
The primary forms of modern Ladino literature have been fables and folktales.[11] Ladino fables and folktales often have Jewish themes, with biblical figures and legendary characters, and many of them feature the folk character "Ejoha" (also "Joha"). In 2001, the Jewish Publication Society published the first English translation of Ladino folk tales, collected by Matilda Koén-Sarano, Folktales of Joha, Jewish Trickster: The Misadventures of the Guileful Sephardic Prankster.
A number of poets of the 20th century created their works in the Judeo-Tat language, such as Sergey Izgiyayev, creates (Juhuri: Иму гъэлхэнд шолуминим) - "We are the defenders of the World" (1952), (Juhuri: Фикиргьой шогьир) - "Thoughts of the Poet" (1966), (Juhuri: Муьгьбет ве гьисмет) - "The fate and love" (1972) and a number of other works. Shimshun Safonov, in 1968, created a collection of poetry (Juhuri: Парза, ма‘ни ма) - "Fly, my verse." Poetess Zoya Semenduyeva has released a collection (Juhuri: Войгей дуьл) - "The Command of the Heart". In 2007, her book was published (Juhuri: Духдер эн дуь бебе) - "Daughter of two fathers".[15]
Related Research Articles
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writings. It aligns with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal, which translates to “literature [of our] sages” and generally pertains only to the sages (Chazal) from the Talmudic period. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmud, Midrashim, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms mefareshim and parshanim almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
The Haskalah, often termed the Jewish Enlightenment, was an intellectual movement among the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe, with a certain influence on those in Western Europe and the Muslim world. It arose as a defined ideological worldview during the 1770s, and its last stage ended around 1881, with the rise of Jewish emancipation.
Mendele Mocher Sforim, born Sholem Yankev Abramovich or S. J. Abramowitch, was a Jewish author and one of the founders of modern Yiddish and Hebrew literature. His name was variously transliterated as Moykher, Sfarim,Seforim, etc.
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL, was an Italian Jewish rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher.
Biblical poetry such as the Song of the Sea and the Song of Deborah may be considered early examples of Jewish epic poetry, though very short by normal epic standards. Both songs are compared by scholars to Canaanite and Assyrian epic poetry.
Hayim Nahman Bialik was a Jewish poet who wrote primarily in Hebrew and Yiddish. Bialik is considered a pioneer of modern Hebrew poetry, part of the vanguard of Jewish thinkers who gave voice to a new spirit of his time, and recognized today as Israel's national poet. Being a noted essayist and story-teller, Bialik also translated major works from European languages.
Uri Zvi Greenberg was an Israeli poet, journalist and politician who wrote in Yiddish and Hebrew.
Yiddish literature encompasses all those belles-lettres written in Yiddish, the language of Ashkenazic Jewry which is related to Middle High German. The history of Yiddish, with its roots in central Europe and locus for centuries in Eastern Europe, is evident in its literature.
Judah Leib Gordon, also known as Leon Gordon, was among the most important Hebrew poets of the Haskalah.
Hebrew literature consists of ancient, medieval, and modern writings in the Hebrew language. It is one of the primary forms of Jewish literature, though there have been cases of literature written in Hebrew by non-Jews. Hebrew literature was produced in many different parts of the world throughout the medieval and modern eras, while contemporary Hebrew literature is largely Israeli literature. In 1966, Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature for novels and short stories that employ a unique blend of biblical, Talmudic and modern Hebrew, making him the first Hebrew writer to receive this award.
Dan Pagis was an Israeli poet, lecturer and Holocaust survivor.
The revival of the Hebrew language took place in Europe and the Palestine region toward the end of the 19th century and into the 20th century, through which the language's usage changed from purely the sacred language of Judaism to a spoken and written language used for daily life among the Jews in Palestine, and later Israel. Eliezer Ben-Yehuda is often regarded as the "reviver of the Hebrew language" having been the first to raise the concept of reviving Hebrew and initiating a project known as the Ben-Yehuda Dictionary. The revitalization of Hebrew was then ultimately brought about by its usage in Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine that arrived in the waves of migration known as the First Aliyah and the Second Aliyah. In Mandatory Palestine, Modern Hebrew became one of three official languages and after the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, one of two official languages of Israel, along with Modern Arabic. In July 2018, a new law made Hebrew the sole official language of the State of Israel, while giving Arabic a "special status".
Rebecca bat Meir Tiktiner, was a Yiddish writer, whose works include a treatise on Jewish ethics in the style of musar literature as well as a poem about Simchat Torah.
Modern Hebrew poetry is poetry written in the Hebrew language. Moshe Chaim Luzzatto is considered one of the earliest modern Hebrew poets.
Musar literature is didactic Jewish ethical literature which describes virtues and vices and the path towards character improvement. This literature gives the name to the Musar movement, in 19th century Lithuania, but this article considers such literature more broadly.
Menachem Mendel Lefin (1749–1826) was an early leader of the Haskalah movement.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism:
Eastern Sephardim are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews mostly descended from Jewish families which were exiled from Iberia in the 15th century, following the Alhambra Decree of 1492 in Spain and a similar decree in Portugal five years later. This branch of descendants of Iberian Jews settled across the Eastern Mediterranean.
Judeo-Tat literature is the literature of the Mountain Jews in the Juhuri language.
↑ Emily Taitz, Sondra Henry, and Cheryl Tallan, 'Sarah of Yemen', in The JPS Guide to Jewish Women: 600 B.C.E. to 1900 C.E. (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2003), pp. 57-59.
↑ The Dream of the Poem: Hebrew Poetry from Muslim and Christian Spain, 950-1492, ed. and trans. by Peter Cole (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), pp. 27, 364.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
