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Modern Hebrew literature is rich, dynamic and fascinating. Though relatively young, it has, in its 200 years, undergone a process of rapid growth and turbulent change through its contact with European culture. It has nevertheless remained a vibrant link in a 3000-year old chain of tradition, having accumulated traces from the manifold strata of classical Hebrew, from the Bible to the Renaissance. Modern Hebrew literature reflects, more than any historical documentation, the dramatic vicissitudes of Jewish existence in recent times: from the aspirations of emancipation to the despair of the Holocaust; from the life of traditional faith to modern secular lifestyles; from ideological and geographic dichotomies to the rebirth of the national identity in its Zionist lsraeli form. Above all, modern Hebrew literature has an aesthetic power, which, at its best, falls short of nothing in Western literature.
This series of stamps depicts 14 exemplary creators of modern Hebrew literature, both in poetry and in prose. Some were active in European literary centres; some immigrated to the Land of Israel and participated in the process of the rebirth of Hebrew literature here, and some were born here, where they drew on their native environment and perfected their creativity throughout their lives.
Judah Leib Gordon
Vilna 1830 - Petersburg 1892
The greatest of the Hebrew Enlightenment poets, Gordon was
creative in many fields. His main literary achievement was in
his sophisticated epic poetry on historic and contemporary
themes. His poetry expresses "enlightened" views of
a world void of divine supervision and his sharp satire of
the follies of traditional Jewish society.
Mondale Mokher Sefarim (Shalom Yacov Abramowitz)
Kapuli Beloruasia 1835- Odessa 1917
Mendele started writing within the context of the
Enlightenment, after a Yiddish period he returned, in 1886,
to Hebrew, into which he supply blended the vocabulary,
phraseology and idioms of earlier Hebrew styles, creating his
own style, new, powerful and influential. His novels display
a panoramic picture of Jewish society in his day, combining
humour and satire with heartrending pathos.
Isaac Leib Peretz Zamosc
Poland 1852 - Warsaw 1975
Besides his Hebrew writing, Peretz is known as cue of the
three classicists of modern Yiddish literature (with Mendele
and Shalom Aleichem). His main works depict his vision of
society merged into fantasies and mysteries, culled from
Jewish folklore and the world of Hassidism.
Micha Josef Berdyczewski (later: Bin Gorion)
Medzibezh Ukraine 1885 - Berlin 1921
Berdyczewski's work includes stories and philosophical
writings, collections of legends and research into ancient
history. He has a rebellious view of Judaism emphasising its
vital, unorthodox nature. His stories depict the
"dichotomy of the heart" between the traditions of
the fathers and the modern world, and the undercurrent of
powerful ancient myths beneath the surface of an otherwise
scant and meagre Jewish existence.
Saul Tchernlchowsky
Mikhailovka Ukraine 1875 - Jerusalem 1943 (immigrated to Israel in
1931)
Tchernichowsky's poetry reflects the harmonious blend in
his personality of his Jewish roots, his attachment to a
general culture in its widest sense, his deep attachment to
nature, his healthy passion and his humanistic, optimistic
world-view. His classicism is particularly noticeable in the
poetic genres he developed (the idyll, the ballad and the
sonnet) and in his varied work as a translator.
Joseph Hayyim Brenner
Novi Mlinl Ukraine 1881 - Jaffa 1921 (immigrated to Israel in
1909)
Brenner's stories draw a deeply psychological profile of
the lonely, alienated Jewish youth, depicting the paradox
between existential despair, and the aspiration to a life
filled with moral significance, As a writer, a critic, an
editor and a publisher, he was at the centre of literary life
in the Land of Israel until his assassination by Arab rioters
in 1921. A powerful personality, he mass model for his own
and future generations.
Yehuda Burla
Jerusalem 1886 - Israel 1969
Born into the old Sephardic community in Jerusalem, Burla
describes Jewish life in different Oriental communities, but
he was also drawn towards the world of the Second Aliya
pioneers, and particularly to kibbutz society. His
outstanding ability was in his composition of complex and
fascinating stories combining folklore, powerful characters
and melodramatic effects.
Devorah Baron
Uzdah Belorussia 1887 - Tel Aviv 1956 (immigrated to Israel in
1910)
Though she lived most of her life in the Land of Israel,
most of her stories are focused on life in the East European
shtetl of her childhood and youth Her fictional world has a
cyclical almost mythological, permanence and its restrained
descriptions conceal a protest against the fate of
society's underdogs, particularly the fate of women
within the traditionally oriented family and community.
Haim Hazaz
Sidorovichi Ukraine 1898 - Jerusalem 1973 (immigrated to Israel in
1931)
Hazaz's narrative work spans over a variety of vistas of
Jewish existence ranging from Russia to Yemen; from distant
historical periods to the realities of traditional life in
the Diaspora and the rebirth of Jewish national existence in
the Land of Israel. At the root of his writings are the
tensions between exile and redemption with all their internal
contradictions, which he expressed in forceful, intensified
language.
Abraham Shlonsky
Karyokov Ukraine 1900 - Tel Aviv 1973 (immigrated to Israel in
1921)
Among the founders of modernism in Hebrew poetry, Shlonsky
combines his ongoing attachment to history since the Third
Aliya period, with his personal, multi-faceted, existential
experience and his leaning towards a symbolistic
aestheticism. In the language of his poetry, he combines
daring, sharp, new forms with traditional Hebrew of various
periods.
Yokheved Bat-Miriam
Keplits Belorussia 1901 - Tel Aviv 1980 (immigrated to Israel in
1928)
Bat-Miriam started by writing expressionistic poetry loaded
with emotional tension and outbursts of feminine passion. She
reached the peak of her creativity in the '40s in her
symbolistic poems rich in sound and portraying complex
conditions of the soul. Her metaphysic inclinations are seen
in her spiritual flights, full of yearning for the divine and
the eternal.
Nathan Atterman
Warsaw 1910- Tel Aviv 1970 (immigrated to Israel in
1925)
Alterman is the central figure of the modern poetical
school, following the "generation of Bialik". His
lyrical poetry with its rich picturesque quality, its
sweeping rhythm and its puzzling symbols, entranced
generations of readers. In his newspaper columns, Alterman
gave penetrating poetic interpretations of contemporary
events from the '30s on, particularly during the period
of the Holocaust and the struggle for independence.
Amir Gilboa
Radzywitov Poland 1914 - Tel Aviv 1984 (immigrated to Israel in
1937)
Gilbos started out as a member of the "Hareim"
Group in the pre-state period. His poetry reflects personal
and collective experiences and is characterised by a stormy
pathos, sensations of expanse and ecstasy, a sensual clinging
to the real world and leaps into the mystical. It is marked
by linguistic and spiritual attachments to the world of
Jewish tradition, a diverse pictorial ability and a break
away from traditional poetic forms.
Yaakov Shabtai
Tel Aviv 1934- Tel Aviv 1981
Shabtai captured a central place in modern Hebrew fiction
with his novel "Past Continuous" (1977) which
depicts, with rare stylistic power, the fall of the Tel Aviv
working and clerical classes, and their transformation into
alienated, lost souls. On his death he left behind him an
incomplete novel, short stories, plays, songs and
translations.