Modern Hebrew Literature as an Educational Mechanism for Reaffirming Jewish identity
To what extent does literature enrich education and what value does it offer in the molding of students with a sense of responsibility for the continuity of their religion, their Jewish identity, and their connection with Eretz Israel?
In the Mishna (Avot 3:1) we read, “Akavia, son of Mahalalel, says: 'Pay attention to three things and you will not sin: Know where you have come from, and where you are headed, and before Whom you will have to give an accounting.” According to Anita Shapira, “Since the early days of the Zionist movement, Hebrew literature has functioned as a seismograph, recording the mood and spirit of the movement, serving as its guide and conscience.” (Fainstein n.d.).
Hebrew literature starts with the Bible and continues throughout the ages, with a major revival led by intellectuals who came from the Diasporas to Palestine at the beginning of the 20th century. “These writers, who come from the spiritual, simple, and orderly world of the shtetl and possess advanced intellectual training acquired in Russian, German, Polish or French religious schools and universities, encounter Palestine – where Jewish life is not founded upon or ordered by sacred texts or culture, where work in the field is the main basis of the rebirth of the Jewish people in Zion” (Ramos 2014, 746).
It is important to remember that literature is an ideal platform in which to relate the human experience and to give compassionate meaning to historical events and the history of the Jewish people. It is where sacred texts, politics, culture, and society come together and where the main thing to make known is that the work of the fields and the teaching of the Hebrew language will be the main basis of the rebirth of the Jewish people in Zion.
Between 1904 and 1914, the period of the second Aliyah, there was a significant development of the press and Jewish literature in Eretz Israel. Tel Aviv was an intellectual bohemian center, where authors such as Alexander Penn, Abraham Schlonsky, Nathan Alterman and Lea Goldberg - among others – promoted and embodied Zionist literary dogma, with its complete rejection of exilic life and the Yiddish language.
In Jerusalem, which was the cradle of the right-wing revisionist elite, there were the great poets Saul Tchernichovsky, Yosef Klausner, and S.Y. Agnon – to mention just a few – who wanted to express all feelings and thoughts in their writings so that words in Hebrew would sound natural. Notably, the writer Amos Oz (Klausner), was surrounded by these great writers during his childhood and absorbed much knowledge from them.
One of the main elements characterizing Jewish literature of that time are the experiences, lessons and legacies of immigrants to Palestine from Europe. The 1920s, in particular, were an especially fruitful and prolific period, reflecting the experiences of immigration, political positions, the situation with the Arabs, the British Mandate, as well as the longing for European lands, and the Yiddish language.
The tension between the biblical language and the modern Hebrew that was revived as a secularized language is expressed in Gershom Scholem’s comment to the philosopher Franz Rosenzweig: “This country seems like a volcano where the language boils. We talk about everything that could lead us to the danger of falling, and more than ever about the Arabs. But there is another danger, much more important than the Arab nation, and which is a necessary consequence of the Zionist enterprise: “What happens with the updating of the Hebrew language?” (Fainstein n.d.).
The literature of the 1930s shows signs of radicalization and domestic political activism, the formation of paramilitary Zionist bodies, as well as concerns about the situation of Jews in Europe. The period of the 1940s, marked by war, the Holocaust, the survivors and the founders of the State, has its own unique expressions in literature. Indeed, the pedagogical teaching of Hebrew literature offers philosophical, literary, political and historical perspectives on the history of the Jewish people.
Hebrew literature is a perfect channel for teaching Torah, history, and contemporary history of the State, as well as the lives of biblical characters, army chiefs, writers, teachers, street vendors, and farmers, with micro-stories revealing the cultural diversity of Israeli society.
Israeli literature – which is an integral part of Hebrew literature – has helped forge the Israeli national identity from 1948 to the present day. It is important that modern Hebrew literature be taught Jewish educational institutions in the Diaspora as a fundamental element in reinforcing Jewish identity. The texts teach important moments in Israeli history and society. Through the literature, students come to understand the different stages of the Jewish people, life in exile, Zionism, the creation of the State, and more.
Jewish literature was the first realm where the Psalms, Bible, Talmud, and traditional prayer coexisted with new expressions of modern European literature, highlighting that secular Hebrew literature had not developed since the Golden Age in Spain. A very clear example is the writing of Nobel Prize laureate in literature, S.Y. Agnon, who recounts the splendor, beauty and charm of traditional Jewish life in his attempt to illuminate a fragmented past. Literature constitutes a space where the inner world and the outer world interact with great creativity, that is, combining the traditional religious world of the Hebrew language and culture, with the experience of modernity, Zionism and the sufferings of the Shoah. This merging is eloquently captured, for example, in Etgar Keret's story, “Sirena” and in Cynthia Ozick’s “El Chal”.
Monica is a student of the Melton Master’s Degree, and Director of the Oraj Haim School in Mexico City
Bibliography:
Fainstein, Daniel. (s/f). Shmuel Yosef Agnon, patriarca de la narrativa hebrea moderna. Estado de México, Universidad Hebraica.
- Keret, Etgar. (2009). Sirena en Relatos Israelíes del siglo XX, Tamara Rajczyk (ed.) Buenos Aires. Ediciones Lilmod. Pp. 17-21.
- Ramos Gonzáles, Alicia. (2014). Literatura Hebrea en el Periodo de Entreguerras. Barcelona. Editorial Trotta. Pp. 745-772.
- Ozick, Cynthia. (2009) El Chal. En Cuentistas Judíos, Ilan Stavans (ed.) México, Editorial Porrúa.