HEBREW LITERATURE

by: Shara May M. Anacay BSE - English

ETYMOLOGYHebrew comes from Middle

English word “EBREU” which comes from the Old French derived from the Latin word “HEBRAEUS”

WHO ARE THE HEBREWS? Hebrews were

ancestors of Samaritan and Jew.

Jews were the descendants of the Hebrews.

Hebrews claim to be the descendants of Biblical Patriarch, Abraham.

WHAT COUNTRY DO THEY LIVE? Hebrews live in the Ancient Middle

East. Around 1, 400 BC, they settled in Canaan(formerly known as Israel), the country of the Eastern coast Mediterranean Sea, the territory of modern Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria.

Hebrew is a member of the Canaanite group of Semitic languages.

WHAT DID THEIR BUILDING LOOK LIKE?Hebrews – lived in tents.

- wealthier people live in the houses built in of sand dried mud bricks, the roof of the house was flat.

The church of the Hebrew was called Jerusalem Temple (the

1st temple was built by King Solomon)

It was covered with gold (Jerusalem Temple)

WHAT DID THEY EAT? Hebrew food was similar to the food

of other Mediterranean people.They ate homemade bread that the

lady of the house would bake in the big clay (the yard, lentils, cheese, olives, and fresh fruits)

Meat and fish were also available.The popular drink was wine.

WHAT DID THEY WEAR? Hebrews wear

fringes(edge of garment) and tekhelet ribbon.

Tekhelet was translated in the King James Version (KJV) to mean blue, however, it means violet in Hebrew, not blue.

It looks like a Tyrian purple.

HEBREW LITERATURE It consists of ancient, medieval

and modern writings in the Hebrew language.

It is one of the primary forms of Jewish Literature.

It was produced in many different parts of the world throughout the medieval and modern eras.

ANCIENT HEBREW LITERATURE Literature in Hebrew begins with the

Oral Literature of the Leshon Hakodesh or the “Holy Language”.

The most important work of Ancient Hebrew is the Hebrew Bible named Tanakh.

Mishna – primary rabbinic codification of laws as derived from the torah. It was written in Mishnaic Hebrew.

MEDIEVAL HEBREW LITERATURE

During the medieval period, the majority of Jewish and Hebrew was composed in Islamic North Africa, Spain, Palestine, and Middle East.

Many works of medieval philosophical literature such as Maimonides Guide to the Perplexed and the Kuzari, as well as many works of fiction, were written in Judeo-Arabic.

MEDIEVAL HEBREW LITERATURE

One work of fiction which was written in Hebrew was the “Fox Fables” by Berechiah ben Natronai ha-Nakdan, Hebrew fables which resemble Aesop’s fable.

MEDIEVAL HEBREW LITERATURE

Much medieval Jewish poetry was written in Hebrew, including the liturgical Piyyutim in Palestine in the 7th and 8th centuries by Yose ben Yose, Yanai, and Eleazar Kalir.

This litturgy was compiled in book from as “the siddur” by rabbis including Amram Gaon and Saadia Gaon.

MODERN HEBREW LITERATURE

In addition to writing traditional rabbinic literature in Hebrew, MODERN Jews developed new forms of fiction, poetry, and essay writing which are called “Modern Hebrew Literature”.

18TH CENTURY“La-Yesharim Tehillah”

- it is an allegorical drama- 1st product of modern

Hebrew Literature.- it was written by Moses

Hayyim Luzatto

18TH CENTURYMoses Mendelsshon’s translation

of the Hebrew Bible into German inspired interest in the Hebrew language that led to the founding of a quarterly review written in Hebrew.

“Shire Tif’eret” and “Mosiade”- poems made by Nephtali Hirz

and Wessely .

19TH CENTURYIn the 19th century Galicia poets, scholars, and popular writers who contributed to the discrimination of Hebrew and to the emancipation of the Jews of Galicia.

19TH CENTURYJoseph Perl

- writer and educator- In 1819, he published

Revealer of Secrets, the 1st Hebrew novel.

Nachman Krochmal- a philosopher, theologian,

and historian.

19TH CENTURYSolomon Judah Loeb Rapoport

- a rabbi, poet, and biographer.

Isaac Erter- a satirical poet, whose

collection of essays, “Ha-Tzofet le-Bet Yisrael, is one of the purest works of modern Hebrew Literature.

19TH CENTURYMeir Halevy Letteris

- a lyric poet.

Julius Barasch- a notable Jewish author in

Romania.

20TH CENTURYHayim Nahman Bialik

- one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew poets.

Yitzhaq Shami- novelist, Palestinian Jewish

native of Hebron2004 – he was recognized by

Palestinian Academic Society as one of the important Palestinian writers.

20TH CENTURYLeah Goldberg

- prolific writer and pioneer of Israel Children’s Literature.

CONTEMPORARY HEBREW LITERATUREMy Michael and Black box

- novels by Amos OzThe Lover and Mr. Mani

- by A.B YehoshuaAnton Shammas

- Israel author who published the Hebrew novel “Arabesque”

REFERENCES:www.slideshare.netwww.hebrewisraeliteculture.com

www.jewishvirtuallibrary.orgwww.omniglot.comwww.wikepedia.orgwww.ancient.euwww.theisraelbible.com

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