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225 Epilogue Hebrew creativity is an essential part of Jewish culture. It is important that we recognize Hebrew creativity wherever it took place. It is important to determine the information, the description, and the aesthetic evaluation of secular Hebrew creativity, including places where we mistakenly thought that Hebrew creativity did not exist, as was the case in Babylon. Herein I have presented Hebrew poets who wrote important secular Hebrew poetry that was aesthetically compatible with Hebrew poetry of its time. Yet, their poetry was not part of the tapestry of classical Hebrew literature as it should have been. This poetry is valuable not only in and of itself, but also because it is a link in the history of Hebrew literature and should be recognized in this manner. Ezra Habavli, for example, is a poet who writes with a powerful style and astonishing poetic language. His poems, however, are not mentioned by any Hebrew literature historians. When the majority of Babylonian Jews immigrated to Israel (1950-1951 Operation Ezra and Nehemiah), it was not the conclusion of the Babylonian Jews’ secular Hebrew creative contributions. This creativity had a long tradition. Some of the authors mentioned here, such as Menasheh Saliman Shahrabani and David Tsemah merely continued their expression of Hebrew creativity in Israel. Hebrew writing was part of Jewish education. The rabbis possessed a thorough knowledge of Hebrew, and Hebrew writing was part of their work. In later years, Hebrew writing and Hebrew creativity became part of the life of the younger generation who were influenced by the Hebrew literature written in Europe and Israel. The poetic themes were extensive. Poets such as Shaul Yosef and David Tsemah were strongly influenced by medieval Hebrew poetry. However, poets such as the Mani brothers were strongly influenced by modern Hebrew poetry and less by medieval Hebrew poetry. Derekh He-Haluts (1945-1951) reflects the influence of modern Hebrew literature on the themes of Hebrew writing in Babylon. The voice of women was heard in Derekh He-Haluts together with the voice of men. The involvement of 226 EPILOGUE women in Israeli creativity and pioneering encouraged and inspired the young women in Babylon to write for Derekh He-Haluts. Besides Hebrew poetry, the Jews of Babylon wrote journalistic articles in Hebrew, poetic missives, research articles, short stories, and a play. Their poetry was significantly richer than their prose, and one wonders why. They purchased Hebrew books from Israel and Europe, including periodicals, and they were aware of fictional prose. Did they have the talent to write fictional prose? Their Hebrew was rich, and they created rich folk literature and poetry. They employed sophisticated literary devices in their folktales. The tradition of writing poetry in Babylon was well established. Many poets who wrote religious poetry also wrote secular poetry. An author who wanted to write poetry had a long tradition of poetry in Babylon to inspire him. However , he did not have a local tradition of Hebrew novels, short stories, and plays to draw from. Rather, he had a long tradition of religious writings including sermons and preaching, folktales, biblical interpretations, prayers, compilations of Jewish law, and Jewish mysticism. The environment was better suited for this type of creativity than for fictional prose. Another reason for the lack of fictional prose in Iraq is because Hebrew was in competition with Arabic and Judeo-Arabic. Arabic and Judeo-Arabic had authors and readers, and both of these languages competed with Hebrew. Babylonian Jews were not secular; they strove to be religious and did not accept non-religious communities. The secular movement in Babylon related to religion considerately and respectfully. It was not an easy task to write and publish a Hebrew book in Babylon that was fictional prose with modern-secular content and draw a sufficient local audience. It seems to me that if Hebrew creativity continued in Babylon, it would lead to fictional prose with an emphasis on the local color—the life in Iraq (with themes similar to those in Shemesh and Derekh He-Haluts). With all its shortcomings, Babylonian Hebrew literature was significant and fascinating. It should be designated as an essential branch of literature that can be used to depict the history of Hebrew literature. ...

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