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25 Chapter 1: Pathfinders and Explorers in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Hebrew Poetry in Babylon Modern Hebrew poetry began at the end of the eighteenth century as European Jews began to become part of the modern world. Although the Bible includes magnificent poetry, there were periods that were almost entirely lacking in Hebrew poetry, such as the Talmudic period (70-500). Hebrew poetry later reappeared in Byzantine Palestine (sixth to eighth centuries) and in Babylon (eighth to tenth centuries). Spain’s “Golden Period” (tenth to fifteenth centuries) produced both religious and secular poetry. The Spanish Hebrew poetry adapted the conventions of Arabic poetry, which followed in Provence, Italy, and other places. However, the medieval Hebrew poets in central Europe wrote sacred poetry until the breakdown of the religious tradition in Central and Eastern Europe in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, when the writing of secular poetry became predominant. The Enlightenment movement, which began at the end of the eighteenth century, strove to enlighten the Jewish people, to modernize and reform their life, and to bring political and social emancipation. The Enlightenment period poets wrote in a style that lacked in vocabulary and flexibility. Within time, The Enlightenment movement had taken a romantic and nationalistic direction. The new nationalism found its expression in the Zionist movement. Hayyim Nahman Bialik (1873-1934) came to the poetic scene at the culmination of the Enlightenment , and modern Hebrew poetry began with him and his contemporaries. Words were invented, and the poets were free from the rhetoric and didactic inclinations of the Enlightenment poetry. In addition, new themes, language, and poetic techniques were introduced. Babylonian secular poetry was influenced by biblical poetry, medieval Hebrew poetry, poems of the enlightenment period, and Bialik’s generation. These various influences will be illustrated in the course of the presentation of the poems discussed in this book. The influence of medieval Hebrew poetry was par- 26 Part 1: Poetry ticularly strong. At the beginning of the eleventh century, the center of Jewish learning moved from Babylon to Spain. Hebrew poets were influenced by Spain’s Arabic poetry, embracing its form, meter, rhyme, themes, and content. During a period of 500 years, the Spanish Hebrew poets wrote thousands of poems about the aforementioned themes. From the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, the Babylonian poets were influenced by Spain’s Hebrew poetry. The secular poetry that was written in Spain was a new phenomenon in Hebrew, because until that time only liturgies were written in Hebrew. There are no existing Hebrew liturgies or poetry from Babylon that were written after this period until the eighteenth century , due to calamities, such as floods and plagues, and also due to the absence of a local printing house. During the last 250 years in which the Jews lived in Babylon, there were many local Hebrew poets and liturgy authors (more than seventy). Many of them were influenced by Spanish Jewish poetry and by the well-known poets who were influenced by that poetry. A selection of Babylonian Hebrew poetry written about various themes is featured in this chapter. The styles and contents of the poems, their dispositions , and the positions of their respective speakers and their audience are secular . These poets possessed a great knowledge of Jewish sources. They were rabbis and sages, and their poetry, although sometimes minuscule, was part of their intellectual and spiritual life. I draw special attention to the publications of Ezra Habavli (1735, 1742) and suggest that castigating poems of this almost anonymous poet were among the most distinguished poetic accomplishments of Hebrew poetry in both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His rich, imaginative style, his striking use of allusions, and his detailed ingenious images are some of the typical elements that make his poetry distinctly vibrant. By all criteria, his work clearly should be part of the Hebrew literature canon. Further in this chapter, I present a jubilant, playful poem by Rabbi Moshe Hutsin (who died in 1810) that was written for Purim (a Jewish festival commemorating the deliverance of Jews in ancient Persia). Saleh Matsliyah (who died in 1785) wrote many poems, and I will also introduce and illustrate their poignancy and their didactic mission. His son, Rabbi Nissim Matsliyah, published poems until 1816. There are also poems with elegant puns that are attributed to him and his father. Rabbi Sason Ben-Mordekhai’s (1747-1830) poems are about poetic and thematic issues and leave readers a poetic credo endorsing the frugal use of words and...

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