Abraham Mapu

Abraham Mapu (; 1808 in Vilijampolė, Kaunas1867 in Königsberg, Prussia) was a Lithuanian novelist. He wrote in Hebrew as part of the Haskalah (enlightenment) movement. His novels, with their lively plots encompassing heroism, adventure and romantic love in Biblical settings, contributed to the rise of the Zionist movement.

Biography

Born into a Jewish family, as a child Mapu studied in a cheder where his father served as a teacher. He married in 1825.

For many years he was an impoverished, itinerant schoolmaster. Mapu gained financial security when he was appointed teacher in a government school for Jewish children. He worked as a teacher in various towns and cities, joined the Haskalah movement, and studied German, French and Russian. He also studied Latin from a translation of the Bible to that language, given to him by his local rabbi.

He returned in 1848 to Kaunas and self-published his first historical novel, '' Ahavat Zion.'' This is considered one of the first Hebrew novels. He began work on it in 1830 but completed it only in 1853. Unable to fully subsist on his book sales, he relied on the support of his brother, Matisyahu. In 1867 he moved to Königsberg due to illness, published his last book, ''Amon Pedagogue'' (''Amon'' means something like Mentor), and died there.

Ahavat Tsion (''The Love of Zion'') – 1853

'' Ahavat Tsion'' (1853) is an idyllic biblical novel by the Jewish writer Avraham Mapu. It is the first novel written in modern Hebrew, set during the time of the prophet Isaiah and King Hezekiah, and composed in poetic biblical language with a romantic style. The book is a hymn of praise to the Land of Israel, to love, youth, labor, national revival, morality, the beauty of nature, and the Israelite nation in its days of glory. The novel had a significant impact on the emerging Zionist movement and modern Hebrew literature.

Mapu began writing the novel at the age of 22, in 1830. It was first published in 1853 and generated considerable excitement and national awakening among Jews many years before the establishment of the Zionist movement. Young Jews, well-versed in biblical Hebrew, eagerly read the novel’s depiction of the Land of Israel as a fertile region filled with springs, fields, and vineyards, and it strengthened their desire to leave the diaspora and “ascend” to the land.

Mapu’s prolonged writing process was driven by his desire to restore the dignity of the sacred tongue, his commitment to composing a visionary work, and his pursuit of literary perfection. He often left the streets of Kovno (Kaunas) to climb the hill of Aleksotas, where he would gaze over the city and the Neman River, imagining biblical Jerusalem.

The novel features clearly defined positive and negative characters. Mapu gives positive names (Tamar, Yedidya, Yoram) to virtuous characters, while villains receive names with negative connotations or associated with evil biblical figures (Achan, Nabal, Halah, Zimri). One exception is Amnon, a positive character despite sharing a name with the biblical rapist; Mapu chose the name to evoke the rabbinic phrase “the love of Amnon and Tamar,” symbolizing redeemed love.

The story takes place in the Kingdom of Judah during the reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah. The central historical event depicted is the Assyrian campaign of Sennacherib. Mapu describes Jerusalem under siege and the internal conflict between activists led by Hezekiah and Isaiah—who refuse to yield to the threats of Rabshakeh—and defeatists led by Shebna the scribe, who advocate surrender.

The novel was published in more than forty Hebrew editions and translated into German, English, Yiddish, Russian, French, Ladino, Arabic, and Judeo-Persian. In Israel, it was republished by Yizreel Publishing with an introduction by Yaakov Fichman. In 1947, the Habima Theater staged a theatrical adaptation of ''Ahavat Tsion''.

Evaluation

Mapu is considered to be the first Hebrew novelist. Influenced by French Romanticism, he wrote intricately plotted stories about life in ancient Israel, which he contrasted favourably with 19th-century Jewish life. His style is fresh and poetic, almost Biblical in its simple grandeur.

Legacy

The romantic-nationalistic ideas in his novels later inspired David Ben-Gurion and others active in the leadership of the modern Zionist movement that led to the establishment of the state of Israel. The American Hebrew poet, Gabriel Preil, references Mapu in one of his works and focuses on the two writers' native Lithuania.

Novels

* '' Ahavat Zion'' (1853) (''Amnon, Prince and Peasant,'' translated by F. Jaffe, 1887); (''In the Days of Isaiah,'' translated by B.A.M. Schapiro, 1902 and republished in 1922 and 1930 as ''The Shepherd Prince''); (''The Sorrows of Noma,'' translated by J. Marymont, 1919)
* '' Ayit Tzavua'' (1858) (''Hypocrite Eagle'')
* '' Ashmat Shomron'' (1865) (''Guilt of Samaria'')

Commemorations

Streets bearing his name are found in the Kaunas Old Town and in the Israeli cities of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Kiriat Ata. A well-known Israeli novel called "The Children from Mapu Street" ("הילדים מרחוב מאפו") also celebrates his name. In Kaunas A. Mapu Street a joyful statue of A. Mapu with a book in his hand was established by the sculptor Martynas Gaubas in 2019.

References

External links

Mapu's works
(Hebrew) at Project Ben-Yehuda

Abraham Mapu
(English) at the Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature
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1808 births
1867 deaths
Jewish novelists
Lithuanian male writers
Lithuanian Jews
Modern Hebrew writers
19th-century novelists
Lithuanian novelists
Male novelists
19th-century Lithuanian writers
19th-century Lithuanian male writers
Writers of historical fiction set in antiquity
Writers of historical romances
Historical novelists
Writers from Kaunas
People of the Haskalah

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