Afterword: The Revolution in the World of Hebrew Books at the Start of the Twentieth Century

Summary

IN RUSSIA, 1905 was the year of a failed revolution. In the world of Hebrew books, however, it merely marked the continuation of a successful revolutionary process that had been going on for some years. The pivotal figure of the revolution was Abraham Leib Shalkovich, a writer and publisher whose colourful career terminated with his sudden death at the age of 55 in 1921. Shalkovich was better known by his pen-name of Ben-Avigdor, the name he adopted when he published his first short stories.

The revolution in Hebrew publishing, known as hamahalakh heh. adash (‘the New Move’), involved writers such as Mikha Josef Berdyczewski, originally of Medzibezh; Isaac Leib Peretz, originally of Zamosc; and David Frischmann, originally from near Lodz, as well as literary critics such as Reuben Brainin, originally from Lyady.Perhaps most noteworthy of the young and vibrant figures was Asher Ginzberg of Odessa, better known as Ahad Ha'am, who campaigned vigorously to strengthen the cultural basis for Zionism and the return of the Jews to their homeland in Erets Yisra'el as a prerequisite for political activism. This task, which he considered of colossal importance, was to be achieved through the written word: the challenge was to appeal to the sensitivities and expectations of young,modernizing Jews and provide them with a solid intellectual basis for going in pursuit of a Jewish renaissance in the ancient cradle of Judaism.

To achieve these noble aims,Ahad Ha'am and the elitist circle that developed around him in Odessa wanted to establish a publishing house that would produce the necessary literature. In this they followed the trail blazed by the circle of students and admirers of Moses Mendelssohn who, almost a century earlier, had established a publishing house for a similar purpose; perhaps for this reason they called themselves Benei Moshe, the sons of Moses. Their ambition was achieved in 1893:Ben-Avigdor was appointed secretary of Benei Moshe in Warsaw, and in this capacity he set up the Ahiasaf publishing house, working at first with Elazar Kaplan and afterwards also with Zalman Gluskin and Matityahu Cohen. But he soon became unhappy with the publishing policy dictated by Ahad Ha'am and his faithful followers in Odessa, and after three and a half years in office he resigned.