Ezra Fleischer (; 7 August 1928 – 25 July 2006) was a Romanian-Israeli Hebrew-language poet and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and laurate of the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

studies for 1959.

Biography

Fleischer was born in 1928 in

Timișoara Timișoara (, , ; , also or ; ; ; see #Etymology, other names) is the capital city of Timiș County, Banat, and the main economic, social and cultural center in Western Romania. Located on the Bega (Tisza), Bega River, Timișoara is consider ...

, in the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

region of western

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and studied in the Jewish school that his father, Judah Loeb Fleischer, had founded in 1918. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Fleischer was active in the

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva (, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929, advocating the values of Torah and labor. Bne ...

movement in Romania and was imprisoned for his

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

activities. While in prison, he wrote a Hebrew poem called,
Massa Gog
" in which he predicted the downfall of

Communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. The poem was smuggled out of Romania and was published in Israel, under a

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

, where it caused somewhat of a “literary sensation”. Further books of poetry followed in Romania, all under a pen name. In 1960, Fleischer emigrated to Israel, where he researched medieval Hebrew literature. He received a doctorate from the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

, where he also subsequently lectured until 1997. He was also the director of the Geniza Research Institute for Hebrew Poetry of the

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, based in Jerusalem, was established in 1961 by the State of Israel to foster contact between Israeli scholars in the sciences and humanities and create a think tank for advising the government on res ...

. His student

Shulamit Elizur Professor Shulamit Elizur (), born April 6, 1955, is a scholar of ancient and medieval piyyut (Hebrew poetry). She is the head of the Fleischer Institute for the Study of Hebrew Poetry, a member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, a member of ...

has succeeded him in this position. His published work, mostly on poetry and prayer, covers a wide range of ancient and medieval Jewish life from Andalusia and Amsterdam to Syria and Cairo. He also wrote extensively about Judaism's encounter with Islam and Christianity. At the beginning of his career in 1966, Fleischer published a comprehensive and profound critique on Menahem Zulai's book, ''The paytanic school of Rav Saadia Gaon'', wherein Zulai had brought together and summarized his research on Rabbi Saadia Gaon. According to Professor Yosef Tobi, Fleischer occasionally found that there exists a direct influence from Saadia upon Spanish works, such as the integration of philosophical ideas in the liturgical poems composed by

Joseph ibn Abitur Joseph ibn Abitur was a Spanish rabbi of around the 10th century. He was a student of Moses ben Hanoch. Abitur was from a very prestigious Spanish family from the city of Mérida. His great great grandfather was a communal and Rabbinic leader. ...

and

Solomon ibn Gabirol Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah (, ; , ) was an 11th-century Jews, Jewish poet and Jewish philosopher, philosopher in the Neoplatonism, Neo-Platonic tradition in Al-Andalus. He published over a hundred poems, as well as works of biblical ...

, the structure of the Spanish ''azharot'' and ''keter malkhut'' of Ibn Gabirol, the assignment of biblical verse as a linguistic model in poetry and alternating

rhyme scheme A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhymes at the end of each line of a poem or song. It is usually referred to by using letters to indicate which lines rhyme; lines designated with the same letter all rhyme with each other. An example of the ABAB rh ...

(ABAB). However, in all these assertive statements, there is still some ambivalence and uncertainty, seeing that Fleischer is careful to point out that “the secular Hebrew poetry of Spain is not a continuation of pre-Spanish secular poetry, but rather a new formation in terms of its virtues and character: a faithful reflection, in principle, of Arabic secular poetry.”

Awards

* In 1959, Fleischer was awarded the

, for literature, primarily for his poem “Massa Gog”. * In 1971, he was given the Herzl Award for literature. * In 1986, Fleischer was awarded the

Bialik Prize The Bialik Prize is an annual literary award given by the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel, for significant accomplishments in Hebrew literature. The prize is named in memory of Israel's national poet Hayyim Nahman Bialik. There are two separate p ...

for Jewish thought. * In 1992, he was awarded the

Rothschild Prize Yad Hanadiv (The Rothschild Foundation) is a Rothschild family philanthropic foundation in Israel. Goals and objectives Yad Hanadiv defines its mission as: Dedicated to creating resources for advancing Israel as a healthy, vibrant, democratic so ...

, for Jewish studies.

''Festschriften''

*
Ezra Fleischer Memorial Volume
', ed. Shulamit Elizur Kobez Al Yad, vol. 25 (XXXV)(Jerusalem: Mekizei Nirdamim, 2017; Hebrew) *
In Memory of Ezra Fleischer
', ed. Mordechai Akiva Friedman (Jerusalem: Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 2010; Hebrew) *
Knesset Ezra: Literature and Life in the Synagogue – Studies Presented to Ezra Fleischer
', eds. Shulamit Elizur, Moshe David Herr, Gershon Shaked, and Avigdor Shinan (Jerusalem: Ben-Zvi, 1994; Hebrew)

References

External links

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Ezra Fleischer

Publications at academia.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleischer, Ezra 1928 births 2006 deaths Judaic scholars Hebrew-language poets Israeli poets Romanian male poets Israel Prize in literature recipients Members of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Academic staff of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni Israeli Jews Romanian Jews Romanian dissidents Romanian emigrants to Israel Writers from Timișoara 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Israeli historians 20th-century Romanian male writers Burials at Har HaMenuchot Bialik Prize recipients

Biography

Awards

''Festschriften''

See also

Further reading

References

External links