Dear Yisrael Medad,
Your article on my anthology, This Longing City: Modern Hebrew Poems of Jerusalem, as published in the Akron Jewish News (a subscriber to JNS), was forwarded to me. I am writing to assure you that no literature was “canceled”—that is, excluded from the anthology—on the basis of my political positions. In selecting poems, my primary criterion was aesthetic—namely, what I considered each poem’s literary strength and impact.
Regarding the authors you note as not included in the anthology, I am happy to clarify that Jabotinsky’s “Ir Shalom” was not included because it was written 40 years before the starting point I chose for this anthology. An anthologist must make choices, and mine was to have the collection represent 100 years of poetic output. Extending beyond that span would have made the collection unwieldy.
Yitshak Shalev’s poems were not included because I felt they were not as strong as others from his historical moment. There are, of course, many poets from that period who were not included, and I could not tell you what their political positions were.
Naomi Shemer was not included because she was primarily a lyricist, rather than a poet. Other lyricists who wrote beautiful poems on Jerusalem were also not included.
Regarding the most significant omission, Uri Zvi Greenberg, his poems were not included because his literary estate does not grant permission for his work to appear in anthologies. You are absolutely right that I should have noted Greenberg’s absence in the introduction (and Amir Gilboa’s as well, as permission to include his work was also not granted). This was a significant and regrettable oversight on my part.
As you will no doubt recognize, this anthology is an extended celebration of the city we both love. It is also the first of its kind to reach an English-language audience. It would be unfortunate if potential readers were to “cancel” this anthology—and its 41 Hebrew poets spanning 100 years and representing a wide range of political positions—because of your article’s title and the implications that follow.
Respectfully yours,
Rachel Tzvia Back
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In response to my May 25 column, “Poetic wipeout,” Rachel Tzvia Back has clarified to me that no literature was “canceled”—that is, excluded from the anthology—on the basis of her political positions. Her primary concern in selecting the poems was an aesthetic concern for each poem’s literary strength and impact.
Yitshak Shalev’s poems were not included because she felt they were not as strong as others from his historical moment. Naomi Shemer was not included because she was primarily a lyricist rather than a poet. Regarding the most significant omission—Uri Zvi Greenberg—his poems were not included because his literary estate does not grant permission for his work to appear in anthologies.
She granted that I was absolutely right that she should have noted Greenberg’s absence in the introduction (and Amir Gilboa’s as well, as permission to include his work was also not granted). This was a significant and regrettable oversight on my part.
She also expressed regret that it could be unfortunate if potential readers were to “cancel” this anthology because of your article’s title and the implications that follow.
My reaction is that I am glad she regrets a quite simple obligation to her readers, especially when publishing an anthology, which is to explain not only why some material appears and other material is rejected. As for Greenberg, I did note that she did not obtain the family’s permission for publication. As for Shemer, since Bob Dylan was awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature while being a lyricist (unlike Leonard Cohen, who, in addition to being a lyricist, actually had volumes of his poetry published), I do think her decision not to include the words to the song “Jerusalem of Gold” unfortunate, as a note could have been added.
As for Shalev, I disagree with her estimation mainly because his pre-1967 poems are strong, and they could have been a substitution for the lack of Greenberg’s work.
In any case, all Hebrew literature in translation should be read, and I trust the interested public will do so.
Yisrael Medad
