Hardcover, 8vo, 188 pages, 23 cm. In German. Series: His Die geistliche Lyrik der Juden; Variation: Wiener, M. ; (Meir) , 1893-1941. Geistliche Lyrik der Juden. SUBJECT(S) : Cabala. Jewish religious poetry. Weiner (18931941) was a poet, novelist, and literary critic. Born in Cracow, Wiener received a traditional and secular education and was influenced by his tutor, Ben-Zion Rappaport
. Until his departure for the Soviet Union he wrote mostly in German, including Messias, a collection of mystical meditative elegies; Die Lyrik der Kabbalah, a selection of Hebrew religious poetry in free translation with introductory notes
. He attempted to define Jewish identity and destiny while vacillating between spiritual Zionism and Martin Buber 's teaching on the one hand, and social political radicalism and expressionistic trends in art and literature on the other. He probed deeply into traditional Hebrew poetry and Jewish mysticism and their human and religious significance for modern people in general, and the Jews in particular. His personal and ideological disappointments, lack of a sense of mission, and absence of a place in the intellectual life in Western and Central Europe, as well as his contacts with leftist circles in Berlin and Vienna, including Soviet Yiddish authors Leyb Kvitko and Der Nister, caused him to immigrate to the Soviet Union, where he concentrated his energy and talents on Yiddish literature. His main work there was devoted to the research and publications of the Jewish scientific institutes in Kharkov, Kiev, and Moscow in the 1920s and 1930s, where he also played an important role as counselor, editor, and teacher. He headed the Department of Yiddish Language and Literature at Moscow State Pedagogical Institute and directed and participated in the editing of Yiddish literature ranging from folk-song collections and the anonymous comedy Di Genarte Velt, to the writings of Solomon Ettinger, Israel Axenfeld, Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh, and Sholem Aleichem. His editions have served as models ever since; his prefaces to these editions were collected along with additional articles and published in his book Tsu der Geshikhte fun der Yidisher Lite ratur in Nayntsentn Yorhundert
. Despite his declared allegiance to Marxist criticism, he had to defend himself in 1932 against critics who accused him of dangerous deviationism. (Shmeruk and Krutikov in EJ, 2007) . Tear to cover binding. Light wear to edges and corners. Light wear to binding. Very good condition. (Rab-44-3)
