Yehuda Burla Famous Story eller of Jewish Orient
By ITZHAK WRY

Sephardic student at the semi-
Yehuda Burla, the first mod-
nary, Itzhak Shami, who could
ern Hebrew novelist of Orien-
not discipline himself to carry
tal Jewry, now approaching the
the burden of novelist and stu-
age of sages, is one of the most
dent-teacher and, at the same
popular literary figures in Is-
time, maintain his spiritual
rael. His 75th birthday was cele-
equilibrium, served him as a
brated two years ago by the
frightening example. It is this
Yishuv, by his readers—young
mixture of realism, bordering on
and old—as a joyful event. He
practicality and romanticism,
is admired by all parts of the
bordering on the naive and col-
corrununity, not only for his im-
ored by oriental mysticism,
pressive array of novels and
which accompanied him through-
short stories created throughout
out his creative life.
a long and fruitful life, but also
In his memoirs about Yosef
for his being part of this com-
Chaim Brenner, Burla discloses
munity and for sharing in its
to what degree Brenner played
tribulations and destinies.
a decisive role in his life.
He was born in 1886' in Jeru-
World War I constitutes the
salem, a scion of an old Sephar-
"great divide" in young Burla's
dic family of rabbis and schol-
life. Burla was mobilized into
ars, who settled in the Holy
the Turkish army. The war and
Land more than 200 years ago.
the vicissitudes of the Yishuv
He studied at the heder and
, under the cruel ' Turkish rule
yeshiva, and his parents in-
made an indelible impression
tended him to become a cleric.
on his mind. After the war he
But his thirst for creative life
left for Damascus where he
as a writer made him turn to
served as director of the He-
secular Hebrew literature, and
brew schools for the Zionist Or-
to studies at the teachers' sem-
ganization. This gave him an ex-
inary of "Ezra." At the same
cellent opportunity to learn at
time, he felt that he could not
close range the life of the Syr-
remain without a profession,
ian-Jewish community.
seriously doubting the possibil-
From then on he divided his
ity of making a living as a
time between teaching and writ-
writer. He was, therefore, deter-
ing. With the establishment of
mined first to complete his stud-
the Jewish State, he headed the
ies at the teachers' seminary,
Department of Information and
and do his writing only there-
Press in the office of the Minori-
after, insofar as it would not in-
ties Ministry. Later on he
terfere with his studies. The un-
worked for the Ministry of Edu-
happy case of another able
cation.
In his memoirs about Bren-
ner, Burla tells about his last
visit with him in the spring of
1921. Brenner then told him that
he had given up belles-lettres
entirely. "No more stories and
novels for me. I will only write
on public affairs, 15 to 20 lines
per day, whenever I see a need
for it." He felt that he had to
write about "realities and the
truth of life without any addi-
tions of fantasy and decorations
of art." At the same time he
was interested in Burla's writ-
ings, and he asked almost ac-
cusingly why Burla did not send
him anything. Burla said, "I was
afraid to burden you." But Bren-
ner insisted, "Send, send."
On his return to Damascus
Burla sent Brenner f_e manu-
script of his novel "Ishto Has-
nuah." He never received Bren-
GET YOUR
ner's written opinion, but he
was later told that when a Raga-
CHOICE OF ROOM
nah party entered his room and
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found the bodies of Brenner and
his friends after the Arab mas-
WINTER CRUISE!
sacre, pages of Burla's novel
were strewn all over the floor,
and on some of them had blood
stains.
Brenner remained a beacon of
light to Burla, as the most un-
FOR YOUR
compromising realist and seeker
of truth. He continued to ad-
mire him for his deep devotion
to the Jewish people, and for
LISTING THE
the intensity of his literary ex-
istence. Many years later he said
about Brenner:
"He lived in the world of
literature like an old Tal-
mudic scholar in the world of
the- Torah, not only in the
OR STOP IN AT THE
sense of thinking about it day
and night but also in the sense
of literature being his sup-
port in life, his basis in life
and, therefore, his hone in
life. Whenever he was in .a
good mood, it was because of
some good literary news. This
was the source of his great
admiration and heartfelt feel-
ings for our great classics."
Burla, a man of a different
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Friday, August 14, 1964 9

of a different milieu and back-
ground, apparently felt that he
had one thing in common with
Brenner: he believed in the ar-
tistic and psychological truth of
his workers, and in his mission
as a writer. He felt duty-bound
to expose the tragedy and ,cru-
elty of human fate.
Yehuda Burla has produced a
rich literary harvest over a
period of more than 40 years.
And now, at a ripe old age, he
continues to consider his work
as did his great teacher, Yosef
Hayim Brenner, as the basis of
life and therefore as his hope
in life. Being a natural story-
teller and a master of dialogue,
he acquired a wide circle of
readership very early in his
writing career. His rich style
and language was devoid of any
artificiality; it had all the good
attributes of prose written by a
man with a musical ear and an
eye for color, light and shade.
Brenner's hopes were much more
justified than his compliment
that "Hebrew literature has ac-
quired a Chekhov." Burla is not
a Chekhov for many reasons,
one of them being that Burla
is the painter, of the broad can-
vas, the storyteller of the flowing
epic saga. Wherever there is
color, there is sometimes an
over-abundance of it; where
there is a flow, there is some-
times an overflow. On the other
hand, it would be unjust to call
him a realist of any school, be
it Chekhovian or French ( a la
Maupassant or Flaubert), de-
spite his admiration for those
masters.
His main achievement lies in
bringing into Hebrew literature
a whole host of characters, men
and women, young and old, who
faithfully represent the inner
life and struggles of the Orien-
tal Jewish community; their
dreams and passions, their suf-
ferings and hopes, their . strug-
gle with fate and their deep
roots in Jewish beliefs and tra-
ditions. Burla has chosen to de-
scribe the beautiful, the heroic,
the strong, and the noble, and
not the average, the mediocre
and the colorless.
Burla is at his best in de-
scribing the individual. and the
gropings of his soul, his tribu-
lations, depressions and ela-
tions, dreams and yearnings.
But, at the same time, he also
has the ability to convey the
deep sense of belonging to and
being rooted in family and corn-
munity, so characteristic of the
Sephardic Jew. From the point
of view of moral principles, leg-
end and reality, past and present
are interwoven in his tales,
while his innermost sympathy
is entirely given to the van-
quished and downtrodden in
life, whether they are victims

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of their own character or of
cruel fate. In the last resort,
he believes in the power of cath-
arsis by living one's own life,
and in the redemption of the
individual soul through heroic
and tenacious existence, as he
believes in the redemption of a
nation through the collective
willpower of its sons.
His tales, written for more
than a generation, assure him
an important place in the gal-
lery of Jewish national renais-
sance and of modern Hebrew
literature.

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