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MISHAEL MASWARI CASPI
The Creative Writing of the
Yemenite Jews
IN
EVALUATING
t h e
c r e a t iv e
work o f the Yemenite Jews, we
have to begin with a consideration o f the relationship between
the literary products of the Yemenite Jews and those o f the Jew
ish world outside the Yemen. From this prospective we can exam
ine the development o f the literature o f the Yemenite Jews ac
cording to two separate periods: 1) from the start o f creative writ
ing in the Yemen up to the end o f the 15th century, and 2) from
the 16th century until the beginning o f the 20th century. This
division takes into account the spiritual connection o f the Yemen
ite Jews with the other Jewish communities situated initially in the
Babylonian and Palestinian centers and subsequently in the Jew
ish communities o f Spain, when the latter became the leading
centers of influence in the Diaspora. The notion that the Yemen
ite Jews lived in relative isolation was generally accepted by schol
ars of the subject for a long time. In recent years, however, infor
mation and documents have been uncovered which show that the
Jews of Yemen corresponded with other Jewish communities, es
pecially those situated in Egypt, Palestine and Babylonia. At a
later period, lines of communication were established also with
the Jews of Europe .1
The Hebrew poetry o f the Jewish poets in Spain not only
penetrated and influenced the schools of poetry of o ther Jewish
communities, but was also accorded a place in the prayerbooks of
these communities. This poetry also reached Yemen and it main
tained its hold there until the 16th century. During this period
Yemenite Jews produced nothing unique and followed the mod
els o f the Hebrew Spanish school. Daniel Fayyumi at the begin
ning of the 12th century, Rabbi Zechariah b. Saadya in the 13th
1
Jerusalem of Lithuania,
Leizer Ran (ed.), New York, 1974, vol. 2, 340.
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