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After the First World War, the number of Jewish writers in Romanian grew exponentially. Some writings focused on Jewish themes, and others addressed broader cultural trends. Among those for whom Jewish themes and Jewish national consciousness were the main themes is Abraham Leib Zissu (1888–1956), considered a founding figure of this genre of literature.
The first attempt to bring together Jewish writers who addressed Jewish and Zionist themes was the journal Puntea de fildeş, of which two issues appeared in 1925 and 1926. The origin of this literary movement lay in the identity crisis of Jewish intellectuals, the revival of the Zionist movement after World War I, and by the new ideological trends within modern Judaism.
Zissu’s closest disciple was the journalist and writer Isac Ludo (1894–1972). Through the reviews Mântuirea (The Redemption,1919–1922), and Ştiri din lumeaevreiască (News from the Jewish World, 1922–1940), Zissu and Ludo became leading advocates of a “Jewish literature” in Romanian. From 1929, Ludo edited the social-cultural journal Adam, a major publication dedicated to Judaism, to the works of Jewish writers, and to the social and political issues of Jewish life in Romania. The journals and newspapers managed by Zissu and Ludo attracted a large group of journalists and writers.
The most gifted among those writers realized that literature in the service of an ideological program would remain peripheral, and they turned to an exclusively literary artistic path. This separation from Zissu, was also an evidence of the fact that Jewish intellectuals had reached an advanced stage of integration in Romanian cultural life. Still, probably as a result of their youthful attachment to the Jewish national movement, themes related to Judaism were also present in their works as mature writers.
Two of the most important Jewish writers, Felix Aderca (1891–1962) and Benjamin Fondane (1898–1944), were very close to the circle dominated by Zissu at the beginning of their careers. Fondane’s ties to Zissu and with topics concerning Judaism remained strong and significant even when he became a part of literary avant-garde and after his emigration to France in 1923. Aderca too was consistent in his involvement in Jewish issues, even when he enjoyed notable prestige in Romanian literary life.
Alexandru Mirodan, Dicționar neconvențional al scriitorilor evrei de limbă română, 2 vols. Tel Aviv, 1986–1997
A. B. Yoffe, Be-Sadotzarim: Sofrimyehudim be-Romanyah, 1880–1940 ,Tel Aviv, 1996, abstract and table of contents also in English
