Amen אמן
Artist אומן oman
Belief/Faith/Trust אמונה emunah
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
and I have imbued him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with insight, with knowledge, and with [talent for] all manner of craftsmanship
to do master weaving, to work with gold, with silver, and with copper,
with the craft of stones for setting and with the craft of wood, to do every [manner of] work.
And, behold, with him I have placed Oholiab the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and all the wise hearted into whose hearts I have instilled wisdom, and they shall make everything I have commanded you:
Rabbi Kook on the Song of Songs
What is the purpose of Literature, and Art in general? The purpose of Art, in all its forms, is to give expression to every concept,
[to bring to action להוציא אל הפועל כל המוסגים הרוחניים המוטבעים] every emotion, and every thought found in the depths of the human soul. As long as even one quality remains concealed within the soul, it is the responsibility of the artist to reveal it.
Of course, artistic expression is not without boundaries and limits. The artist is duty-bound to create and express as long as his art serves to enrich and ennoble life. Some matters, however, are best left hidden. For such topics, the artist should use his figurative shovel, to bury and cover (cf. Deut. 23:24). Woe to the author who uses his artistic tools for the opposite purpose, to uncover and reveal unseemly matters, thus polluting the general atmosphere.