Creator, Are You Listening?: Israeli Poets on God and Prayer(Jewish Literature and Culture)

In an anthology that is both scholarly and accessible to readers of contemporary poetry, David C. Jacobson examines the search for God in the work of six prominent Israeli poets—Yehuda Amichai, Admiel Kosman, Rivka Miriam, Zelda Mishkovsky, Hava Pinhas-Cohen, and Asher Reich. In the book's introduction, Jacobson explores the central role that poetry has always played and continues to play in our understanding of the religious experience. The work of each poet is then preceded by an introduction which establishes the historical and biographical contexts of the poems discussed. The poetry appears in the original Hebrew as well as Jacobson's graceful English translations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Religious Dimension of Israeli Poetry 1. Zelda Mishkovsky: "The small garden showed me signs that His mercies never cease." Signs of God's Presence within Nature 3. Asher Reich: "Perhaps He'll answer me this time." On the Possibility of Relating to God 4. Rivka Miriam: "For a person is a prayer." Innovative Metaphors for God 5. Hava Pinhas-Cohen: "To the place where love has a manifest name." The Individual Spiritual Path 6. Admiel Kosman: "Creator, aren't You listening?" The Human and the Divine Conclusion: Israeli Poetry and the Possibility of Religious Discourse in a Secular Age Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
David C. Jacobson is Director of the Program in Judaic Studies at Brown University, where he is Professor of Judaic Studies. Among his books are Modern Midrash: The Retelling of Traditional Jewish Narratives by Twentieth-Century Hebrew Writers; Does David Still Play for You?: Israeli Poetry and the Bible; Israeli and Palestinian Identities in History and Literature (edited with Kamal Abdel-Malek); and History and Literature: New Readings of Jewish Texts in Honor of Arnold J. Band (edited with William Cutter).

Review :
"Jacobson's commentary is knowledgeable, his prose highly readable, and the selection of poems fascinating. This book will be ... welcome ... in the field of modern Hebrew literature." Naomi Sokoloff, University of Washington "[E]xtremely clear and readable style ... For specialists in the field, Jacobson's contribution is his thorough and meticulous unveiling and interpretation of inter-textual references made in the poems that he discusses. This is ... meticulous scholarly work that has not been done before for the English reader or, for that matter, in most cases, the Hebrew reader as well." Nili Gold, University of Pennsylvania