Creator, Are You Listening Israeli Poets on God and Prayer [Hardcover]

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 poetsYehuda Amichai, Admiel Kosman, Rivka Miriam, Zelda Mishkovsky, Hava Pinhas-Cohen, and Asher Reich.

In the books 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 Jacobsons graceful English translations.

. . . Jacobsons contribution to our understanding of the roots of this poetry is creative and pioneering. There is no way to underestimate the importance of his endeavor to explore the nature of the religious phenomenon in Israeli poetry.Jacobsons translations and commentary should find their place in the fields of modern Hebrew literature and Jewish Studies, as well as in the hearts of readers, lovers of Hebrew poetry.Vol. 27.3 Spring 2009. . . a unique, epoch-making anthology of modern Israeli poetry.

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

Some Israeli literary critics and scholars assume that Zionist nationalism and enlightened modernism are responsible fols