The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature

By Marina Zilbergerts

The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature argues that the institution of the yeshiva and its ideals of Jewish textual study played a seminal role in the resurgence of Hebrew literature in modern times. Departing from the conventional interpretation of the origins of Hebrew literature in secular culture, Marina Zilbergerts points to the practices and metaphysics of Talmud study as its essential animating forces. Focusing on the early works and personal histories of founding figures of Hebrew literature, from Moshe Leib Lilienblum to Chaim Nachman Bialik, The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature reveals the lasting engagement of modern Jewish letters with the hallowed tradition of rabbinic learning. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Release date: Apr 5, 2022
• ISBN: 9780253059413

Marina Zilbergerts

Marina Zilbergerts is a scholar of Jewish literature and thought. She grew up in Zhitomir, Tel Aviv, and Toronto and received her Ph.D. from Stanford University. From 2016-2022, she was the Lipton Assistant Professor of Eastern European Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is the author of The Yeshiva and the Rise of Modern Hebrew Literature (Indiana University Press). Her first book of poetry, a series of retellings of Genesis called You Were Adam, was recently published by Wipf & Stock. The book explores themes in Jewish thought and mysticism in contemporary ways, blending poetic rereadings of Genesis and Greek mythology with vignettes from everyday life.

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