Department of Hebrew Literature

tamar.hess@mail.huji.ac.il

Academic faculty
Administrative staff
Emeriti

Dr. Tamar Hess

Senior Lecturer

02-5883626

Rabin Building, Room 2205

giddon.ticotsky@mail.huji.ac.il

Specializes in Modern and contemporary Hebrew poetry and prose. She has written about Hebrew Autobiography and life writing, feminist poetry and literature in a national context.

Yael Fisch is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Literature, a scholar of rabbinic literature. A graduate of the Department of Poetics and Comparative Literature and the Jewish Philosophy and Talmud Department at Tel Aviv University, she completed her Ph.D.

Prof. Giddon Ticotsky

Department Chair

yonatan.vardi@mail.huji.ac.il

Giddon Ticotsky is a sscholar of Modern Hebrew Literature. He studied Hebrew and French literature at Tel Aviv University and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has taught and held research fellowships at Stanford University in California and at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

Dr. Yonatan Vardi

Prof. Dror Burstein

03-6020822

dror.burstein@mail.huji.ac.il

By appointment

Head of the Creative Writing Program at the Hebrew University. In recent years, he has been engaged in eco-poetic research of literature.

Dr. Dudu Rotman

052-4713554

dudurotm@gmail.com

Room 6339. Office Hours: Wednesday, 15:00-16:00

yehoshua.granat@mail.huji.ac.il

Dr. Yehoshua Granat

Lecturer

academia.edu Page

Researches Hebrew verse of Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the early modern era, liturgical poetry (Piyyut) as well as secular poetry.

Dr. Gila Vachman

Lecturer

02-5883526

gila.vachman@mail.huji.ac.il

Humanities Building, Room 5127. Office Hours: By appointment

Midrash and Aggada researcher, teaches at the Hebrew University and at Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies Holds a PhD from the Hebrew University (2009).

Tamar Hess

Dr.

Tamar

Hess

Senior Lecturer

Rabin Building, Room 2205

02-5883626

tamar.hess@mail.huji.ac.il

Specializes in Modern and contemporary Hebrew poetry and prose. She has written about Hebrew Autobiography and life writing, feminist poetry and literature in a national context.

Yael Fisch

Dr.

Yael

Fisch

Office Hours: By appointment

Yael Fisch is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Literature, a scholar of rabbinic literature. A graduate of the Department of Poetics and Comparative Literature and the Jewish Philosophy and Talmud Department at Tel Aviv University, she completed her Ph.D. at the School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University. Held fellowships at the Centre for the Study of the Bible at Oriel College, University of Oxford, and the Martin Buber Society of Fellows at the Hebrew University.
Her areas of research and teaching include methods of reading and interpretation, poetics and narratology in Second Temple and rabbinic literature. Her book 'Written for Us: Paul’s Interpretation of Scripture and the History of Midrash' (2022) is dedicated to scriptural interpretation in Paul’s letters and how they contribute to our understanding of midrashic hermeneutics and vice versa. The book explores questions of interpretative rhetoric, hermeneutical technê, conceptualizations of text and ideal readership. Other publications offer historical and cultural analysis of Second Temple narratives and their reworking in rabbinic literature. Her current research project, 'Measuring the Temple: Ekphrasis and Mishnah Middot', is dedicated to questions of poetics, rhetoric, and fiction in the Tannaitic Jerusalem Temple.

giddon.ticotsky@mail.huji.ac.il

Giddon Ticotsky

Prof.

Giddon

Ticotsky

Department Chair

Giddon Ticotsky is a sscholar of Modern Hebrew Literature. He studied Hebrew and French literature at Tel Aviv University and at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has taught and held research fellowships at Stanford University in California and at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

His main fields of interest and research include: Hebrew modernism—both in its own right and in its interrelations with European culture; The formation of the Hebrew literary canon and the reception of individual authors; The historiography of Hebrew literature; Twentieth-century Hebrew poetry; The digital humanities; And archival research.

He has published five books to date, alongside numerous articles, and has edited many additional volumes. His awards include the Bahat Prize for the Scholarly Book (2014, for ‘Dalia Ravikovitch – In Life and in Literature’); The Ministry of Culture Prize for Literary Editing (2015, for editing the collected works of Lea Goldberg); The Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize for Hebrew Writers in memory of Levi Eshkol (2019, for his achievements as an editor); And the Paul Abraham Elsberg Prize for Distinguished Scholar, awarded by the Association of Israeli Archivists (2022, for his book ‘The Stitches of Hebrewness: Challenging Canon in the Central Archive of Hebrew Literature’).

yonatan.vardi@mail.huji.ac.il

Dr.

Yonatan

Vardi

dror.burstein@mail.huji.ac.il

Dror Burstein

Prof.

Dror

Burstein

By appointment

03-6020822

Head of the Creative Writing Program at the Hebrew University. In recent years, he has been engaged in eco-poetic research of literature. He has published books of prose, poetry and essays, including "Kin" and "Netanya" (English translations by Dalkey Archive Press), "Muck" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). He has translated books by Yoel Hoffman, Alan Watts and Gary Hotham. He has won the Bernstein Prize, the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize, the Y.L. Goldberg Prize, the Newman Prize and the Bialik Prize

Dudu Rotman

Dr.

Dudu

Rotman

Room 6339. Office Hours: Wednesday, 15:00-16:00

052-4713554

dudurotm@gmail.com

Dr. David Rotman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Hebrew Literature and in the M.A. Program in Folklore and Folk Culture. His research focuses on Jewish folk literature from Late Antiquity to the present, the marvellous in Jewish storytelling of the Middle Ages and the early modern period, and the interrelations between folk literature and history.
Dr. Rotman specializes in Hebrew narrative literature of the Middle Ages and the early modern era, as well as in Jewish folk literature across its historical phases. His doctoral dissertation, written at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Eli Yassif, examined the manifestations of the marvellous (demons, monsters, magical spaces, and more) in Ashkenazic tales of the High Middle Ages. This research forms the basis of his first book, 'Dragons, Demons and Wondrous Realms: The Marvelous in Medieval Hebrew Narrative' (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 2016).
He is currently conducting a large-scale research project, funded by the Israel Science Foundation, on the cult of Rachel the Matriarch in contemporary Israeli folklore, and serves as Head of the Cherik Center for the Study of Zionism, the Yishuv and the State of Israel.

yehoshua.granat@mail.huji.ac.il

Yehoshua Granat

Dr.

Yehoshua

Granat

Lecturer

academia.edu Page

Researches Hebrew verse of Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the early modern era, liturgical poetry (Piyyut) as well as secular poetry. He teaches courses at all levels on various subjects related to this field, and serves as an advisor for B.A. students at the department of Hebrew literature. Dr. Granat also serves as the head of the Program in Jewish Studies at the Hebrew University.

gila.vachman@mail.huji.ac.il

Gila Vachman

Dr.

Gila

Vachman

Lecturer

Humanities Building, Room 5127. Office Hours: By appointment

02-5883526

Midrash and Aggada researcher, teaches at the Hebrew University and at Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies Holds a PhD from the Hebrew University (2009). Her dissertation deals with a Midrashic work from the Tanhuma-Yelamdenu Genre.

shulamit.elizur@mail.huji.ac.il

Iris Pereg

The Department Admin

The Humanities Building, room 45407

Office hours for students: Mon-Thu 10 AM-1 PM

Iris holds a master's degree from the School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Along with her work in our department, she also serves as the admin of the department for the Hebrew Language and the Program of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.

Iris Pereg

Iris

Pereg

The Department Admin

The Humanities Building, room 45407

Office hours for students: Mon-Thu 10 AM-1 PM

Iris holds a master's degree from the School of Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Along with her work in our department, she also serves as the admin of the department for the Hebrew Language and the Program of Yiddish Language, Literature, and Culture.

Administrative Faculty

Dr. Joshua Levinson

02-5880079

levinson@mail.huji.ac.il

Rabin Building, Room 2201. Office Hours: Thursday, 12:00-13:00

Research interests: Literary approaches to rabbinic midrash and aggadah from late antiquity, hermeneutics and narrative, cultural poetics.

Prof. Shulamit Elizur

Professor of Hebrew Literature

Humanities Building, Room 6304. Office Hours: Monday, 9:30-10:30

Researches Hebrew piyyut and poetry from the Late Antique Period until the Middle Ages, as well as prayer and the history of prayer rites.

Prof. Esther G. Chazon

Associate Professor

02-5883624

esther.chazon@mail.huji.ac.il

Rabin Building, Room 2209. Office Hours: Wednesday, 14:30-15:30

Research interests: Dead Sea Scrolls and Literature of the Second Temple Period, Liturgical Studies.

Director of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls at The Hebrew University.

Dr. Matti Huss

Senior Lecturer

02-5883621

matti.huss@mail.huji.ac.il

Humanities Building, Room 6303. Office Hours: Monday, 9:30-10:30

Research topics: Hebrew poetry of the Spanish Moslem and Christian era, Medieval rhymed narratives, Allegory in Medieval Hebrew literature, Gender in Medieval Hebrew Literature

Prof. Ariel Hirschfeld

Professor of Hebrew Literature

Ariel.Hirshfeld@mail.huji.ac.il

Research interests: Modern Hebrew Poetry, S. J. Agnon's oeuvre, H. N. Bialik's oeuvre, The concept of place in Hebrew literature, Music and Poetry.

Prof. Galit Hasan-Rokem

Professor Emerita

Taught over 40 years at the Hebrew University, at the Hebrew Literature Department's section for Aggadah and Folk Literature.

Joshua Levinson

Dr.

Joshua

Levinson

Rabin Building, Room 2201. Office Hours: Thursday, 12:00-13:00

02-5880079

levinson@mail.huji.ac.il

Research interests: Literary approaches to rabbinic midrash and aggadah from late antiquity, hermeneutics and narrative, cultural poetics.

shulamit.elizur@mail.huji.ac.il

Shulamit Elizur

Prof.

Shulamit

Elizur

Professor of Hebrew Literature

Humanities Building, Room 6304. Office Hours: Monday, 9:30-10:30

Researches Hebrew piyyut and poetry from the Late Antique Period until the Middle Ages, as well as prayer and the history of prayer rites. She acquired her higher education at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, predominantly under the supervision of Prof. Ezra Fleischer. She has written about 15 books, and over 100 articles – among these a critical edition of R. Pinḥas ha-Kohen; a collection of all known shivata-cycles for the yearly Sabbaths, in accordance with the Scriptural lectionary cycles; a number of works on Late Eastern piyyut (9^th-12^th centuries), among them critical editions of the works of El’azar be-rabbi Qilar (not to be identified with the Classical Qilliri), Yehuda be-rabbi Binyamin, Yehoshua bar Khalfa, Yosef ha-Levi he-Ḥaver ben Ḥalfon, and others. She has composed a voluminous three-volume work on secular Hebrew poetry in Spain, and in her book Wherefore Have We Fasted?: Megillat Ta’anit Batra and Similar Lists of Fasts she investigated the multifarious sources and complex recensions of an early list of fasts. In her research she has also dealt with the special treatment accorded to Scriptural stories in the liturgical poetry of different periods (outstanding in particular in this area is her book A Poem for Every Parasha: Torah Readings Refelected in the Piyyutim); the manner of the incorporation of midrashim into piyyut; the analysis of various linguistic phenomena in the works of the payyetanim; the tracing of early customs, primarily those connected to prayer and Scriptural reading; and with various additional topics connected to poetry and piyyut. She has been fortunate to discover in the fragments of the Cairo Genizah many important works, amongst them two previously unknown fragments of the book of Ben Sira, new poems by R. Yehuda ha-Levi and others. Currently, she is engaged with Dr. Michael Rand of the University of Cambridge in the preparation of a critical edition of the piyyutim of R. El’azar be-rabbi Qallir, as well as in the writing of an extensive book on the history of the qedustha – an early, central genre of piyyut.

esther.chazon@mail.huji.ac.il

Esther G. Chazon

Prof.

Esther

G.

Chazon

Associate Professor

Rabin Building, Room 2209. Office Hours: Wednesday, 14:30-15:30

02-5883624

Research interests: Dead Sea Scrolls and Literature of the Second Temple Period, Liturgical Studies.

Director of the Orion Center for the Study of the Dead Sea Scrolls at The Hebrew University.

matti.huss@mail.huji.ac.il

Matti Huss

Dr.

Matti

Huss

Senior Lecturer

Humanities Building, Room 6303. Office Hours: Monday, 9:30-10:30

02-5883621

Research topics: Hebrew poetry of the Spanish Moslem and Christian era, Medieval rhymed narratives, Allegory in Medieval Hebrew literature, Gender in Medieval Hebrew Literature, the concept of fiction in Medieval Hebrew Literature.

Ariel.Hirshfeld@mail.huji.ac.il

Ariel Hirschfeld

Prof.

Ariel

Hirschfeld

Professor of Hebrew Literature

Research interests: Modern Hebrew Poetry, S. J. Agnon's oeuvre, H. N. Bialik's oeuvre, The concept of place in Hebrew literature, Music and Poetry.

Reaserch directions: Locality in Modern Hebrew culture, The tragic mode in S. J. Agnon's oeuvre.

Galit Hasan-Rokem

Prof.

Galit

Hasan-Rokem

Professor Emerita

Taught over 40 years at the Hebrew University, at the Hebrew Literature Department's section for Aggadah and Folk Literature. Her research interests include: Poetics, folk literature, ethnography, everyday life and gender in Rabbinic literature; theory of folklore and folk literature; the proverb genre; folk culture, folklore and multi-culturality in Israel; the Wandering/Eternal Jew figure in the culture of Europe and beyond. She has published many books and numerous articles in these areas.

She has been the incumbent of the Max and Margarethe Grunwald Chair for Folklore and the academic head of the Jewish and Comparative Folklore program; the academic director of Misgav Yerushalayim CCenter for Sephardi and Oriental Jewish Heritage; Head of the Mandel Institute of Jewish Studies; active in numerous Faculty of Humanities and Hebrew University committees. Co-founder of the Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore and the annual Inter-university Folklore Conference series.

Professor Hasan-Rokem has taught and conducted research at leading institutions in Europe and the United States, among them the University of California Berkeley (numerous times); the University of Chicago, the University of Pennsylvania, the universities of Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Bergen, Rutgers University and Williams College. She has been Fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem, at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, as well as at the Scholion Center of Interdisciplinary Studies in Jewish Studies and the Humanities at the Hebrew University.

She has held the position of President of the International Society of Folk Narrative Research; continues to hold editorial board member positions in international journals for Jewish Studies and Folklore and Folk Literature and serve as reviewer and evaluator for numerous international journals and for search and promotion committees at leading institutions.

Professor Hasan-Rokem has supervised over thirty doctoral dissertations at the Hebrew University and some at other institutions. She is active in a number of NGOs promoting equality, justice and peace, and has been among the founding editorial board members of the Palestine Israel Journal. She has published original Hebrew poetry and translates poetry from Swedish and Finnish into Hebrew.