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.