David Rotman | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (original) (raw)
Papers by David Rotman
Fabula
Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra are two of the most celebrated pre-modern Jewish figures of all... more Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra are two of the most celebrated pre-modern Jewish figures of all time. Born in late eleventh-century Spain, their lives intersected on several occasions. However, there is also an extensive web of folk narratives and traditions that have been told about them from the Middle-Ages to the present day which links them to each other through their imagined biographies. In fact, many stories were told about them separately depicting various facets of each man’s character. Here, however, we show that unlike other stories, those that bring them together revolve around a specific type of activity common to both; namely, poetry. Furthermore, their hagiographies tend to reproduce the typical milestones characteristic of biographies of saints and cultural heroes (Noy 1975): the prenatal legend, the biographical legend, the posthumous legend, events associated with the hero’s descendants, and events associated with the hero’s possessions. In this case, however, we...
Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures, 2018
This issue of Interfaces explores the question of how Jewish and Christian authors in pre-modern ... more This issue of Interfaces explores the question of how Jewish and Christian authors in pre-modern Latin Europe thought and wrote about some of the animals mentioned in the Bible. To them, thinking about animals was a way of thinking about what it means to be human, to perceive the world, and to worship God and his creation. Animals' nature, animals' actions and animals' virtues or shortcomings were used as symbols and metaphors for describing human behavior, human desires, human abilities and disabilities, and positive or negative inclinations or traits of character.Both Christian and Jewish medieval and early modern scholars wondered about how they could possibly delve into the deeper layers of meaning they assumed any textual or extra-textual animal to convey. Not surprisingly, they often had to deal with the fact that a specific animal was of interest to members of both religious communities. A comparison between Jewish and Christian ways of reading and interpreting bi...
All Her Sons: Politics and Gender in the Jewish Cult at Rachel’s Tomb of the Last Three Decades, 2024
The following paper explores the evolution of the cult of Rachel the Matriarch and its main folkt... more The following paper explores the evolution of the cult of Rachel the Matriarch and its main folktales from the 1990’s until the present day. Whilst folktales surrounding the Biblical matriarch date back to the Rabbinic era, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards a unique Jewish cult at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem significantly intensified. These rites, which were mostly female-led, were analyzed in a series of previous studies, most of which traced their development from their inception up to the 1990s. Since the Oslo Accords, however, the rituals and rites along with the folktales have evolved in profound ways. My research demonstrates the degree to which the political sphere impacts modern day Israeli-Jewish folk traditions, including bringing about the establishment of new traditions. Specifically, I argue that the rites, in the past mostly female-led, due to the increasing political significance of the cult, have undergone an intense process of masculinization.
Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature , 2024
S.Y. Agnon’s story Hasiman (The Sign) is probably the author’s most explicit literary reaction t... more S.Y. Agnon’s story Hasiman (The Sign) is probably the author’s most explicit literary reaction to the Holocaust and the destruction of Buczacz. Strangely enough, the story also weaves in and out of the Piyyut tradition and specifically centers on Solomon Ibn Gabirol. At the climax of the story, the deceased medieval poet reveals himself to the protagonist (modeled after Agnon’s own character) while he is reciting Ibn Gabirol’s Azharot for Shavuʿot. The article presents a new interpretation of the story and Ibn Gabirol’s role in it, based on the Foucauldian concept of ‘the name of the author’, which aims at expanding the obvious connection between authors and their oeuvre to an array of images that have become associated with them in different discourses. By discussing several literary references to Ibn Gabirol throughout the generations – including by Maimonides and his followers, as well as in folk stories and belles-lettres, piyyut exegesis and halakhic writings – the authors argue that Agnon’s Ibn Gabirol is a link in the chain of a rich tradition which sees him first and foremost as Baʿal ha-azharot (the author of the Azharot). This tradition emphasizes the structure of the Azharot and sometimes highlights its double acrostic (siman or sign) which is a distinctive mnemonic device. The authors suggest that Agnon’s choice of Ibn Gabirol in a story about the destruction of Buczacz and its memory is related to Ibn Gabirol’s ‘author name’ (in Foucault’s terms), which portrays him as Baʿal ha-azharot, a craftsman whose signs can create a literary monument for the demolished city and give shape to it.
David Rotman, “Patriarch, Matriarch and Soldiers: Folk Narratives about Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rachel the Matriarch in Contemporary Israeli Culture”, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, 2023
This paper explores the connections between two instances of contemporary Jewish saint worship, w... more This paper explores the connections between two instances of contemporary Jewish saint worship, which have been developing in parallel in Israel since 2007. The first is the transformation of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu (1929-2010) from a prominent political figure into a popular saint, revered with all the familiar ritual trappings. The second form of saint worship is the change in the status of Rachel’s Tomb in the Israeli public since its annexation (de facto) in 2008 with the construction of the separation wall surrounding it. Analysis of folk narratives that were disseminated, in which Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is presented as the agent of Rachel and thus as the patron of her tomb, demonstrates that these two processes are intertwined with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and express the underlying desires of the narrating society to exclude the Other from the shared space.
מכאן, 2022
מאמר משותף עם אוריה כפיר במסגרת הפרויקט "המשורר העברי מספרד כגיבור ספרותי". שבמרכזו גלגולי המסור... more מאמר משותף עם אוריה כפיר במסגרת הפרויקט "המשורר העברי מספרד כגיבור ספרותי". שבמרכזו גלגולי המסורת הסיפורית על הקשר המשפחתי בין שני המשוררים הגדולים. מראשיתה המתועדת במאה השש עשרה ועד לספרות הישראלית של המאה העשרים ואחת.
Monsters and Monstrosity in Jewish History, 2019
Medieval and Early Modern Performance in the Eastern Mediterranean, 2014
Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2013
This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in... more This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his theoretical work on the representation of space in narrative. It makes special reference to the inter-medially transformative processes that narrators and audiences undergo, as materially concrete objects in space turn into representations in the verbal medium. Investigating the possible bodies of knowledge common to the participants in the communicative process, the article specifically discusses animals widely described in late antique and medieval Jewish folk tales and considers the possibilities for reconstructing the sources of shared imaginary worlds.
Journal of Jewish Studies
Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2013
Arzu Ozturkmen, Evelyn BirgeVitz (eds.), Medieval and Early Modern Performers in the Eastern Mediterranean, Brepols , pp. 77-88 , 2014
in: Haya Bar Itzhak, Idit Pintel Ginsberg (eds.), , The Power of a Tale: The Jubilee Book of IFA, Israeli Folktale Archive, Haifa University, pp.189–195, 2008
מיהו ׳חבר׳ ומיהו ׳אדם׳: דינמיקה של משמעויות במחזור סיפורים ובמקבילותיו, 2020
Iris Idelson Shein & Christian Wiese, Monsters ans Monstrosity in Jewsih History: From the Middle ages to Modernity
מחקרי ירושלים בפולקלור יהודי לב, 2019
מאמר בקורת.
Textual Animals Turned into Narrative Fantasies: The Imaginative Middle Ages, 2018
This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his the... more This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his theoretical work on the representation of space in narrative. It makes special reference to the inter-medially transformative processes that narrators and audiences undergo, as materially concrete objects in space turn into representations in the verbal medium. Investigating the possible bodies of knowledge common to the participants in the communicative process, the article specifically discusses animals widely described in late antique and medieval Jewish folk tales and considers the possibilities for reconstructing the sources of shared imaginary worlds.
Fabula
Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra are two of the most celebrated pre-modern Jewish figures of all... more Judah Halevi and Abraham ibn Ezra are two of the most celebrated pre-modern Jewish figures of all time. Born in late eleventh-century Spain, their lives intersected on several occasions. However, there is also an extensive web of folk narratives and traditions that have been told about them from the Middle-Ages to the present day which links them to each other through their imagined biographies. In fact, many stories were told about them separately depicting various facets of each man’s character. Here, however, we show that unlike other stories, those that bring them together revolve around a specific type of activity common to both; namely, poetry. Furthermore, their hagiographies tend to reproduce the typical milestones characteristic of biographies of saints and cultural heroes (Noy 1975): the prenatal legend, the biographical legend, the posthumous legend, events associated with the hero’s descendants, and events associated with the hero’s possessions. In this case, however, we...
Interfaces: A Journal of Medieval European Literatures, 2018
This issue of Interfaces explores the question of how Jewish and Christian authors in pre-modern ... more This issue of Interfaces explores the question of how Jewish and Christian authors in pre-modern Latin Europe thought and wrote about some of the animals mentioned in the Bible. To them, thinking about animals was a way of thinking about what it means to be human, to perceive the world, and to worship God and his creation. Animals' nature, animals' actions and animals' virtues or shortcomings were used as symbols and metaphors for describing human behavior, human desires, human abilities and disabilities, and positive or negative inclinations or traits of character.Both Christian and Jewish medieval and early modern scholars wondered about how they could possibly delve into the deeper layers of meaning they assumed any textual or extra-textual animal to convey. Not surprisingly, they often had to deal with the fact that a specific animal was of interest to members of both religious communities. A comparison between Jewish and Christian ways of reading and interpreting bi...
All Her Sons: Politics and Gender in the Jewish Cult at Rachel’s Tomb of the Last Three Decades, 2024
The following paper explores the evolution of the cult of Rachel the Matriarch and its main folkt... more The following paper explores the evolution of the cult of Rachel the Matriarch and its main folktales from the 1990’s until the present day. Whilst folktales surrounding the Biblical matriarch date back to the Rabbinic era, from the mid-nineteenth century onwards a unique Jewish cult at Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem significantly intensified. These rites, which were mostly female-led, were analyzed in a series of previous studies, most of which traced their development from their inception up to the 1990s. Since the Oslo Accords, however, the rituals and rites along with the folktales have evolved in profound ways. My research demonstrates the degree to which the political sphere impacts modern day Israeli-Jewish folk traditions, including bringing about the establishment of new traditions. Specifically, I argue that the rites, in the past mostly female-led, due to the increasing political significance of the cult, have undergone an intense process of masculinization.
Jerusalem Studies in Hebrew Literature , 2024
S.Y. Agnon’s story Hasiman (The Sign) is probably the author’s most explicit literary reaction t... more S.Y. Agnon’s story Hasiman (The Sign) is probably the author’s most explicit literary reaction to the Holocaust and the destruction of Buczacz. Strangely enough, the story also weaves in and out of the Piyyut tradition and specifically centers on Solomon Ibn Gabirol. At the climax of the story, the deceased medieval poet reveals himself to the protagonist (modeled after Agnon’s own character) while he is reciting Ibn Gabirol’s Azharot for Shavuʿot. The article presents a new interpretation of the story and Ibn Gabirol’s role in it, based on the Foucauldian concept of ‘the name of the author’, which aims at expanding the obvious connection between authors and their oeuvre to an array of images that have become associated with them in different discourses. By discussing several literary references to Ibn Gabirol throughout the generations – including by Maimonides and his followers, as well as in folk stories and belles-lettres, piyyut exegesis and halakhic writings – the authors argue that Agnon’s Ibn Gabirol is a link in the chain of a rich tradition which sees him first and foremost as Baʿal ha-azharot (the author of the Azharot). This tradition emphasizes the structure of the Azharot and sometimes highlights its double acrostic (siman or sign) which is a distinctive mnemonic device. The authors suggest that Agnon’s choice of Ibn Gabirol in a story about the destruction of Buczacz and its memory is related to Ibn Gabirol’s ‘author name’ (in Foucault’s terms), which portrays him as Baʿal ha-azharot, a craftsman whose signs can create a literary monument for the demolished city and give shape to it.
David Rotman, “Patriarch, Matriarch and Soldiers: Folk Narratives about Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rachel the Matriarch in Contemporary Israeli Culture”, Jerusalem Studies in Jewish Folklore, 2023
This paper explores the connections between two instances of contemporary Jewish saint worship, w... more This paper explores the connections between two instances of contemporary Jewish saint worship, which have been developing in parallel in Israel since 2007. The first is the transformation of Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu (1929-2010) from a prominent political figure into a popular saint, revered with all the familiar ritual trappings. The second form of saint worship is the change in the status of Rachel’s Tomb in the Israeli public since its annexation (de facto) in 2008 with the construction of the separation wall surrounding it. Analysis of folk narratives that were disseminated, in which Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu is presented as the agent of Rachel and thus as the patron of her tomb, demonstrates that these two processes are intertwined with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and express the underlying desires of the narrating society to exclude the Other from the shared space.
מכאן, 2022
מאמר משותף עם אוריה כפיר במסגרת הפרויקט "המשורר העברי מספרד כגיבור ספרותי". שבמרכזו גלגולי המסור... more מאמר משותף עם אוריה כפיר במסגרת הפרויקט "המשורר העברי מספרד כגיבור ספרותי". שבמרכזו גלגולי המסורת הסיפורית על הקשר המשפחתי בין שני המשוררים הגדולים. מראשיתה המתועדת במאה השש עשרה ועד לספרות הישראלית של המאה העשרים ואחת.
Monsters and Monstrosity in Jewish History, 2019
Medieval and Early Modern Performance in the Eastern Mediterranean, 2014
Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2013
This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in... more This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his theoretical work on the representation of space in narrative. It makes special reference to the inter-medially transformative processes that narrators and audiences undergo, as materially concrete objects in space turn into representations in the verbal medium. Investigating the possible bodies of knowledge common to the participants in the communicative process, the article specifically discusses animals widely described in late antique and medieval Jewish folk tales and considers the possibilities for reconstructing the sources of shared imaginary worlds.
Journal of Jewish Studies
Jewish Studies Quarterly, 2013
Arzu Ozturkmen, Evelyn BirgeVitz (eds.), Medieval and Early Modern Performers in the Eastern Mediterranean, Brepols , pp. 77-88 , 2014
in: Haya Bar Itzhak, Idit Pintel Ginsberg (eds.), , The Power of a Tale: The Jubilee Book of IFA, Israeli Folktale Archive, Haifa University, pp.189–195, 2008
מיהו ׳חבר׳ ומיהו ׳אדם׳: דינמיקה של משמעויות במחזור סיפורים ובמקבילותיו, 2020
Iris Idelson Shein & Christian Wiese, Monsters ans Monstrosity in Jewsih History: From the Middle ages to Modernity
מחקרי ירושלים בפולקלור יהודי לב, 2019
מאמר בקורת.
Textual Animals Turned into Narrative Fantasies: The Imaginative Middle Ages, 2018
This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his the... more This article focuses on the concept 'reconstruction of the world' proposed by G. Zoran in his theoretical work on the representation of space in narrative. It makes special reference to the inter-medially transformative processes that narrators and audiences undergo, as materially concrete objects in space turn into representations in the verbal medium. Investigating the possible bodies of knowledge common to the participants in the communicative process, the article specifically discusses animals widely described in late antique and medieval Jewish folk tales and considers the possibilities for reconstructing the sources of shared imaginary worlds.