israel in translation

Yehuda Amichai’s ‘Wildpeace’ – Israel in Translation

Yehuda Amichai is probably the most widely translated Hebrew poet since King David. He revised the national, Biblical narrative into a personal love story.

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Naomi Shemer: The first lady of Israeli song and poetry – Israel in Translation

We explore the work of poet and songwriter Naomi Shemer, who won the Israel Prize in 1983, and whose best-known work is the 1967 song ‘Jeruslaem of Gold.’

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Mendele Mocher Sforim: the grandfather of Yiddish literature – Israel in Translation

Today, Mendele Mocher Sforim is known as a quiet, Bauhaus-filled street that runs from Hayarkon to just past Shalom Aleichem. Yet in the late 18th century, Mendele Mocher Sforim, or ‘Mendele the book peddler,’ was an author who depicted the world of the shtetl (village) with all of its poverty and decay. He is now considered the…

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The hymnal poet-paver of the roads of Israel – Israel in Translation

Called ‘Lashonsky’ for his comic wit, linguistic innovations and irrepressible puns, every child in Israel knows Avraham Shlonsky’s version of the German Rumpelstiltskin fairytale: Utzli Gutzli.

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Natan Alterman’s agricultural contributions – Israel in Translation

Some know Natan Alterman as an Israeli poet, playwright, journalist and translator; others know his song “Kalaniot”; but few know he brought a popular species of tomato to Israel.

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