Hear O Lord is the first Hebrew-English collection of poems from the Israeli peace activist and poet, Eliaz Cohen. Cohen is a leading figure in the contemporary renaissance of the poetry of faith in Israel. His work, controversial and transcendent, confronts primary theological, psychological and political issues of Jewish existence, and expresses an enormous emotional range, from anger and despair over suffering past and present, to sensual love for the Land of Israel, his wife and children, and empathy for the Israeli and the Palestinian.
Hear O Lord, which appeared in Hebrew as Shema Adonai in 2004, serves as a chronicle of the poet's experiences of the Second Intifada. Cohen received a prestigious Prime Minister's Prize and an Avichai Sabbatical Prize in 2006 for the critically acclaimed work. He also was dismissed from his position as a social worker in a Jerusalem school because of it.
Hear O Lord is the first Hebrew-English edition of Cohen's poetry, beautifully translated by Larry Barak.
About the Author
Eliaz Cohen was born in 1972, and grew up in the settlement of Elkana, Israel. He is Editor of the Jewish Israeli poetry journal, Mashiv Haru'ach, and has published four collections of Hebrew poetry that have pushed the limits of creative expression within a religious framework, and explored the complex Israeli-Palestinian relationship. Cohen was twice selected to serve as Guest Poet by the State of Israel Ministries of Education and Culture. More than a dozen of his poems have been set to music, and many have been translated into French, Greek, Arabic, Russian, Polish, Serbian and Chinese. In 2009, Cohen founded Yerushalom, a movement for dialogue between Israeli settlers and Palestinians. He is a member of Kibbutz Kfar Etzion, where he lives with his wife and four children. | |
The Critics Praise:
“One of the most outspoken and prominent [voices] among a new generation of religious poets.”
- Talya Halkin, The Jerusalem Post |
