Cohen Nathan

I was Born and raised in Jerusalem. Received all degrees from the Hebrew University. Teaching and researching Yiddish literature and cultural history of East European Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the Holocaust period.

My primary field of research is the history of Yiddish culture in 19^th and 20^th century Eastern European.

My initial research project (Books, Writers and Newspapers: The Jewish Cultural Center in Warsaw, 1918-1942, Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 2003) provides a comprehensive and detailed examination of the history of the tri-lingual Jewish literary life in interwar Warsaw in general, with particular emphasis on the Yiddish sphere. A central place in my research was devoted to the professional union of Jewish writers and journalists in Warsaw (better known as “Tłomackie 13”), under the umbrella of which came together Hebrew, Yiddish and Polish writers. Other aspects of Jewish cultural life in the Polish Second Republic which I examined in various publications and forums, were linguistic (including the acculturation process), literal and political in nature.

One of the most significant voices in the Yiddish literary discourse of this period and later, was that of Isaac Bashevis-Singer. His life and literary works received a significant attention in my academic work.  

In order to provide a complete picture of the history of the Yiddish literary center in Warsaw, I have also examined the attempts of Holocaust Survivors and those returning from exile in the Soviet Union to revive and rehabilitate the center in the years 1944–1949.  

Among the numerous subjects which I teach, I devote significant attention to the three classic writers of modern Yiddish literature (Shalom Yankev Abramovitsh – better known as Mendele Moykher Sforim, Shalom Aleichem and Yitzhok Leibush Peretz), whose works signal the transformation of Yiddish writing from a traditional folk literature into one of significant artistic and aesthetic character.

Another field of research which occupy my interests is the examination of changing reading habits (in Yiddish) among Jews in Tsarist Russia between 1860s and the First World War. This include the shift from traditional to secular, including popular scientific texts of all genres. The rise of modern Yiddish publishing activities, Journalism and establishment of public libraries. This project was awarded a research grant from the Israel Science Foundation, that promoted its publication in a forthcoming book (Yiddish – The Linguistic Leap from a Common Dialect to a Cultural and Literary Language, Jerusalem: The Zalman Shazar Center [2020]).

A special place is reserved, among my research interests, for the Holocaust period. This is reflected in my teaching courses on Yiddish literature which was written during and after the Holocaust. I also serve as the associate editor of the semi-annual scholarly journal Yad Vashem Studies, and am involved in various projects and publications in this field.