Yirah, Law, and the Birth of Modern Hebrew Literature

Tafat Hacohen-Bick teaches Hebrew literature at Achva College and at Ben-Gurion University, and researches literature, religion, and ecocriticism. While at the Katz Center, she will explore how fear (yirah), breaking the law, and the desire to sin are all central, interconnected themes of modern Hebrew literature.

Hacohen-Bick completed her PhD at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev with a dissertation titled “‘I Want a River / No Small Temple’: Theology and Poetics in the Poetry of Pinchas Sadeh, Yona Wallach, and Zelda Schneerson.” She has previously been a fellow at the Center for the Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters, the Heksherim Research Institute for Jewish and Israeli Literature and Culture at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, and the Israel Democracy Institute.