Admiel Kosman
Encyclopedia
Admiel Kosman is an Israeli poet and professor of Talmud
.
, Israel
to an Orthodox
Jewish family. His father hailed from a German Jewish family living in France, and his mother immigrated from Iraq. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces
in an artillery unit and attending Yeshivat Hakotel
in the Old City of Jerusalem, he studied graphic art and pottery at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
. He did his Ph.D. in Talmud
at Bar-Ilan University
in Ramat Gan.
Kosman has four children from his first marriage.
Since relocating to Berlin, Kosman is a professor of Religious and Jewish Studies at Potsdam University
and the academic director of Abraham Geiger Reform Rabbinical Seminary.
Kosman is the author of eight books of poetry. His poems often deal with the tension between his religious faith and artistic sensibilities. Kosman has also written three volumes of post-modern scholarship on gender in traditional Jewish texts. In 2000, he was invited by Nobel Prize winning Polish poets Czeslaw Milosz
and Wislawa Szymborska
to participate in an interfaith festival in Cracow, Poetry – between Prayer and Song.
(original Hebrew-language poetry category), the Prime Minister’s Prize (1976) and the Brenner Prize
.
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
.
Biography
Admiel Kosman was born in HaifaHaifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to an Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
Jewish family. His father hailed from a German Jewish family living in France, and his mother immigrated from Iraq. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
in an artillery unit and attending Yeshivat Hakotel
Yeshivat Hakotel
Yeshivat Hakotel is a modern-Orthodox religious Zionist hesder yeshiva situated in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was built in 1857. The yeshiva overlooks the Kotel ; hence its name. The Yeshiva is famous among tourists and tour guides for its entrance to the prayer plaza at the Kotel on Sabbath...
in the Old City of Jerusalem, he studied graphic art and pottery at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design
Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel's national school of art, founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri , who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle ....
. He did his Ph.D. in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
at Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
in Ramat Gan.
Kosman has four children from his first marriage.
Since relocating to Berlin, Kosman is a professor of Religious and Jewish Studies at Potsdam University
University of Potsdam
The University of Potsdam is a German university, situated across four campuses in Potsdam, Brandenburg, including the New Palace of Sanssouci and the Park Babelsberg.- Profile :...
and the academic director of Abraham Geiger Reform Rabbinical Seminary.
Kosman is the author of eight books of poetry. His poems often deal with the tension between his religious faith and artistic sensibilities. Kosman has also written three volumes of post-modern scholarship on gender in traditional Jewish texts. In 2000, he was invited by Nobel Prize winning Polish poets Czeslaw Milosz
Czeslaw Milosz
Czesław Miłosz was a Polish poet, prose writer and translator of Lithuanian origin and subsequent American citizenship. His World War II-era sequence The World is a collection of 20 "naive" poems. He defected to the West in 1951, and his nonfiction book The Captive Mind is a classic of...
and Wislawa Szymborska
Wislawa Szymborska
Wisława Szymborska is a Polish poet, essayist and translator. Many of her poems feature war and terrorism...
to participate in an interfaith festival in Cracow, Poetry – between Prayer and Song.
Awards
Kosman has been awarded national prizes for poetry including the Bernstein PrizeBernstein Prize
The Bernstein Prize is an annual Israeli literary award for writers 50 years of age and younger. The prize is awarded by the Bernstein Foundation, named after Mordechai Bernstein, who left money in his estate to establish a foundation in order to encourage young Hebrew writers...
(original Hebrew-language poetry category), the Prime Minister’s Prize (1976) and the Brenner Prize
Brenner Prize
The Brenner Prize is an Israeli literary prize awarded annually by the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and the Haft Family Foundation.It was founded in the name of the author Yosef Haim Brenner and was first awarded in 1945....
.
Poetry
- And Then the Act of Poetry,1980 [Ve-Aharei Mora`ot Ma`ase Ha-Shir]
- The Prince's Raiment, 1988 [Bigdei Nasich]
- Soft Rags, 1991 [Smartutim Rakim]
- What I Can, 1995 [Ma Ani Yachol]
- We Reached God, 1998 [Higanu Le-Elohim]
- Forty Love Poems and Two Additional Love Poems to God, 2003 [Arbaim Shirei Ahava Ve-Shnei Shirei Ahava Nosafim Le-Elohim]
Books and articles
- "The Story of a Giant Story - The Winding Way of Og King of Bashan in the Jewish Aggadic Tradition", in: HUCA 73, (2002) pp. 157-190.
- Men’s World: Reading Masculinity in Jewish Stories in a Spiritual Context. Ergon, Würzburg 2009.
- "Two Women Who Were Sporting with Each Other": A Reexamination of the Halakhic Approaches to Lesbianism as a Touchstone for Homosexuality in General, (with Anat Sharbat), HUCA 75, (2004), pp. 37-73
- Men’s Tractate: Rav and the Butcher and other Stories – On Manhood, Love and Authentic Life in Aggadic and Hassidic Stories, Keter, Jerusalem 2002
- Blessed art thou who made me a man – and a woman
- Treading toward sanctity. Musings and meditations on close to a century's worth of discussions occasioned by Van Gogh's series of paintings of worn shoes. Was the artist's statement primarily aesthetic, or political, or was it religious? In: Ha-Aretz (19.11.2009)
External links
- http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/865502.htmlHome Libraries, Vered Lee, HaaretzHaaretzHaaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
interview with Admiel Kosman] - Homepage of Prof. Admiel Kosman at the University of Potsdam