Odessa: The City and Its Texts

ESHKOLOT'S FESTIVAL IN ODESSA IS ORGANIZED WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HEBREW LITERATURE OF THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY IN JERUSALEM, ISRAEL, AND THE ODESSA MUSEUM OF LITERATURE, ODESSA, UKRAINE.

Eshkolot’s Festival of Jewish Texts and Ideas, held for the first time in Odessa, a city on the Black Sea that once served as a hub of Jewish life and creativity, focuses on the Jewish personalities and the texts they gave birth to. With a slow-reading of classic texts penned by the literary giants of Jewish Odessa, participants gain an understanding of the way in which this literature transformed Jewish life and eventually gave birth to the Jewish State.

With classes led by international and local scholars of repute, carefully selected students and young professionals (ages 18 to 45) select one of three tracks enabling an in-depth study and discussion. The readings are accompanied by plenary lectures, workshops, literary discoveries, visits to the homes and neighborhoods of those whose works are being studied, evening edutainment programs, all with a strong focus on community building and follow-up activities.

Festival tracks:

HEBREW LITERATURE:

The Poetry of Hayim Nahman Bialik and Shaul Tchernichovsky

YIDDISH LITERATURE:

“Fishke the Lame” by Mendele Moycher-Sforim

LITERATURE in RUSSIAN:

“The Five” by Vladimir (Ze’ev) Jabotinsky

Faculty:

AMINADAV DYKMAN

Prof. Aminadav Dykman heads The Department of Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He has translated and published numerous Hebrew translations of French, Russian, English, Greek, Latin, and Italian literature and poetry and is recognized as one of the leaders in his field of research.

ZOYA KOPELMAN

Literary critic and translator, Dr. Zoya Kopelman has an MSc in Electronic Engineering from Moscow, and an MA and a PhD in Hebrew Literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Zoya serves as a teaching coordinator of Israel’s Open University Russian program, lectures at the Melton Jewish Education Institute, the Chais Center for Russian Studies at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem and is a researcher, academic editor and contributor for the Russian Jewish Encyclopedia, with a focus on Israeli and Hebrew authors.

ALEXANDRA POLYAN

Alexandra Polyan received her M.A. in philology and Oriental studies from The Department of Jewish Studies at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, Moscow State University. With her research focusing on Yiddish folklore and literature, Alexandra is currently completing her PhD in Yiddish Studies and teaching Yiddish and Hebrew languages at the Department of Jewish Studies at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

VELVL CHERNIN

Yiddish poet, ethnographer, translator and literary critic, Dr. Velvl Chernin is a graduate of Moscow State University. First publishing his Yiddish poetry in “Sovyetishe Heimland” magazine in 1983, Velvl made Aliya in 1990 where he received his PhD from Bar-Ilan University. A teacher of Yiddish literature at Ben-Gurion University (Be’er-Sheva) and Bar-Ilan University, in 1996 Velvl received the David Hoffstein Prize.

ARIEL HIRSCHFELD

Professor of Hebrew Literature (Hebrew University in Jerusalem), essayist, popular lecturer, author of more than ten books and numerous articles and recipient of the Prime Minister’s Prize in Hebrew Literature (2008).

ROMAN TIMENCHIK

Professor of Slavic Literature (Hebrew University in Jerusalem), author of more than 400 books and articles and the recipient of The Andrei Bely Prize (2006). Born in Latvia, Prof. Timenchik studied with Prof. Yuri Lotman in Tartu, making Aliya in 1991.

AVNER HOLTZMAN

Professor of Hebrew Literature (Tel Aviv University), visiting scholar at the Oxford Centre for Jewish and Hebrew Studies, author of 10 books, numerous articles, headed the M.J. Berdyczewski Archive in Holon, Israel and the recipient of the Hebrew Language Academy Prize (2002).

ASYA WAISMAN

Scholar of Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah), contemporary Jewish and Israeli literature, graduate of and assistant professor at the Department of Jewish Studies at the Institute of Asian and African Studies of Moscow State University, Asya is also senior editor of the www.booknik.ru, the largest Russian-language website that focuses on Jewish and Israeli literature and culture.

YEHIEL FISHZON

Evgeniy (Yehiel) Fishzon is a poet and tour guide. Born in Kiev and making Aliya to Israel, Yehiel works for The Menachem Begin Heritage Center, is a poet, professional tour-guide in Israel and the author of several collections of poems in the Russian language.

FESTIVAL BOOKLET, INCLUDING FULL PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE (download):

FESTIVAL READER (download)

Eshkolot gratefully acknowledges the support of the Avi Chai Foundation, the Rothschild Foundation (Hanadiv) Europe, the Genesis Philanthropy Group, the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and private/anonymous sponsors. In particular, Eshkolot would like to thank David Rozenson, the Executive Director of Avi Chai in the FSU (and now Beit Avi Chai in Jerusalem), Sana Britavsky, the Executive Director of the Genesis Philanthropy Group and Prof. Aminadav Dykman of the Hebrew University whose joint efforts ensured that Eshkolot’s Festival in Odessa became a reality.

AUDIO RECORDINGS OF THE FESTIVAL'S SESSIONS

Prof. Avner Holzman on Hebrew writers in Odessa (in Hebrew), mp3, session 1, session 2, session 3

Prof. Ariel Hirschfeld on Bialik's "In the City of Slaughter" (in Hebrew), mp3

Prof. Ariel Hirschfeld on Bialik's Romanticism and Anti-Romanticism (in Hebrew), mp3