Tefillin: Transgression of a Jewish Religious Ritual Article: Contemporary Hebrew Poetry as a Modern Midrash
Tefillin: Transgression of a Jewish Religious Ritual Article: Contemporary Hebrew Poetry as a Modern Midrash

Summary/Abstract: The article illustrates poetical re-interpretation of the Jewish religious ritual article – tefillin, in the poetry of two central modern Hebrew poets in Israel: Yehuda Amichai and Yona Wallach. In the analysis of the poems “Straight from Prejudice” by Amichai and “Tefillin” by Wallch it is shown that the poets undertake a transgression of the traditional religious function of tefillin. They both suggest a different usage of the ritual article in different contexts than the religious one but which also correspond with tradition. In that manner the poems can be read as a new Midrash in Judaism.

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