Israel Davidson

Israel Davidson (1870, Jonava, Lithuania - 1939, Great Neck, New York) was an American Jewish writer and publisher and has been recognized as one of the leading American Hebrew writers in his era. His magnum opus was the four volume Otsar ha-shirah veha-piyut = Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry (NY, 1924–1933).

Davidson studied in yeshivas in Jonava, Volozhin, and Slobodka. In 1898, he emigrated to New York, worked at a few occupations before earning a Ph.D from Columbia University.

Famous quotes containing the words israel and/or davidson:

    appoint for us, then, a king to govern us, like other nations.
    Bible: Hebrew, 1 Samuel 8:5.

    Leaders of ancient Israel asking the last of the judges, Samuel, to appoint a king.

    For like a mole I journey in the dark,
    A-travelling along the underground
    —John Davidson (1857–1909)