Israel Davidson

Israel Davidson (May 27, 1870 – 1939) was an American writer and publisher. He was of Lithuanian Jewish heritage. He 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 was born in Jonava, Lithuania. He studied in yeshivas in Jonava, Volozhin, and Slobodka. In 1898, he immigrated to New York, worked a few occupations before earning a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He died in Great Neck, New York in 1939.

Works

The Jew in English Fiction. New York: A. H. Rosenberg, 1895. The Genesis of Hebrew Periodical Literature. New York: Kohn & Pollock, 1900. Parody in Jewish Literature. New York: Columbia University, 1907. Saadia’s Polemic Against Ḥiwi al-Balkhi: A Fragment. Edited by Israel Davidson. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 1915. Otsar ha-shirah veha-piyut (Thesaurus of Mediaeval Hebrew Poetry). 4 vols. New York, 1924–1933. Rhymes in Hebrew Poetry. Edited by Ismar Elbogen. Philadelphia: Dropsie College, 1940.