Tikvah
Subscribe
Editor's Pick

February 5, 2021

The Biblical Sonnets of a Forgotten Jewish Writer

Uriel Birnbaum.

Largely forgotten today, the Vienna-born Jewish poet and writer Uriel Birnbaum (1894-1956) was perhaps best appreciated by an Austrian Catholic aristocrat Count Arthur Polzer-Hoditz, who published a brief study on Birnbaum’s work in 1936. Uriel’s father Nathan was himself a fascinating figure: a close associate of Theodor Herzl and devotee of Zionism—a word Nathan likely coined—he eventually broke with the movement, became a Diaspora nationalist, and then, after a religious awakening, a ḥasidic anti-Zionist.

Subscribe to Continue Reading

Get the best Jewish ideas and conversations. Subscribe to Tikvah Ideas All Access for

Login or Subscribe
Save